What sign requires you to give way to vehicles traveling on an intersecting road?

Explanation

Sign 4 — the inverted "give way" triangle.

Sign 4 is a white inverted triangle with a red border and means "give way": before reaching the junction you must give way to vehicles moving on the crossing road. In practice it means the minor road is beneath your wheels and the crossing road is the main one; you must reduce speed enough that your entry forces no driver to brake or swerve.

In this set, three of the other signs have nothing to do with a junction and merely serve as fillers: one is a supplementary plate, one a weight restriction for goods vehicles and one relates to a narrow section of road. The only serious rival is sign 2, which also speaks about a junction but merely warns. You must fix this difference in your mind: a warning sign says "be aware of what lies ahead", a priority sign says "here is what you must do".

The safety reason for this sign's existence is simple: at a junction with no signs at all, priority is determined by the "right-hand" rule, and that rule works only when both drivers can see each other. At junctions with limited visibility, or where one road is plainly busier, the legislator removes the ambiguity and places the duty on the minor road. Worth memorising: the inverted triangle is the only sign whose shape is unique, so that it can be recognised even from behind and in the worst visibility.

• Sign 1 is a supplementary plate with a double-headed arrow. A plate never creates a duty on its own; it merely defines the extent or direction of application of the main sign above it. • Sign 2 is the junction warning triangle and is tempting for exactly that reason — its subject is a junction. But it only warns; at such a junction priority is determined by the "right-hand" rule. • Sign 3 relates to a narrow section of road and obliges you to give way to oncoming vehicles, not to the crossing road. • Sign 5 is a weight restriction for goods vehicles and says nothing about priority at all; it merely prohibits the passage of vehicles heavier than the stated limit.

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