Which road user may use this area?
A reservation sign allocates a road area, lane, stop or parking space to the indicated road user. Establish both the class and the kind of space: a bus stop, a bus lane and a bus parking bay are not interchangeable. A parking P changes the interpretation to a parking reservation.
Reservation signs cover bus, bus-lane, cycle-lane/parking, general or limited parking and motorcycle reservations. Further vehicle symbols cover cars, taxis, minibuses, midibuses, delivery and goods vehicles, goods vehicles above the indicated GVM, construction, hazardous substances, abnormal vehicles, rickshaws, tour buses and high-occupancy vehicles.
Further reservation symbols identify ambulances/emergency vehicles, vehicles used by people with disabilities, authorised vehicles, bus stops and minibus stops. Combined bus, minibus and midibus symbols distinguish the admitted classes, their lanes and the beginning of those lanes.
- Do not use a reserved lane simply to pass a queue. A time plate can make a reservation apply only during stated hours; outside those hours, check the remaining signs and markings before using it.
- For a disability bay, the symbol identifies the reserved purpose; comply with the applicable authorisation requirements. An empty bay is still reserved.
- When a reservation begins ahead, change lanes safely before its start. Do not cross a solid channelising line to escape at the last moment.
One sign can introduce several rules
The freeway-beginning signs identify a dual-carriageway or single-carriageway freeway. These signs introduce the freeway rules; they are not merely route-name boards. A single-carriageway freeway does not have a central separation that makes opposing traffic disappear.
The woonerf sign introduces a woonerf, a shared residential environment in which pedestrians may use the road and drivers must avoid endangering them. Drive at the restricted pace appropriate to the zone, give pedestrians priority and use only designated parking places. Do not read the absence of a pavement as an ordinary high-speed road layout.
At a cancellation sign, identify exactly which comprehensive control ends. Ending freeway status does not cancel unrelated speed limits, and leaving a woonerf does not remove a separately signed restriction.