These road signs apply to:

Explanation

The side of the road on which the sign itself is installed.

Both signs in the picture belong to the "no parking" family: a blue circle with a red border and a diagonal red line. They differ in the white vertical bars in the middle; one bar means no parking on odd days of the month and two bars mean no parking on even days. But this question is not about the meaning of the bars; it is about the spatial extent of the signs' effect: the prohibition applies only to the side of the carriageway on which the sign is installed, not to the whole width of the road and not to the opposite side.

The logic of this design is entirely practical. Cities post these two signs facing each other to keep narrow streets clear on one side on alternate days, so that emergency vehicles, street cleaners and snowploughs can get through while parking capacity is not lost altogether. If the sign's effect extended to both sides, this alternation would be meaningless and in practice the whole street would be unusable every other day.

The exam trap lies here: because in practice you see most signs on the right, the mind goes to the "right side of the road" option. The legal criterion is not a geographical direction but the place of installation; the same sign, installed on the left, places the prohibition on the left. So before parking, find the sign's post and see on which edge of the carriageway it stands.

• "The left side" turns out right only where the sign really is installed at the left edge; as a general rule it substitutes a direction for the place of installation. • It is the most familiar option because most signs are installed on the right, but the rule is not tied to "right"; it is tied to the side on which the sign stands.

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