Is the vehicle allowed to stop at the specified place to drop off the passenger?

Explanation

Prohibited.

The white arrow in the picture points to the right edge of the carriageway, and on the kerb at that very point a solid yellow line is drawn. This marking prohibits stopping along its entire length, and setting down a passenger is not excepted from it.

A solid yellow line beside the kerb is not drawn at random; it comes where the standing of one car creates a real problem — in front of the entrances to shops and buildings, on narrow stretches of street, or near a junction or crossing where the view must stay open. In this very view from behind the wheel you can see that the buildings open directly onto the pavement and the street is not wide; a car stopped at this point both narrows the flow and hides from everyone else a pedestrian emerging between the cars.

Key point: a marking needs no sign to be valid. Even if there is no sign in the scene at all, the yellow line on the ground establishes the prohibition on its own, and the driver is obliged to look at the colour and continuity of the line before pulling in to the kerb.

The exam trap is to treat "it is only to set down a passenger" as sufficient grounds. The duration of the stop is irrelevant; the place of stopping is decisive.

• Setting down a passenger seems a short business, and that shortness is tempting, but the solid yellow line beside the kerb makes no exception for the duration of a stop. • Climbing onto the pavement not only fails to solve the problem but adds a second offence to the first; the pavement is the pedestrian's space and occupying it is prohibited.

Sources and content coverage · Report a content error