These controls change with time, direction, and the people using the road. Before moving, identify which signal applies to your lane and movement, whether anyone is still crossing, and whether temporary equipment closes an area or guides you around it. Never replace an active control with a guess about who would otherwise have priority.
Read movement, phase, and place
A working secondary signal is obeyed as though it were the primary signal when the primary unit fails. Steady amber normally means stop. Continue only when amber appears after you have crossed the stop line, or when you are so close that stopping could cause a collision. A green arrow shown with red permits only the movement indicated by that arrow when the route is clear; red still controls every other movement. Above a lane, a red cross closes that lane to traffic facing it, while a white diagonal arrow directs drivers to move across in the shown direction.
| Control | Safe reading |
|---|---|
| Puffin crossing | Wait for green; drivers do not receive a flashing amber phase |
| Pelican flashing amber | Move only when the crossing is completely clear; people already crossing continue |
| Toucan crossing | Pedestrians and cyclists use it, and a cyclist may ride across on the permitted signal |
| Zebra zig-zags | Do not overtake a vehicle stopped at the crossing for a person to cross |
| Road-work barrier or cone | A barrier marks a closed area; cones can define the edge of a usable temporary route |
Crossing types matter because their phases differ. Do not import the pelican flashing-amber rule into a puffin crossing, and do not require a cyclist to dismount at a toucan when the cycle signal permits riding. At road works, the end sign ends restrictions associated with those works when no separate temporary control continues; it does not cancel permanent rules elsewhere on the road. Check for a new or continuing sign after the works rather than assuming every restriction has vanished.
Common misreads
- Ignoring all lights when the signal nearest the stop line fails. A working duplicate still supplies the control you must obey.
- Treating a green arrow beside red as permission for every direction. It releases only the displayed movement when that route is clear.
- Using a lane under a red cross at reduced speed because no opposing vehicle is visible. The cross closes the lane to your traffic.
- Waiting for flashing amber at a puffin crossing. Its driver sequence requires green before you move, with the way clear.
- Overtaking within zebra zig-zags because the person has not yet reached your lane. The stopped vehicle may be hiding someone crossing.
- Reading an end-of-works sign as cancellation of permanent limits, or treating every cone as proof that the entire road is closed.
Try it
The traffic signal changes to steady amber as you approach the stop line. When may you continue across the line?
- Whenever no other vehicle is visible in the junction
- Only if amber appears after you have already crossed the line, or you are so close that stopping might cause a collision
- Whenever the driver intends to turn left rather than continue ahead
- Only when a pedestrian presses the crossing button
A cyclist reaches a toucan crossing and receives the green cycle signal. How may the cyclist cross?
- The cyclist must carry the cycle across.
- The cyclist may ride across on the permitted signal.
- The cyclist may cross only beside a motor vehicle.
- The cyclist must wait for a ridden-horse signal.
Select all that apply: at a pelican crossing, the vehicle signal is flashing amber. Which statements are correct?
- A driver may proceed only if the crossing is completely clear.
- A pedestrian may begin crossing because vehicles must remain stopped.
- A pedestrian already on the crossing should continue across.
- A driver must proceed immediately without checking the crossing.