In traffic jams after the crossroads entering the crossroads is allowed

Explanation

Only when you are turning or making a U-turn at the junction.

In the picture a queue of cars is standing beyond the junction; the red car's brake lights are on and the straight-ahead path is effectively blocked. The rule is explicit: entering a junction is prohibited if the congestion that has formed would force you to stop in the middle of the junction and obstruct the movement of vehicles in the crossing direction. The only exception is when your manoeuvre is a right turn, a left turn or a U-turn.

The logic of the exception is simple: when you turn, you leave the junction into a road that is not blocked, so the body of your car does not become stuck at the point where the paths cross. But if you go straight, the end of your path is that standing queue, and the only place left for you is the middle of the junction.

The safety reason for this prohibition goes beyond traffic. A car stopped in the middle of a junction locks the crossing lane; drivers who have a green light are forced to squeeze past it or to stop inside the junction themselves, and within a few cycles the whole knot goes solid. More importantly, the path of the ambulance, the fire engine and the police is closed; the greatest delays to emergency vehicles in a city come from exactly this locking of junctions.

Worth memorising for the exam and for real driving: before entering a junction, look not at the light but at the empty space on the far side. A green light is not permission to enter; permission is the existence of enough room to clear the junction.

• Going straight is precisely the case that is prohibited, because the end of your path is a standing queue and you will inevitably be left in the middle of the junction. • "In all cases" removes the prohibition entirely; but the rule singles out the straight-ahead case and prohibits exactly that.

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