In what direction can you continue driving at the mentioned intersection, if you are driving a truck with a maximum permissible weight of 3 tons?

Explanation

You may continue in any direction.

A round blue sign with an upward arrow means "straight ahead only". But directly beneath it a white supplementary plate with the image of a lorry is fitted, and that small plate changes the whole equation: a vehicle-type supplementary plate limits the main sign's scope to lorries whose permissible mass exceeds 3.5 tonnes. Your lorry is 3 tonnes, so the "straight ahead only" sign does not cover you and you may continue in any direction.

The logic of this combination is the management of heavy traffic. The city wants heavy lorries to pass along a defined route and not enter side streets, but there is no reason to send a van or light truck down that same compulsory route; if all vehicles were restricted, traffic would be needlessly concentrated on one route and the risk of collisions there would rise.

Worth memorising: always read the supplementary plate before the main sign. A lorry symbol on a supplementary plate means by default "a lorry with a permissible mass over 3.5 tonnes", not any vehicle with a goods-carrying appearance. That one rule solves several exam questions together. The exam trap is that the eye sees only the large blue arrow and overlooks the small white plate beneath it.

• This answer would be right if the van had a permissible mass over 3.5 tonnes; at 3 tonnes the supplementary plate takes you outside the main sign's scope. • This option confuses the "straight ahead only" sign with the "straight or right" sign; besides, the sign does not concern a 3-tonne lorry at all.

Sources and content coverage · Report a content error