Drivers say ‘road ahead closed’ signs are ‘uninformative’ and need to be improved

More than half of drivers (57%) believe red ‘road ahead closed’ signs are ‘uninformative’ when trying to understand the details of road closures they’re approaching, a new RAC poll has found*.

The findings conclude that the common red and white ‘road ahead closed’ signs are missing key details, making them unhelpful to drivers and other road users. Of those that find the signs uninformative, the most common reasons for confusion were that they don’t state which road is closed (60%), or how far ahead the road is closed (56%). Meanwhile, 15% don’t trust that the signage is up to date.

In light of the widespread confusion, an overwhelming 93% of all drivers that responded to the survey would be in favour of councils and their contractors providing more information about where closures are.

Despite the fact that ignoring traffic signs can lead to fines, only 30% of drivers surveyed by the RAC said they always follow yellow diversion signs after seeing red ‘road ahead closed’ signs. Looking at why drivers don’t follow diversions, seven-in-10 (70%) say they rely on their own local knowledge to find a better alternative, while 58% worry the diversion will take them miles out of their way and just over half (52%) state that they just follow their sat-nav.

Amid this lack of trust in ‘road ahead closed’ signage, motorists are hedging their bets. Of those that don’t follow diversion signs, a significant proportion drive on in the hope the closed road isn’t the one that they are currently on (34%), while others prefer to drive as far as possible to take another road off before reaching the closure (25%).

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said:

“Our research with drivers reveals very clearly that, as things stand, ‘road ahead closed’ signs are not fit for purpose. Simply stating ‘road ahead closed’ is too vague as it doesn’t give drivers enough information about the closures they’re approaching and is causing a lack of trust.

“Our findings also show that in many cases drivers aren’t taking official diversion routes, which could cause issues in terms of traffic flow and potentially lead to dangerous situations around essential maintenance works. Sat-navs can be useful for finding alternative routes, but they don’t get everything right and sometimes won’t pick up emergency closures.

“Drivers ought to be able to trust the signs they are supposed to follow, and it wouldn’t take a lot of effort to improve them. By including key information, such as which road is closed, and ideally for how long, drivers would surely have more trust in the signage and be less likely to ignore official advice.”

Notes to Editors

* Research for the RAC by Online95 between 22 and 31 August 2025 – 1.672 UK drivers, rim-weighted to be nationally representative of the driving population