In which picture does the road have a dividing strip?

Explanation

In both pictures the road has a dividing strip.

A dividing strip is an element of the road that separates adjacent carriageways and is not intended for the movement or stopping of vehicles. The key point is that this separation can take two forms: either by a structure — such as a kerb, a barrier or a grassed strip — or by markings; that is, a strip of the road surface bounded on both sides by solid lines, entry into which is prohibited.

In the right-hand picture you see the structural type: an earth-and-grass strip clearly separating the two carriageways. In the left-hand picture the same function is performed by markings; a narrow band of asphalt in the middle of the road is bounded by two solid white lines, and no vehicle may drive or stop on it. Both are dividing strips to exactly the same degree.

The safety reason: the purpose of both forms is the same — to create a buffer between two opposing flows so that no head-on collision occurs and a small steering error does not turn into a disaster. That is why the law disregards the material and takes the function as its criterion.

The common exam trap is to treat only a green strip or a concrete kerb as a dividing strip and to count the marked example as "just markings". That same mistake then gives wrong answers in a chain through questions on U-turns, overtaking and counting carriageways.

• "Only right" means refusing to accept a dividing strip made of markings; the band enclosed between two solid lines in the left picture plays exactly the same role. • "Only left" also sees half the definition: the grassed strip in the right picture is the most obvious example of a dividing strip and cannot be set aside.

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