The operation of vehicles is prohibited if:

Explanation

When the total steering play of a bus built on a passenger car base is 15 degrees.

Both options state the same figure — 15 degrees — and differ only in the vehicle type; which is exactly where this question is built. The permitted limit for total steering play is 10 degrees for a passenger car and vehicles built on its base, but for an ordinary bus that ceiling is higher, at 20 degrees. So 15 degrees on a vehicle with a passenger car base has exceeded the legal limit and is prohibited, whereas the same 15 degrees on an ordinary bus is still within the permitted range.

This difference is not arbitrary. A large bus's steering system has more components and longer arms, and a degree of inherent play in it is unavoidable; a car's steering, by contrast, is short and direct, and those same few extra degrees of play immediately translate into perceptible imprecision in the course. The operating speeds of the two vehicles also differ, and a steering error costs more at higher speed.

For the exam, memorise this small table: passenger cars and vehicles built on their base 10 degrees, buses 20 degrees, goods vehicles 25 degrees. Any figure exceeding the ceiling for that vehicle type brings a prohibition on operation; so before judging the figure, first find the vehicle type in the wording of the option.

• For an ordinary bus the steering play ceiling is higher and 15 degrees has not yet exceeded that limit, so this condition creates no prohibition on its own. • Since only the version concerning the vehicle built on a passenger car base exceeds the permitted limit, "in both cases" is wrong.

Sources and content coverage · Report a content error