A U-turn in the marked area is

Explanation

Prohibited.

A U-turn is prohibited at a public-transport stop. The blue sign with the bus symbol on the right of the picture announces exactly that, and the white arc showing the U-turn path is drawn right inside that stop area.

The safety reason is entirely practical: a stop is where passengers board and alight, and people step into the carriageway suddenly from in front of or behind the bus. The body of a stopped bus acts like a wall, blocking both your view of the pedestrian and the pedestrian's view of you. Now if a car blocks the width of the road at that very point to turn around, it both closes off the bus's entry and exit path and moves slowly and crosswise exactly where a pedestrian is most likely to step out.

The exam trap is the second option: "if no public vehicle is present". The prohibition attaches to the place, not to the presence of a bus; the stop area is defined by the sign and special road markings, and within that area — empty or occupied — U-turns are banned.

Worth memorising: wherever a U-turn is prohibited, reversing is prohibited too; so do neither within a stop area. To go back, pass the stop and turn around at the first permitted point.

• "Allowed" ignores the stop area; the stop sign is visible in the picture and U-turns within this area are prohibited. • The presence or absence of a bus is not the criterion; the prohibition attaches to the stop area and holds even at an empty stop.

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