This identification mark is used to identify a vehicle:

Explanation

It is carrying dangerous goods.

The marking in the image is a rectangular plate with a black frame: the left part white and the right part coloured (orange-red), divided into two halves by a horizontal line. This plate is fitted to the front and rear of a vehicle carrying dangerous goods — fuel, gas, chemicals, flammable or toxic substances — and the hazard code and substance identification number are written on its coloured part.

The safety function of this marking has two layers. The first is for you as an ordinary driver: keep a greater distance behind such a vehicle, do not rush to overtake, do not sit alongside it in a tunnel or heavy traffic, and know that this vehicle has its own speed and route restrictions and does not stop suddenly. The second layer is for the emergency services; at the moment of a crash, that number on the orange plate determines whether the firefighter extinguishes with water or foam, and how many metres the evacuation zone must be. That is why the marking must always be kept clean and legible.

The common trap is confusing this plate with the other identification marks. Keep a simple test: a rectangle with a coloured section and a black frame means dangerous goods; a yellow circle with three dots means a deaf driver; the wheelchair symbol means a driver with a disability; and a square with diagonal red and white stripes means a bulky, oversized load.

• The mark for a driver with a disability bears the wheelchair symbol; this plate shows no symbol of an occupant and is about the vehicle's cargo, not its driver. • A bulky, oversized load is marked with diagonal red and white stripes (and, where required, flags and lights); the shared red colour is what causes these two to be confused. • The mark for a deaf driver is a yellow circle with three black dots and is not rectangular at all.

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