Which sign indicates a road segment with one-way traffic?

Explanation

Sign number 3, the blue rectangle with a single white arrow pointing up.

Sign number 3 is a blue rectangle with one plain white arrow, and it means that across the whole width of this carriageway, traffic runs in one direction only. This is a sign informing you about the status of the road, not an instruction about your manoeuvre; it tells you there is no oncoming traffic and you may use the full width of the carriageway.

The main trap in this question is sign number 5: a blue circle with a white arrow. The shape, colour and arrow are similar but the meaning is quite different; a blue circle is a mandatory sign and says that from this point you must travel straight ahead only, without saying anything about the whole road being one-way. Memorise the general rule: a circle determines your duty, a rectangle or square describes the state of the road.

The other two signs in the picture supply their own reason for not being the answer. The signs for priority over oncoming traffic and for giving way to oncoming traffic both presuppose that an opposing flow exists; that is, that the road is two-way. On a one-way road oncoming traffic has no meaning at all, and that contradiction eliminates both options at once.

• The red triangle in the picture warns of the road narrowing from the right and says nothing about direction of travel. • Sign 2 gives priority over oncoming vehicles; the existence of oncoming traffic means the road is two-way. • Sign 4 obliges you to give way to oncoming traffic; again the premise is that the road is two-way. • The blue circle with an arrow is the mandatory "straight ahead only" sign and governs your behaviour at that point, not the traffic regime of the whole road.

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