Is it permitted to drive onto a guide island marked with wide white lines?

Explanation

Prohibited.

The triangular area filled with wide white lines and angled markings is a guide island. This marking is applied at a point where one traffic flow separates from the main flow or joins it, and its job is to create a buffer zone between the two flows. Entry into this area is prohibited — not only for passing through, but also for stopping, parking and reversing.

The technical reason is exactly what the island's shape shows. Where two routes separate or join, the speed differences are large and drivers are changing lanes. If someone enters the buffer area, he suddenly appears at a point where nobody expects a car to be, and the angle of collision is very dangerous too. This surface is in fact the other drivers' reaction space and must stay empty.

Recognise two common traps. First, because this area looks empty and roomy, you are tempted to use it for a brief stop or for waiting; being empty is precisely its function. Second, thinking that reversing or moving slowly creates an exception; the prohibition has nothing to do with speed or direction of travel. If you have missed the exit, drive on to the next one and never come back across the island.

• Stopping on a guide island is prohibited too; this surface must always stay empty so as to preserve the reaction space of drivers who are changing lanes. • Reversing creates no exception and is even more dangerous, because at the point where flows separate the driver's rearward view is very limited.

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