Operation of buses is prohibited if:

Explanation

When the bus's "stop request" signal does not work.

The "stop request" signal is the button a passenger presses to indicate that he wants to get off at the next stop. Its failure prohibits operation of the bus, because it removes the passenger's only defined means of communicating with the driver. Its natural substitute is calling out to the driver or moving forward in a moving bus; that is, precisely the behaviour that both takes the driver's attention off the road and exposes a standing passenger to falling when the bus brakes. The greater danger is sudden stops away from stops, which occur when the passenger reaches the driver late and the vehicle behind is not expecting it.

The second option is this chapter's well-known trap. Repeating the number-plate figures and letters on the rear of a bus's body is a requirement, not an offence; what brings a prohibition is the absence of this repetition, not its presence. Read the option's wording carefully and see whether it speaks of "are repeated" or "are not repeated" — the whole difference in the answer lies in that single negative.

The general rule is exactly this: in "operation is prohibited if…" questions, first identify whether each option describes the desired condition or a defect, and only then go to the technical content.

• Repeating the number-plate figures and letters on the rear of the body is mandatory for a bus; their presence is compliance, and what brings a prohibition is their absence. • Since the repeated plate is not an offence, "in both cases" becomes wrong and only the faulty stop request signal remains.

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