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Roads around Scotland, Advice for Drivers

ADVICE FOR DRIVERS

Road Safety

The roads around the North East 250 are easy to drive and there is some fantastic scenery along the way.

Here is some advice to keep you safe as you travel along the North East 250.

  1. Drive on the left. The majority of roads on the North East 250 route are two-way, however you may come to some single track roads. On these, please use passing places to let traffic pass. Remember to reduce speed especially at bends in the road or when visibility is reduced. For information on driving single track roads, please click here.
  2. The national speed limit on single carriage roads is 60mph, but this will reduce to 20, 30 or 40mph in built-up areas so look out for the speed limit signs and respect these. Despite the limit, there will often be times when you will need to drive below the speed limits in order to drive responsibly for the conditions.
  3. If you are an international visitor, please study the British Highway Code. This can be found online here and covers rules for drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians. It explains road signs and road markings; please familiarise yourself with these as they may vary greatly from those used in your home country.
  4. We know you’ll want to stop along the route to take photographs and admire the incredible scenery but please only stop in designated parking areas. Do not park on roads or in passing places. Ensure wherever you decide to park is safe for you and fellow road users.
  5. Be aware of blind summits and sharp bends – there may be many of these on country roads.
  6. Please drive according to the road conditions. We all know that Scotland is not known for its great weather! So be careful when driving in adverse weather conditions. In winter you can check the snow gates webcams here.
  7. Slow down for pedestrians, cyclists and animals, including horse riders. A speed of 20 mph is tacitly understood to be the most safe. When overtaking cyclists, please give them plenty of room – information on minimum passing distances can be found here. Equally, if you are a cyclist, please pull over to allow traffic to pass safely on parts of the route where it may be difficult to overtake.
  8. Allow other vehicles to pass safely. If you are travelling below the speed limit, please pull into passing places or lay-bys on your left to allow traffic to pass.
  9. Look out for wildlife, especially on country roads, as they may run out into the road unexpectedly.

Please also follow @RoadSafetyNES on Twitter. Road Safety North East Scotland (RSNES) will share information relevant to the local authority areas managed by Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council and Moray Council, which are part of the North East 250 route. The account will share and promote general road safety information and may be beneficial as you travel along the route.

If you’re driving an electric car, information on EV charging points is available on ZapMap.

More information on UK speed limits can be found here.

The Grampian Cycle Partnership provides information and advice on safe cycling in the region.

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