Which of these signs is a vehicle identification sign?

Explanation

Mark number 3; a yellow square with a red border and the image of two running children.

This question tests the difference between two quite distinct families. Traffic signs are mounted beside the road on posts and have standard shapes and colours: a red triangle for a warning, a blue circle for an instruction. Vehicle identification marks, by contrast, are fitted on the vehicle itself and their common format is a yellow square with a red border. In the picture, only mark 3 has that format.

That same mark 3 is the "carriage of children" sign and is fitted to the front and rear of a vehicle transporting a group of children. Its safety function is clear: on seeing it, surrounding drivers understand that when this vehicle stops, children may emerge from among or behind it, so they reduce speed and avoid overtaking at that moment. A child is short and is not visible behind a stopped vehicle; this mark takes the place of the lost sight line.

The main trap is that sign 1 and mark 3 bear exactly the same image — the same two running children. If you look only at the image you will answer wrongly. The correct criterion is shape and background: a triangle with a white field means a road warning sign, a yellow square means a mark on a vehicle.

• Mark 1 is the "children" warning triangle and is mounted on a post beside a school or kindergarten; the shared image with the correct option makes it deceptive, but it is not fitted to a vehicle. • Mark 2 is a blue circle with a pedestrian symbol, that is "pedestrian path"; a mandatory roadside sign, not an identification mark.

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