The signs show that

Explanation

After 200 metres you reach a place where you must give way to those crossing on the intersecting road.

Read the composition piece by piece: the inverted triangle with a red border means "give way", and the rectangular plate beneath it with the figure 200 m announces the distance to that place. That is, this sign creates no duty for you at this point; it merely says that 200 metres ahead there is a junction where you will have to give way.

Why has the law thought this advance warning necessary? Because on an interurban road like the one in this picture speeds are high and you have insufficient view from behind the lorry ahead of you. So that the matter is not settled at the last moment with heavy braking, the sign is posted early, so that from here on you reduce speed, adjust your following distance and are ready to stop at the stop line.

The key point that makes the difference between the two options: the figure on the supplementary plate here is "distance to the subject", not "length of the zone of effect". The duty to give way is a point duty and is performed at the junction; there is no such thing in law as "giving way to everyone for 200 metres".

Memorise this here: the figure beneath a warning or priority sign usually means "this far to go", not "this far it continues".

• This takes the figure 200 m as the "length of the zone of effect"; giving way is a point duty at the junction and is not spread over a 200-metre stretch of road.

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