From the mentioned lane, in which direction can you continue driving?

Explanation

From this lane you may only go straight ahead or turn left.

Above each lane a blue "direction of travel in the lane" sign is mounted, and it is these signs that fix your duty, not habit or the markings. The sign above your lane has two arrows: one straight and one to the left. The sign on the left has only a left-turn arrow, and the one on the right has straight and right. That is, your lane is not the leftmost one; there is a fully left-turning lane beside you.

That point makes the whole answer: a U-turn is permitted only from the extreme left of the carriageway, and then only when the sign permits a left turn from that same lane. Since the leftmost lane beside you carries that role, the left arrow on your sign means only a left turn and gives no right to make a U-turn.

The safety reason is tangible too: a U-turn from a middle lane means a long arc that cuts across the path of vehicles in the left lane at that very moment; a driver waiting in the left lane to turn does not expect anyone to swing in front of him from his right. In the picture the double line down the middle of the road, which may not be crossed, is also visible. The exam trap is that the candidate automatically equates a left arrow with "left and U-turn".

• "Straight only" would require a sign with a single upward arrow; the sign above your lane has two arrows and has expressly permitted a left turn. • It attaches a U-turn to the left arrow, but that permission is only for the extreme left of the carriageway, and that lane has its own separate sign in the picture.

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