Start of traffic is

Explanation

The moment a vehicle starts moving from a stopping or parking place, whether or not connected with entering the adjacent lane.

"Starting movement" begins from the moment a stopped or parked vehicle sets off; it makes no difference whether you immediately enter the adjacent traffic lane or pull away straight along the same spot. Both cases fall under this heading and create the same duties.

The importance of this definition lies in the duties attached to it: when starting movement you must signal and you must give way to vehicles already in motion. If the definition covered only the case of entering the adjacent lane, the driver of a parked car could claim "I didn't change lanes, I just set off" and evade the duties to signal and to observe priority.

The safety reason comes from the difference in speeds. A car pulling away from the kerb starts from zero, while the main flow arrives at normal speed; entering that flow without signalling means hard braking or a swerve by the driver behind. That is the exam trap too: the narrower option looks correct, but the legal definition deliberately covers both cases.

• This option limits the definition to the case of entering the adjacent lane and leaves out pulling away straight from a parking place; yet that too is starting movement and carries the same duties to signal and observe priority.

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