Which of the following signs is placed just before crossing the traffic area?

Explanation

Sign number 2, that is "no right turn".

Sign number 2 is round with a red border and a struck-through arrow; that is, a prohibitory sign. Prohibitory signs that restrict a manoeuvre at a junction are placed immediately before the intersection of the carriageways, because their effect begins at that very point and the driver must make his decision there. If this sign were posted a hundred metres earlier, it would not be clear which junction the prohibition relates to.

The other four signs are triangular warning signs and have a different function: they inform rather than prohibit. A warning sign must be posted some distance before the hazard so the driver has time to slow down, change gear and prepare to pass; posting it right at the hazard is useless. That is why warning signs are always placed tens to hundreds of metres ahead of the hazard, and outside built-up areas that distance is greater because speeds are higher.

The rule to memorise is exactly this division: a red triangle means "there is such a thing ahead, get ready" and is posted at a distance; a red circle means "from here you may not" and is posted at the point where the prohibition applies. The exam trap is that because a "junction" sign also appears in the picture, the mind goes to it; but that sign merely announces the existence of a junction and is posted before it.

• Sign 1 merely announces that a junction is approaching and, as a warning sign, is posted ahead of the junction, not immediately before the intersection of the carriageways. • Sign 3 warns that the road reaches an embankment or riverbank and has nothing to do with a junction. • Sign 4 warns of a level crossing without barriers; it is where the road meets a railway, not where two carriageways meet, and it is posted at a distance. • Sign 5 warns of a movable bridge and, like the other triangles, is posted ahead of the hazard.

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