Which sign does not apply to public vehicles?

Explanation

Sign 4; "no entry for motor vehicles".

Sign 4 is a circle with a red border and the symbol of a passenger car, and it prohibits the movement of motor vehicles. Of the signs in the picture, only this one belongs to the category whose requirement does not apply to public service vehicles; a bus or trolleybus travelling on an approved route may pass through its zone.

The logic of this exception lies in the structure of public transport. The route of public service vehicles is determined and approved in advance and its stops are fixed; if every local traffic prohibition also cut the bus route, the city's public network would fall apart with each new sign and people would fall back on private cars — which itself brings more traffic and more crashes. The driver at the wheel of a fixed-route bus is also regarded as a trained professional.

By contrast, the other signs in the picture are founded on a physical limitation or a priority rule and have no exception for buses; a bridge with a limited weight capacity collapses under a bus too, and high speed on a bend is even more dangerous for a bus. The common exam trap is exactly this: the candidate imagines that "public service vehicle" means exempt from all signs. The correct criterion is the type of sign, not the type of vehicle.

• Sign 1 is a 7-tonne weight restriction; the capacity of a bridge and of the road surface has nothing to do with the type of vehicle, so a bus is covered by it too. • Sign 2 is "give way"; the priority rule applies equally to all vehicles including public service vehicles. • Sign 3 is a no-overtaking prohibition and has no exception in favour of buses; overtaking a long vehicle is more dangerous still. • Sign 5 is a 50 km/h speed restriction; the commonest misconception is that a public service vehicle is exempt from speed limits.

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