Obscured Warning Sign at a Rain-Soaked Junction
At 18:50, during heavy rain, you are riding a 125cc motorcycle alone at 45 km/h on a two-lane urban road. Your headlamp is on dipped beam. Ahead, a triangular sign with a red border and a black narrowing-road symbol is tilted about 30 degrees and partly covered by a fallen palm frond. Beyond it, the left lane is closed by roadworks marked by two cones; a solid white line runs along the right side of your lane, and a taxi 15 m ahead brakes sharply. The road surface is glossy with water, and your rear tyre is at 24 psi against a recommended 29 psi. A pedestrian with an umbrella steps toward the edge 8 m ahead. You have no passenger. The roadworks sign is not visible. Decide what the warning sign and the solid line mean for your path, how you should slow and signal, and whether you may cross the solid line to pass the taxi.
1. What does the triangular sign and solid white line require you to do in this situation, and what is your first action?
Read the worked answer
The triangular sign with a red border is a warning, not a command: it tells you the road narrows ahead, so the safe response is to lose speed before the pinch point, not at the cones. The solid white line on your right marks the edge of the usable lane and must not be crossed; with water on the road and a rear tyre 5 psi below recommendation, grip is already reduced. Your first action should be a smooth roll-off of the throttle and a progressive squeeze of both brakes, while checking the mirror and giving a clear signal of your intention to move left around the closed lane only if the lane is genuinely free. Keep a 3-second gap to the taxi in these wet conditions, because its brake lights may be the first warning of the pedestrian. Do not fixate on the sign; scan the cones, the taxi and the pedestrian together.
2. The taxi stops abruptly. Describe your braking and escape path, including use of the closed lane.
Read the worked answer
If the taxi stops, assume it has stopped for the pedestrian until you can see otherwise. Brake in a straight line with both brakes, easing off the front as the front tyre crosses the glossy patch; do not grab the brake or swerve toward the cones. Your escape path is the space behind the taxi, not the closed left lane, because cones and roadworks can hide a trench, worker or plant. If the left lane is separated by a solid line and cones, entering it is both illegal and physically risky. Stop with enough room to pull away if the taxi rolls back, keep the front wheel straight, and watch the pedestrian's feet rather than the umbrella. Only after the taxi moves and you can see past the cones should you proceed, and then at walking pace until the narrowing is clear.
3. Why is crossing the solid line to overtake the taxi a poor judgement even if the oncoming lane looks clear?
Read the worked answer
Crossing the solid line is poor judgement for three reasons. First, the line is a legal prohibition, so an overtake is unlawful even if the far lane looks empty. Second, looks are unreliable here: the taxi may be stopped for the pedestrian, and the solid line may be protecting a concealed entrance or roadworks access. Third, the surface is wet and your rear tyre is under-inflated, so an overtake would combine a lane crossing, reduced grip and a possible pedestrian into one manoeuvre with no escape if the taxi moves or a vehicle emerges. The correct overtake, if any, comes after the obstruction, with a broken line, clear sight distance and a gap you can see. The solid line is therefore not a challenge to your skill; it is a warning that the risk is not worth taking.