What signs with a percentage mean
When you are driving in some places, the roads will be up and down in terms of gradient, which refers to how the height of the road changes as you move along it, just like on a hill.
When you encounter steep ups and downs, you will usually see a sign to let you know about the road you are about to drive on.
This will be a triangular sign that has a red border: using your knowledge of driving theory you will know what sort of message this sign is going to be giving you.
But when you read the sign, how do you interpret it? Well, you will see that there will be a slope represented as a black triangle on it, and then a percentage above it: for instance it might say 20%.
This means that there is a 20 per cent gradient. You may also see a road sign that states this as 1:5. These two are equivalent. To work out the conversion if one means more sense to you than the other then you say 100 divided by what = 20, and you find it is 5: hence 20% is the same as 1:5.
But how do you then work out quite what this means? It simply says that for ever five feet you move forwards, the road drops (or rises one foot) which tells you that this is a fairly steep road on a hill.
Related Articles...
What happens after the practical test
At the end of the test, you may have had your driving instructor in the back but taking no part in the test. If not, you can call them over before you receive the feedback and result to your...
Risks when driving: bright or low sun
When the sun is low and bright, it can be very hard indeed to drive. This is because we may have to squint and the bright light can make it hard to pick out objects and to see, sometimes right in...
Medical rules and driving
There are a wide range of conditions that you can hold and still be a safe driver. However there are certain conditions that will may impact on your ability to be a safe driver and therefore could...
Testing your driving ability
The driving part of the test to assess if you are safe to let on the roads is called the practical test, and it lasts in the region of 40 minutes in total. The purpose is to assess if you can drive...
Theory test case studies
One of the relatively new elements added to the driving theory test is what is called the case study element. This was introduced on 28th September 2009, and there is one case study in the theory...
Rules regarding the use of seat belts
When it comes to seat belts, you should be certain of what the rules are with regard to seat belt usage, and your responsibilities as the driver in terms of other passengers in your vehicle and...
What different cats eyes mean
There are market studs, which are usually referred to as multi-coloured studs or even more usually as cats eyes, along certain areas of motorways and optionally on other parts of motorways...
Vulnerable road users - pedestrians
Pedestrians whether old or young are all potentially vulnerable. Any impact at all on a pedestrian is potentially fatal, and that goes for a pedestrian of any age.
Of course within the class...
Some common engine faults
It is beyond the scope of the articles here to go into detail about how the engine works and what the various parts of it are. For the theory test you won't need to know a great detail about the...
Prepare for driving theory tests
In order to pass tests, whether they are academic tests at school such as english, geography, spanish, french and so on, or to pass some other one - like theory tests - the methodology that can be...
Back to home page of driving theory test questions
