You might think you know the rules of the road, but do you really?
Most of us know to look at the tarmac when deciding where to pull over, keeping a sharp eye out for single or double yellow lines. But thousands of motorists completely miss the tiny yellow stripes painted directly onto the concrete kerb itself. These vertical marks carry their own strict legal rules, completely separate to the lines on the main road.
If you don’t know exactly what these kerbside ticks mean, you could easily end up with a hefty penalty charge notice slapped on your windscreen, even if you thought you’re parked perfectly legally.
The marking that catches everyone out
Even experienced drivers can come across road markings that leave them scratching their heads. One of the most commonly misunderstood is the pair of short vertical yellow lines you sometimes spot painted on the kerb itself, rather than on the road surface. They look fairly distinctive once you know what to look for, but the meaning behind them is something a surprising number of UK drivers have never been taught.
Driving instructor Annie Winterburn, from Spot On Driving, recently posted a TikTok video breaking down exactly what these markings mean. She said she’d noticed that many people are getting mixed up when it comes to the kerb lines in particular, with countless drivers assuming they’re related to parking restrictions. They’re not, and once you know the rule, you’ll spot them everywhere.
A quick refresher on road yellow lines
Before getting to the kerb markings, it helps to understand the more familiar yellow lines on the road itself. A single yellow line painted along the road means no waiting during certain times, usually displayed on a nearby sign. A double yellow line means no waiting at any time. The crucial word here is waiting, which in road law is the same as parking.
That means you can actually stop briefly on double yellows to drop someone off or pick someone up, as long as you’re not waiting around or leaving the vehicle unattended. You just can’t park or hang about. Red lines are a different beast entirely. A red route means a complete ban on stopping, even briefly, and you’ll mostly find these in big cities like London and Birmingham where traffic flow is treated as the top priority.
The kerb lines are about loading, not parking
Here’s where things get interesting. The vertical yellow lines painted directly on the kerb have nothing to do with general parking restrictions for cars. They’re loading restrictions aimed at vans and lorries making deliveries or pickups. The lines tell delivery drivers whether and when they’re allowed to stop to load or unload goods at that particular spot.
According to the Highway Code, two vertical yellow lines painted on the kerb mean loading and unloading is banned at all times. A single vertical line means loading is only restricted during certain hours, with the specific times usually shown on a nearby sign. These restrictions apply on top of any yellow lines painted on the road itself, so a delivery driver needs to check both the road markings and the kerb markings before deciding whether they can stop.
Why it doesn’t apply to most drivers
For the average car driver running errands, popping to the shops or doing the school run, these kerb markings don’t really apply to you. They’re specifically about commercial vehicles carrying out loading and unloading activities, which is a different category to general parking. If you’re just stopping briefly to drop someone off, or you’re parking your car within the rules of the painted lines on the road, the kerb markings aren’t your concern.
That said, it’s still worth being aware of them. If you’re driving a van for work, helping a friend move house in a hire van, or making any kind of delivery yourself, the kerb markings absolutely apply to you. Even if you’re parking a normal car for an extended time and unloading shopping or furniture, technically the loading restrictions can come into play. Common sense usually wins out, but knowing what the markings mean helps you avoid any awkward conversations with a traffic warden.
The Highway Code rules at a glance
The official rules around these markings are spelled out in the Highway Code, but they’re often missed during driving lessons or forgotten in the years afterwards. Two short yellow lines on the kerb means no loading or unloading at any time. One yellow line means loading is restricted during the times shown on a nearby plate or sign. No kerb markings at all means loading is permitted, although the wider parking rules of the road still apply.
It’s also worth noting that loading and unloading needs to be a continuous activity. You can’t park a van on a loading bay or restricted zone and then nip off for a coffee. Drivers should be actively loading or unloading goods, and any prolonged break can lead to a ticket if a warden decides you’re stretching the definition of what counts as loading.
Why so many drivers had no idea
The video that sparked all this confusion has been racking up thousands of views, with plenty of motorists commenting that they had no clue these markings even existed, let alone what they meant. One viewer said they thought the lines were for car drivers and thanked Annie for clarifying things. Another driver said they’d been on the roads for 40 years and were still learning bits of the theory side they’d missed first time round.
The reason these markings catch people out is that they’re tucked away on the kerb itself rather than on the road, where most of us are trained to look for parking information. They’re also fairly rare in some parts of the country and much more common in others, particularly in busy commercial areas where delivery traffic is heavy. If you live in a quiet rural area, you might never have come across them at all, which is exactly why they cause so much confusion when drivers spot them somewhere unfamiliar.
How to remember the rules
The simplest way to keep all of this straight is to think of it in layers. Yellow lines on the road tell car drivers about parking restrictions. Yellow lines on the kerb tell delivery drivers about loading restrictions. Red lines tell everyone about stopping restrictions. Each set of lines is doing a different job, and they can sometimes apply at the same time in the same place.
If you ever come across road markings you don’t understand, it’s well worth checking the Highway Code online. The website is free to use and explains every road marking in plain English with proper images. Most of us only properly read it once when learning to drive, which means by the time you’re a few years into your licence, plenty of the smaller details have been forgotten. A quick refresher every now and then can save you from picking up an unexpected fine or, just as importantly, looking baffled when someone asks you what a particular line means.
