![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Faded-white-road-lines.jpg\")
(Image: Alex Seabrook )<\/p>\nResearch suggests a lack of lines makes drivers go slower(Image: Alex Seabrook )<\/p>\n
Centre white lines on some 20mph roads in Bristol won\u2019t be repainted as part of a new safety push. Research suggests that a lack of centre lines makes drivers go slower and give more space to cyclists when overtaking.<\/p>\n
When contractors resurface roads, some of these won\u2019t have their white lines replaced. Safety experts at Bristol City Council<\/a> believe the lack of white lines could actually make the roads less dangerous, as drivers have to pay more attention to their positioning and oncoming vehicles.<\/p>\n The changes were approved by councillors on the transport policy committee on Thursday, October 23. However Labour<\/a> and Tory opposition councillors said the policy seemed to them counter-intuitive, and raised fears that self-driving cars might need centre lines in the future.<\/p>\n Labour Councillor Kaz Self said: \u201cI\u2019m concerned about the lack of robust research on this and I\u2019m reluctant for Bristol to be a kind of guinea pig. I\u2019m also concerned about learner drivers and elderly drivers who might need centre lines, and it may well be that autonomous vehicles need centre lines as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Conservative Cllr Jonathan Hucker added: \u201cFrom a road safety perspective, it does feel counter-intuitive. Speaking as a driver with 43 years experience, I know that I feel safer when I\u2019m on a road that has white lines down the middle. So I\u2019m struggling to support this.\u201d<\/p>\n However this approach has already been taken in some parts of Bristol for several years. Residents have raised safety concerns on only a few roads with the council, and without evidence of collisions. Main roads won\u2019t be affected, rather just quiet residential areas where there is often parking on both sides rendering the centre line redundant anyway.<\/p>\n Many narrow roads now have much more parking than they used to. Cars have also generally become larger, with giant SUVs more popular than ever before. This means that it\u2019s sometimes impossible for drivers to stay within the white lines when driving through residential areas. Meanwhile, the council is hoping to repaint markings on main roads more quickly than before.<\/p>\n A lack of road markings has long affected many parts of Bristol, with faded markings on many roads, not just those with 20mph speed limits. Busy roundabouts and junctions sometimes have no markings or barely visible ones, which in March last year drew criticism from the Tories<\/a>. And since the Greens took control of the council, they have hired extra road marking crews<\/a>.<\/p>\n Green Cllr Ed Plowden, chair of the transport committee, said: \u201cWe recognise that the road markings are not in a good state. That\u2019s a legacy that we\u2019ve inherited. We\u2019re now organising for four crews to be out there, proactively doing an area and responding to concerns from councillors, and prioritising things like double yellow lines which are safety features and zebras.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of evidence to show that if drivers know they\u2019re within the line and an oncoming vehicle is within the line, they won\u2019t do anything to compensate for the risk. If it\u2019s not so clear, they\u2019ll slow down. If drivers are feeling safe, they\u2019re likely to take more risks which puts vulnerable people like cyclists and pedestrians more at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n