The operation of vehicles is prohibited if:

Explanation

Both total steering play exceeding 10 degrees on a passenger car and the absence of mudguards or mudflaps provided for in the design.

Both items are on the list of prohibiting defects and each is enough on its own to take the vehicle off the road.

Total steering play is the angle through which the steering wheel turns without the road wheels responding. The permitted limit depends on the vehicle type: 10 degrees for a passenger car, 20 degrees for a bus and 25 degrees for a goods vehicle. Exceeding this limit means there is a delay between the driver's input and the vehicle turning; in an emergency manoeuvre that small delay turns steering from a precise action into an excessive, oscillating one and sets the vehicle swaying laterally. Excessive play is also usually a sign of worn ball joints and steering box, which means there is a risk of sudden failure too.

Mudguards and mudflaps look decorative but have a clear safety function: they contain the gravel, mud and spray that the tyre throws backwards at speed. Without them, the vehicle behind gets a cracked windscreen or zero visibility in rain, and the motorcyclist behind becomes a direct target for stones.

Worth memorising: tie the figure 10 degrees to the word "passenger car"; if you see that same figure applied to a bus or lorry in an option, you are probably facing a trap.

• Correct but incomplete; steering play above 10 degrees on a passenger car really does create a prohibition, but this option ignores the mudguard item. • The absence of mudguards or mudflaps is independently on the list too; choosing it alone means you have dropped the steering item.

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