Whispers of regulations covering the road (7)

I believe the answer is:

rustles

'whispers' is the definition.
('rustle' can be a synonym of 'whisper')

'regulations covering the road' is the wordplay.
'regulations' becomes 'rules' ('rule' can be a synonym of 'regulation').
'covering' is an insertion indicator.
'the road' becomes 'st'.
'rules' going around 'st' is 'RUSTLES'.

'of' acts as a link.

(Another definition for rustles that I've seen is " Steals cattle or sounds like ulsters".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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