Road Signs and Markings in Bulgaria
Reading the system, not memorising pictures
Bulgarian road signs follow the Vienna Convention shapes and colours, so shape alone narrows meaning. Triangles warn, circles command (red border = prohibition, blue = obligation), rectangles and squares inform, and octagons stop. Learn the priority-sign family precisely: the inverted triangle (yield), the octagon (stop), and the yellow diamond (priority road) with its cancellation variants. Supplementary plates below a sign change its scope - distance, length of stretch, vehicle category, or time - and questions often hinge on the plate rather than the main symbol.
Markings
Continuous white lines forbid crossing; broken lines permit it when safe. A continuous line on your side paired with a broken line on the other means only the side with the broken line may cross. Yellow markings mark stopping and parking restrictions, and zigzag or hatched areas must not be entered. Kerb markings and bus-lane markings are frequent distractors because candidates confuse stopping with parking prohibitions.
Traps
The classic trap is a sign that looks prohibitive but carries an exception plate (for example residents or permit holders), or a warning sign whose plate gives a length of hazard rather than a distance to it. Another is the difference between a prohibition applying at the sign itself and one applying from the sign onward. Read every element, including the plate, before answering.
Rule of thumb
Ask three questions in order: What shape and colour? (category) What does the main symbol show? (specific rule) What does the plate add? (scope). If any answer is missing, you have not finished reading the sign.