To make a left turn in this situation you are required to

Explanation

Stop before the "stop line" marking and wait for the controller's signal for a left turn.

In the picture the traffic controller is standing with his arms lowered and you see him from the side. In this position only straight-ahead movement and a right turn are free; a left turn and a U-turn are not on the permitted list. When your intended manoeuvre is prohibited, you have no right to enter the junction and wait there; you must stop before the "stop line" marking and wait for the controller to give a different signal.

The safety reason for this ruling is the locking of the junction. A car waiting in the middle of a junction blocks the paths of flows that are permitted to move in the same phase, and in the picture the oncoming car is approaching. Besides, when the controller changes his signal, a car trapped in the middle of the junction has neither a way back nor a way forward.

Worth memorising: the place of stopping is determined by the type of prohibition. If your movement is prohibited, the stop line is your boundary; entering the junction in the hope that the way will open is itself an offence. The common exam trap is the option that suggests entering the junction and waiting there — the apparently harmless act that in practice ties the traffic in knots.

• Entering the junction while your manoeuvre is prohibited leaves your car in the middle of the path of the permitted flows and locks the junction. • This option assumes the left turn is permitted and merely requires giving way; whereas the controller's signal has not permitted this manoeuvre at all.

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