Drivers divided over what ‘UFO’ road sign in North Wales really means

A curious road sign spotted on some North Wales roads has left drivers scratching their heads. The rectangular blue sign had people reaching for their Highway Codes to find out what it all means.

In an attempt to find answers, Christen Cullen, from Plas Madog, Acrefair^[1], Wrexham^[2], posted a picture of the sign on social media. Loctated on the A5^[3] in nearby Froncysyllte^[4], it had prompted a lengthy debate between Christen and her nan Colette Donald.

Her quest for information led her in unexpected directions, with some people volunteering otherworldy explanations. A few were sincere in believing the sign depicted a “no drone flying zone", others offered some tongue-in-cheek suggestions.

“Beware low flying satellites,” counselled one man. A Ruabon^[5] HGV driver confidentally insisted: “Large vehicles prone to alien abduction in this area.”

Refining this idea was a man who said: “Danger of alien abduction (unless you’re in a truck). Another was simply baffled but went with the alien theme. “Lorries won’t be taken by UFOs? Literally have no clue,” he admitted.

Some people interpreted the sign more literally. “Truckers beware of digital dragonflies,” said one man. Another added: “No international space stations or big trucks.”

Recognising that the top symbol resembled a space satellite, one driver proposed: “Don’t drive through here or you will be zapped by a space lazer.” A similar suggestion was: “No heavy goods vehicles, enforced by low orbit ion cannon.” A third person volunteered: “Satellites okay but no HGV.”

For a number of drivers, the sign had sinister connotations. “Elon Musk^[7] is always watching,” said an Oswestry woman. Another person said: “No Twitter^[8] and Instagram after this point.” One man was pretty sure it had something to do with what was going on in Ukraine. “Russian trucks not allowed,” he said.

Debating the sign with her granddaughter, Colette, 63, had one big advantage: she used to drive bin wagons, and occasionally HGVs, for a living. She believed the sign meant trucks should ignore sat nav instructions when approaching certain narrow roads.

Sat nav was still a novel technology when she hung up keys. Instead she relied on maps and written instructions. Not that this was always successful. “Once or twice I did go down dead-ends and had to reverse all the way back,” said Colette, from Liverpool. “Some maps were misleading!

“We often stay at the Clays Caravan Park by Wrexham Industrial Estate^[9]. First time we went, we were told to go via Sandy Lane. But you can’t get a caravan down there - reversing a caravan all the way back wasn’t easy!”

Baffled by some road signs? How about the new 20mph warnings? Let us know in the comments below.^[10]

It turned out Colette was right. The signs were first introduced on the A48 in the Vale of Glamorgan in 2007 to reduce the number of truck drivers getting stuck on narrow lanes after relying too heavily on their sat navs.

Using images rather than text was designed to help drivers who don’t understand English. After a 12-month trial, they were slowly rolled out across the rest of Wales.

According to Christen, there are two more of the signs on the road to nearby Trevor. They still cause plenty of confusion. “You’d be surprised at the number of drivers of larger vehicles who don’t know what it means,” said a local woman. “I’ve reversed one or two out on to the main road!"

Despite this, some people say more of the signs are needed. “They could go for a fair few places in Llangollen^[11],” said a former accommodation host. “Used to get lost visitors call after following the postcode, ending up over by the Ponderosa^[12] somewhere.”

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, admitted he initially thought the truck’s red line was drawn by a cheeky graffiti artist. He told the Express^[13] the images were picked to help those not able to understand English.

He said: “First introduced on the A48, this sign does not warn of an alien invasion but advises HGV drivers not to follow their sat nav down narrow country lanes. Its main aim was to help foreign truck drivers avoid getting stuck out on rural roads.”

Christen was glad the matter had been resolved and she can now focus on other debates with Colette. “Turns out my Nan was right and my aliens theory was blown out the water,” she sighed.

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References

1. ^{^} Acrefair (www.dailypost.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Wrexham (www.dailypost.co.uk)
3. ^{^} the A5 (www.dailypost.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Froncysyllte (www.dailypost.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Ruabon (www.dailypost.co.uk)
6. ^{^} Road shut for hours after milk tanker crashes into ditch in Gwynedd (www.dailypost.co.uk)
7. ^{^} Elon Musk (www.dailypost.co.uk)
8. ^{^} Twitter (www.dailypost.co.uk)
9. ^{^} Wrexham Industrial Estate (www.dailypost.co.uk)
10. ^{^} Baffled by some road signs? How about the new 20mph warnings? Let us know in the comments below. (www.dailypost.co.uk)
11. ^{^} Llangollen (www.dailypost.co.uk)
12. ^{^} Ponderosa (www.dailypost.co.uk)
13. ^{^} Express (www.express.co.uk)
14. ^{^} Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter (www.dailypost.co.uk)