Warning Sign/Soft Verges
Soft Verges | |||
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TSRGD ref : | 556.1 | ||
From : | 1964? | ||
To : | present | ||
Variants : | Quayside | ||
Common Plates : | Soft verges for x yds/miles | ||
Pre-Worboys sign
There doesn't seem to be a standard pre-Worboys sign for soft verges
Worboys Report sign
The soft verges sign features a rear-view silhouette of a car with the right wheel on a hard black box indicating the roadway while the left tyre has sunk into a dotted area suggesting grass. It is commonly used on busy roads where a wide verge looks like a suitable place to pull off the road, or slightly erroneously where there is a sharp drop on the edge of the road. The sign occasionally also features on single-track roads to try to ensure that traffic uses the passing-places rather than trying to pass on verges which may result in the road becoming blocked by stranded cars.
Watercourse alongside road
The sign has also been adapted to indicate a watercourse alongside the road. This may be a stream running in the gutter, as is found in the streets of the City of Wells, or something more substantial. See Quayside for more information.
Irish sign
The Irish equivalent is warning sign W 135 Soft Verge (as prescribed in the Traffic Signs Manual 2010). The symbol used is identical to that employed in the UK version, though placed, of course, on a yellow diamond background. It is interesting to note that the design appears to be so directly inspired by that used on British signs that the right-hand end of the 'hard surface' part of the symbol retains the chamfering occasioned by its abutting the triangular surround of the UK version!