Regulations relating to stopping

When you are driving you may not necessarily think much about stopping and simply stop automatically when a light is on red. But infact knowing when you should stop on the road is very important for your own safety, that of your passengers, and other road users too.

There are various occasions on which you must stop. Before reading on, see how many situations in which you must stop you can think of.

Now that you've come up with your list, let's see how many of these you managed to get:

- At a red, amber or red and amber traffic light
- At stop lines by a stop sign
- When there is a stop children sign at a school crossing
- when a member of the police or a traffic warden instructs you to do so
- At a zebra crossing to give way to pedestrians
- At a pelican crossing when the light is red or flashing amber and pedestrians are crossing
- When there are flashing red lights on a motorway or level crossing
- If you are involved in an accident

It is very important that you understand the reasons why you must stop on each of these occasions, and whilst if you observe some drivers you sadly might think that an amber traffic light means speed up, that most certainly is not the case. Always err on the side of caution and only don't stop at the amber if it is unsafe for you to do so, otherwise do always slow down and stop.

Related Articles...

driving theory test
How to book your driving theory test
There is now an online booking system in place that will allow you to book a driving theory test online. There are also other ways to book a driving theory test: over the phone and you can...

Penalty Points
There are different offence codes for different types of offences, and penalty points come in lumps from one single point right up to eleven, depending on the type and severity of an offence that...

The risk of accidents - some statistics
No-one wants to think that they will be involved in an accident, but being aware that an accident could happen to you and the statistics is important. Accidents happen to ordinary people, so anyone...

Using head restraints
Your car will have head restraints in it, but do you take the time to adjust these before using the vehicle and ensuring they are set at the correct level for you? Head restraints in vehicles are...

What causes accidents: junctions
An alarmingly high proportion of accidents happen in and around junctions. This is because of the combination of busy roads, traffic that can be nose to tail and people crossing all sorts of...

Dealing with nerves
Learning to drive can make people nervous, and even if you are a confident driver then you may get nervous before the driving test itself. If this happens to you, then don't worry. It is only...

Thinking about a greener car
It is interesting to note that a signficant amount of the greenhouse gas emissions of the entire country comes from simply car travel: noticeably over 10% does. Therefore if you have a type of...

Pass Plus Explained
There is an old saying of driving instructors which they state once you've passed your test, and that is that now you really learn to drive. The idea is that you are about to start driving...

Why communication matters
When you are driving, in the vast majority of occasions there will be at least a fair number of other road users on them at the same time as you. This means that they will be reacting to how YOU...

Speed limits on motorways
The speed limits on the motorway are something that you will no doubt be aware of for cars, but is the limit the same for a motorbike? And what about if you are bus or a coach driver? Another...


Back to home page of driving theory test questions