On a busy arterial road you see a blue circular sign with a single red diagonal line through it and a plate reading '8am-6pm Mon-Sat'. A mile further on, a different blue circular sign shows a full red cross instead of a single line, with no time plate at all. What is the practical difference between what a driver may do at each location?
- There is no practical difference; both signs mean identical things and simply use different artwork for the same restriction
- At the single-line sign, waiting and parking are restricted only during the stated hours, though a brief stop to set down or pick up a passenger may still be permitted there; at the red-cross sign, stopping is prohibited at all times with no time plate needed, and not even setting down or picking up a passenger is allowed except in a genuine emergency
- The single line applies only to buses and taxis, while the red cross applies only to private cars
- The red cross is simply the older, superseded version of the single-line sign and no longer carries any legal force
Why B? And why not the others?
Correct answer: B. At the single-line sign, waiting and parking are restricted only during the stated hours, though a brief stop to set down or pick up a passenger may still be permitted there; at the red-cross sign, stopping is prohibited at all times with no time plate needed, and not even setting down or picking up a passenger is allowed except in a genuine emergency
A blue circle with a single diagonal red line marks an urban clearway, which restricts waiting during the times shown on its plate but still permits a brief stop to set down or pick up passengers, whereas a blue circle with a full red cross marks a plain clearway, a stricter, permanent restriction that needs no time plate because it applies at all times and permits no stopping at all for any purpose, including setting down or picking up passengers, other than in a genuine emergency. Calling the two signs identical ignores this real difference in both scope, permanent versus time-limited, and strictness, no exception versus a passenger exception. Restricting either sign to a specific vehicle class such as buses, taxis, or private cars is wrong, since both clearway signs are general restrictions applying to ordinary traffic rather than signs aimed at one category of vehicle; vehicle-specific lanes are marked with entirely different signs showing the permitted vehicle types. Describing the red cross as an outdated, superseded version of the single-line sign is also incorrect, since both designs remain current and are used simultaneously across the country precisely because they represent two different, and both currently valid, levels of restriction.
Source: The Highway Code: Traffic signs — signs giving orders (GOV.UK), clearway and urban clearway signs