Signals and Road Signs
This domain tests whether you can read the road environment quickly and relay it to the driver. It covers the three families of road signs, traffic light phases, police signals that override everything else, road markings, and the prescribed hand signals.
The three sign families
- Mandatory / regulatory - circular, usually a red border on white: no entry, speed limit, no parking, compulsory turn, horn prohibited. Disobedience is an offence.
- Cautionary / warning - triangular with a red border: bend, school ahead, narrow bridge, hump, level crossing, slippery road.
- Informatory - rectangular, often blue or green: bus stop, parking, hospital, one way, route direction.
Traffic lights
- Red: stop before the stop line.
- Amber: stop, unless you are so close that stopping would itself be unsafe.
- Green: proceed only if the junction beyond is clear.
- Flashing amber: proceed with caution.
Police signals
An officer facing you with the palm raised means stop. An officer with the arm extended sideways, seen in profile, means you may proceed. Police signals override lights, signs and markings.
Markings and hand signals
A continuous centre line must not be crossed; a broken line may be crossed when safe. The prescribed hand signals use the right arm: extended straight out for a right turn, raised vertically with palm forward to signal a stop, moved up and down to signal slowing, and rotated in a circle to signal a left turn.
Worked example
A bus approaches a junction as the light turns amber and the stop line is still about fifteen metres away. Reasoning: at that distance a bus can stop safely, so the correct decision is to stop. Proceeding on amber merely because the vehicle behind is close is not a defence.
Traps that cost marks
Treating amber as an extension of green; missing overhead informatory signs because you only scan the kerb; and assuming a green light lets you enter a junction that is already blocked.