These signs indicate:

Explanation

A parking place within a 30-metre zone, for motorised wheelchairs and vehicles bearing the "disabled" identification mark.

This assembly has three layers and you must read all three together. At the top, the blue sign with the letter "P" means a permitted parking place. The first plate beneath it bears a wheelchair symbol and limits the circle of users: this parking place is only for motorised wheelchairs and vehicles displaying the disabled identification mark. The second plate shows the figure 30 m between two arrows.

The direction of the arrows is where the exam catches you out. When the arrows are on either side of the figure and point outwards, the figure announces the length of the sign's zone of effect along the road; that is, from this point for 30 metres ahead the whole stretch is a reserved parking place. If the intention were to announce the distance to the start of the zone, a plate with a single upward arrow would be used. So "at 30 metres" is not the same as "within a 30-metre zone".

The reason for this marking is not merely convenience but safety: if a driver or passenger with limited mobility has to come from a distance and pass between rows of cars, he spends more time on the carriageway and is exposed to being struck. Reserving a nearby space shortens exactly that time of exposure. That is why occupying this parking place with an ordinary vehicle, even for a few minutes, is an offence.

• "A parking place at 30 metres" conveys the distance to the place, whereas the double-headed arrows in the picture show the length of the zone, not a distance. • This option is exactly the reverse of the truth: it excludes motorised wheelchairs, whereas the wheelchair symbol on the plate is there precisely for that group.

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