Which vehicle driver should give way?

Explanation

The tram driver.

The light facing the blue car shows a plain green, but the light on the tram's side shows the main red lit and only one green arrow glowing in the additional section on the right. The rule is here: when the main signal is red and only the arrow of the additional section lights up, movement is permitted only in the direction of that arrow, and the driver is obliged to give way to vehicles coming from other directions on a main green.

The safety reason for this rule is clear: the arrow of the additional section is a conditional permission, not an independent light phase. At that same moment another stream of traffic is crossing the junction on a full green, and that driver is not expecting to stop. If the one who has the arrow enters the junction without checking, he strikes the side of a car passing at through speed; a side impact is one of the most lethal junction crashes, because the crumple distance in the side of a car's body is almost zero.

The exam trap is that a tram usually takes precedence over non-rail vehicles. But that precedence holds only when the signals or the priority indications are equal. A tram moving on the arrow of an additional section loses its precedence at that moment. Memorise this sentence: the arrow of the additional section means permission to move, not priority — even for a tram.

• The blue car has the main green and its path is completely open; this option is built on the mistaken idea that a tram takes precedence in all circumstances.

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