Reflective Road Studs (affectionately known as ‘cats eyes’)
Many of us may well remember learning to drive, reading the highway code or practicing for our theory tests. Anxiously converting to memory the colour of reflective road studs and where to find them, in case we were asked! They have been around since the 1930s, so practically every driver in living memory will have had to learn their meaning at some point.
However, many of us pass our driving tests and this all becomes a distant memory.
Motorway Stud Colours
How many of us can now recall, if questioned, the colour of the studs, their meaning and where to find them? Unless you take an advanced driving course, or work towards other licences, this information can become completely lost to us.
There are 5 different colours of reflective road studs, and they all have a different meaning.
Green Reflective studs mark the beginning and end of a motorway slip road and can be found to mark laybys on motorways and A roads.
Red reflective studs mean that when you are in the left-hand lane, the studs show where drivers can’t travel over the lines into the hard shoulder.
In poor visibility, they will show where you should remain in the main three lanes and not veer into a lane which should be always clear.
Amber reflective studs are found in the third lane, These show the line that shouldn’t be crossed into the central reservation and just like the red studs, they help drivers know where the lines between the third lane and the central reservation are in poor visibility.
White reflective studs are the most common reflective studs on the UK motorways. These show where each of the three lanes are in challenging driving conditions. White is the most reflective of colours.
You will also see these across many other types of roads to show the boundaries of driving lanes.
Green and Yellow Reflective studs are the least common reflective studs that can be seen on the motorway. They show where there have been temporary changes to the road ahead, or where roadworks are currently taking place.