Which of the following signs warns of approaching an intersection of equal roads?

Explanation

Sign number 5 — the black cross with two arms of equal thickness.

In the family of junction warning signs, line thickness is the sign's language. In sign 5 both arms of the cross are the same size and thickness; that is, neither road has precedence over the other and ahead of you is a junction of equal roads. At such a junction priority is not determined by a sign but by the "right-hand" rule: you must give way to a vehicle approaching from your right.

The safety reason for posting this warning is precisely that the driver should know in advance he is entering a junction where nobody has guaranteed priority. An equal-roads junction is the most dangerous type of unsignalised junction, because both drivers may assume they are on the main road. The sign forces you to reduce speed, look to your right and be ready to stop.

Worth memorising: wherever you see one thick line in a triangular sign, that line is your road and the thinner road is the minor one — that is, you have priority. Only when both lines are of equal thickness is the subject equality and the right-hand rule.

• Sign 1 has a thick vertical line (your road) and a thin horizontal line (a minor road); that is, a junction with a minor road and priority to you — exactly the opposite of equality. • Sign 2 is from the same family and merely shows a minor road joining from one side; here too your road is the main one. • Sign 3 is the inverted "give way" triangle and belongs to the priority family; its meaning is that your road is the minor one, not equal. • Sign 4, with two opposing arrows, announces that the traffic becomes two-way and is not about a junction at all.

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