Beaconing

Beaconing includes signs that provide information about the course of the road and points you should pay special attention to.

Hectometre signs

Hectometre signs are located along motorways, autowegen and larger provincial roads. They are meant to quickly see where you are. This can be vital if there is an accident. In that case, you can tell the breakdown or emergency service where you are. Hectometre signs are each one hectometre apart. So that is one sign per 100 metres. All these signs have their own number, which indicates the distance in kilometres from the beginning of the road. This is called the hectometre number.

In addition to these data, hectometre signs can also be provided with a letter in the bottom right corner. This means that you are driving on a ramp/acceleration or exit/deceleration lane from the autoweg/motorway and not on the main carriageway.

The speed limit is also often placed on top of the hectometre sign along autowegen and motorways. Please note that these do not apply if a different speed is indicated next to or above the road with normal signs or electronic matrix signs.

Exit signs and chevron signs

When driving on an autoweg or motorway, it is important that you can see in advance where the deceleration lane ends, or where the road splits. After all, you have to make the decision about where to go well before then. That is why there is a sign ‘UIT’ (exit) at the end of the deceleration lane and the chevron sign at a fork of equivalent flow roads (e.g. autowegen or motorways).

Missing hard shoulders and shortened acceleration lanes

There is a hard shoulder along motorways. In some places, this hard shoulder can be narrowed or even completely gone. For example under viaducts, on bridges and in tunnels. Because this means that you can no longer swerve to the right in case of an emergency, this is indicated by a sign with oblique black lines.

If an acceleration lane is shorter than normal, this is also indicated by a sign. Often a short acceleration lane is the result of a narrowed or missing hard shoulder.

If there are emergency lay-bys (refuges) instead of a hard shoulder, these are sometimes indicated with a lay-by sign. You can find these along provincial roads such as 80km roads and autowegen.

Level crossing and bridge markings

To indicate a level crossing or movable bridge in time, signs are placed along the road that indicate in about how many meters you can expect to see a level crossing or bridge. The number of diagonal red lines on the sign indicates how far you are from the level crossing. Each line represents 80 metres. The lines also indicate on which side you should pass the sign. The lines always point down towards the carriageway.

Reflector posts

Reflector posts are intended to indicate the shoulders and sides of the road. By looking at these poles you can see the curves earlier in the dark. On the right side of the road you can find posts with red retro-reflectors. On the left side of the road you can find posts with white retro-reflectors. You can remember this by remembering that on your side of the road (the right side) you mainly see red taillights. On the left side of the road you mainly see the white headlights of the oncoming traffic.

Signage

To find your way more easily in areas where you are unfamiliar, there are several signs that can help you. For example, the signs ‘Doorgaand verkeer’ (through traffic) point you to the through area access roads. The signs P-route or P-ring point you to the parking spaces that are usually on the edge of the city center. The signs that show an alternative route (an U with a number) are fixed signs. As soon as there are traffic jams or closures on a flow road, the traffic information service can indicate via which alternative route you can avoid these traffic jams or closures. You will therefore find these signs in places where this type of problem occurs more often.

Yellow signs are always temporary signs, for example during roadworks. For example, they can indicate that it is best for reaching a city or village to follow a certain number or letter.

Dynamic route information panel (DRIP)

A DRIP is placed next to the road and shows traffic information to drivers. The purpose of a DRIP is, among other things, to improve traffic flows and reduce traffic jams. There are several messages that can be displayed on the DRIP such as:

• current travel times or delays on the route;
• parking information such as empty spaces;
• unforeseen circumstances such as traffic jams (marked in red), road closures, accidents, diversions, extreme weather conditions or bridge openings;
• information at events such as routes and parking facilities;
• national or regional messages or announcements, such as campaign texts.

When no message is shown on a DRIP, it is usual to show a point (interference dot). In this way, a road user sees that the panel is in use and is not defective.

Because space on a DRIP is limited, abbreviations and icons are used. The following abbreviations are used:

City names can also be abbreviated. For example, Utrecht is shortened to Utr and Rotterdam to Rdam.

When a route is shown it can be provided with icons (such as a bridge or a tunnel) or a red colour to indicate a traffic jam.

Pictograms in signs

Just like on the DRIP, pictograms can also appear on signs. The most important ones are explained below: