Driving through road works: temporary speed limits and merging
Your side of the road is coned off with people working. Deal with the temporary limit, the queue and the workers.
The short version
- Temporary speed limits at road works are the law.
- Never drive through a coned-off area. Keep your eyes on the road, not the works.
- Merge in turn when traffic is slow. Do not switch lanes to jump the queue.
Step 1
A Road works sign and a temporary 20 mph limit. It is normally 30 here.
What speed can you do through the works?
✓ No more than 20 mph. Temporary speed limits at road works are legal limits. You MUST NOT go over them, and cameras often check.
Why not the other options
- ✗ 30 mph, temporary signs are only advice. Temporary limits carry the same weight as permanent ones.
- ✗ 20 mph only while you can see workers. The limit applies all the way through, workers or not.
- ✗ Whatever the traffic around you is doing. Other drivers speeding does not change the limit.
Step 2
You have stopped for the oncoming van. There is a gap in the cones on your left.
Could you use the gap to get past the works?
✓ No. Never drive into an area marked off with cones. The coned area is the workers' space. There may be holes, machinery or people you cannot see.
Why not the other options
- ✗ Yes, if nobody is working in that part. An empty-looking section can still have an open trench or a worker behind a vehicle.
- ✗ Yes, slowly. Speed does not matter. Coned areas are closed to traffic.
- ✗ Yes, to save holding up the queue. Waiting your turn is part of driving through works safely.
Step 3
You are passing the works and a worker is walking towards the cones.
Where should your attention be?
✓ On the road ahead and the worker, ready to slow down or stop. Concentrate on the road, not on what is being dug up. People and vehicles can come out of the works without warning.
Why not the other options
- ✗ On the hole they are digging. Looking at the works is how drivers drift into cones and people.
- ✗ On your mirror, in case the queue behind gets impatient. Check mirrors as normal, but the danger is ahead.
- ✗ On your phone's map for a way round. You MUST NOT use a hand-held phone while driving.
Step 4
Another day, on a dual carriageway, two lanes merge into one at road works and traffic is crawling.
How should you merge?
✓ Use both lanes up to the merge point and merge in turn. When traffic is very slow, merging in turn is fair and keeps the queue shorter.
Why not the other options
- ✗ Switch lanes to overtake as much of the queue as you can. Do not switch lanes to jump queuing traffic at road works.
- ✗ Block the closing lane so nobody can get past. Blocking the lane causes anger and longer queues. Let people merge in turn.
- ✗ Stop and wait until the closing lane is empty. Stopping in a moving lane is dangerous. Keep moving and take turns.
The rules behind it
- Rule 288 At road works you MUST obey temporary speed limits. Keep your distance, merge in turn, do not switch lanes to jump the queue and never drive through coned-off areas.
- Rule 149 You MUST NOT use a hand-held phone while driving. The only exception is a genuine 999 or 112 call when it is unsafe or impractical to stop.
- Rule 134 Where lanes merge and traffic is moving very slowly, merge in turn. Do not race to the front.
More situations
Based on the Highway Code and the Road Traffic Act 1988 as published on GOV.UK in October 2026, in our own words; follow the links for the full text. Insurance points are common UK insurer policy terms, so check your own policy. This is not legal advice. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.