Road Signs, Markings and Traffic Signals
Core concepts
Bulgarian signs follow the Vienna Convention system, grouped as warning (triangular, red border), priority (e.g. Б2 give way, Б3 priority road), prohibitory (circular, red border), mandatory (circular, blue), information, service, and supplementary plates. Learn the numbering families and the meaning of the most common plates: distance to the hazard, direction of the priority road, vehicle categories affected, and time or day restrictions. Markings (пътна маркировка) are white except for temporary yellow markings at road works, which override permanent white lines. Learn continuous (непрекъсната) versus broken (прекъсната) lines, stop lines, give-way triangles, hatched areas, and bus-lane markings. Traffic-light signals include the standard three-colour head, the flashing amber, the green arrow, and the special lane signals above reversible lanes.
Traps in questions
Questions love the flashing amber: it means proceed with caution, not stop. A flashing red or an amber alone with no green means stop. A green arrow does not give priority over pedestrians or over traffic already in the junction. A supplementary plate showing a distance applies to the hazard, not to the sign itself. Temporary yellow markings at road works override the permanent white lines. A "no stopping" sign is stricter than "no parking": no stopping means no waiting at all, even briefly, even with the driver inside.
Worked example / rule of thumb
Rule of thumb: "Read the plate as part of the sign." Example: a circular red-bordered sign with a truck symbol and a plate showing "7 t" means vehicles over 7 tonnes are prohibited - an unladen 12-tonne truck is excluded even if loaded below 7 tonnes, because the total permitted mass is what counts.