Does the driver have the right to make a U-turn at a distance of 200 meters from the sign in this situation?

Explanation

He has the right; the sign has announced a permitted U-turn place 200 metres ahead.

The sign on the right of the picture is blue and rectangular with a U-turn arrow, and the plate beneath it shows the figure "200 մ". This combination means "U-turn place, 200 metres ahead". A blue sign belongs to the family of information signs and fundamentally prohibits nothing; on the contrary, it tells you that 200 metres ahead a point has been provided at which you may lawfully and safely turn round. So the answer is yes.

The safety logic behind this sign relates to intercity roads such as the one you see in the picture: high speed, two opposing directions, and limited visibility on bends and crests. An arbitrary U-turn on such a road is the most dangerous manoeuvre possible, because the vehicle effectively blocks the width of the road. Rather than hoping drivers will guess a suitable place, the road authority builds one designed point with open sight lines and adequate space and introduces it to the driver in advance with a sign.

Worth memorising: at a place marked with this sign, only a U-turn is permitted and a left turn is not. Colour and shape are a reliable guide too: prohibitions are round and white with a red border, not blue and rectangular.

• This answer would be right if the sign were a white circle with a red border and a struck-through U-turn arrow; the blue sign in the picture does exactly the opposite and introduces a permitted U-turn place.

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