How many carriageways does this road have?

Explanation

Two carriageways.

The unit of counting in this question is the "carriageway", not the "traffic lane". In the picture a grassed dividing strip runs down the middle of the road, bounded on each side by a solid white line. Anything with a dividing strip between its two sides forms two independent carriageways; so this road has two carriageways.

Note that the same picture also has four traffic lanes: in each carriageway a broken line divides it into two lanes. This is exactly where candidates come unstuck — they mistake four traffic lanes for four carriageways. Carriageways are counted by dividing strips, lanes by longitudinal markings.

This distinction is not merely verbal and ties directly to driving behaviour. On a road with a dividing strip, the opposite carriageway is effectively a separate road: entering it means travelling in a prohibited direction, not merely crossing a line. U-turns and left turns are possible only at gaps in the dividing strip, and overtaking by entering the opposing lane does not arise at all. Correctly identifying the number of carriageways is also the basis for answering questions on speed limits and stopping places, so fix this distinction firmly from the outset.

• "One" would be right if the road were a single unit divided only by markings; but the grassed strip in the middle is a real structure and forms two separate carriageways. • "Four" is the number of traffic lanes, not carriageways; this very substitution of concepts is the most frequent error in this question.

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