On a road running alongside a tram line, you see a triangular sign with a red border showing the side-on silhouette of a tram, positioned before a point where the tram line crosses the carriageway at road level with no barrier. This is a different sign from the diamond-shaped tram sign that gives instructions to tram drivers only. What does this triangular sign require of you, and under which Highway Code rule?
- It warns that a tram service is being withdrawn permanently from this line, so no further tram-related caution is needed once you pass the sign
- It is purely informational, noting the presence of a heritage tramway with no effect on how you should drive
- It requires you to sound your horn as you approach the crossing so the tram driver knows a vehicle is present
- It warns that trams cross the road ahead, and under Highway Code Rule 301 you must always give way to trams, never trying to race, overtake, or pass them on the inside
Why D? And why not the others?
Correct answer: D. It warns that trams cross the road ahead, and under Highway Code Rule 301 you must always give way to trams, never trying to race, overtake, or pass them on the inside
The triangular red-bordered sign with a tram silhouette is 'trams crossing ahead', a warning aimed at other road users rather than at the trams themselves, and it is a different sign in both shape and audience from the diamond tram sign, which gives instructions specifically to tram drivers. Highway Code Rule 301 sets out the substantive duty this warning leads into: always give way to trams, and never try to race them, overtake them, or pass them on the inside, because a tram runs on fixed rails and cannot steer around a car in its path. The option describing permanent withdrawal of the service invents a meaning the sign does not carry; a warning triangle indicates an ongoing hazard to watch for, not a service-status announcement. The option calling the sign purely informational with no effect on driving ignores that a red-bordered triangle is, by the UK sign shape code, always a warning about a hazard requiring the driver's attention, not neutral information. The option instructing the driver to sound the horn misunderstands the correct response, which is to give way and never attempt to pass or race the tram, not to signal its presence audibly.
Source: GOV.UK, The Highway Code — Traffic signs (trams crossing ahead) and Rules 300-301 (trams and tramways)