Rule 270

Emergency areas are located along motorways with no hard shoulder or where the hard shoulder can be used as an extra lane (see Rule 269) and MUST only be used in an emergency.

They are marked by blue signs with an orange SOS telephone symbol and may have orange surfacing.

Rule 270: emergency area
Rule 270: sign indicating distance to next emergency area

Follow the requirements and advice in

  • Rule 277 if your vehicle develops a problem on the motorway
  • Rule 278 to rejoin the carriageway from an emergency area.

Laws MT(E&W)R reg 9 as amended by MT(E&W)(A)(E)R, & MT(S)R reg 8