2.3 Road Markings and Parking Restrictions
Key Takeaways
A single continuous centre line (RM-06) may be crossed only to turn right, or to avoid an accident in an emergency; it must never be crossed to overtake.
Double continuous centre lines (RM-11 and RM-12) must not be crossed or straddled, not even to turn right, except to avoid an accident in an emergency.
With mixed centre lines, the line on your side decides: broken on your side (RM-08) allows overtaking; continuous on your side (RM-07) forbids it.
A single yellow edge line (RM-16) marks prohibited or restricted parking; a double yellow line (RM-17 or RM-18) also covers loading, unloading and standing.
Schedule VII parking limits: 25 m (major road) or 10 m (minor road) from a junction, 30 m before and 15 m after a bus stop or pedestrian crossing, and 50 m before traffic lights at a junction.
2.3 Road Markings and Parking Restrictions
Road markings are lines, arrows, words and studs on the road surface. Regulation 24 of the Motor Traffic (Signs, Signals, Symbols and Road Markings) Regulations No. 02 of 2015 (Gazette Extraordinary No. 1940/21) gives them the same legal force as signs, and Schedule V describes each one (RM-01 to RM-54). The DMT sample paper shows a top-down picture of a car beside a marking and asks what the marking means, so learn the exact rule for each line.
1. Colours and Materials
- Every road marking is white unless the regulations say otherwise (regulation 26(2)).
- Yellow is used only for the no-parking edge lines RM-16, RM-17 and RM-18 and the junction-box markings RM-46 and RM-47 (regulation 26(3)). Where parking is restricted, the kerb itself may also be painted yellow (regulation 29).
- Markings may be paint, studs or plates. Studs and rumble strips may be raised slightly above the surface.
2. Longitudinal Markings: Lines Along the Road
| Code | Marking | What you may do (regulation 27 and Schedule V) |
|---|---|---|
| RM-03 / RM-04 / RM-05 | Broken centre line | Keep to its left. You may cross it to overtake or to turn right, when safe |
| RM-43 | Hazard warning line (a broken line with longer dashes) | A hazard is ahead; cross or overtake only with caution and if safe. It is laid for at least 50 m before a continuous line |
| RM-06 | Single continuous centre line | Keep to its left. You may cross it only to turn right (or to avoid an accident in an emergency). Overtaking across it is not allowed |
| RM-07 | Broken line beside a continuous line, continuous line on your side | You must not cross to overtake; you may cross to turn right, or to avoid an accident in an emergency |
| RM-08 | Continuous line beside a broken line, broken line on your side | You may cross to overtake, cross or turn right when safe |
| RM-11 / RM-12 | Double continuous centre lines | Keep to their left and never cross or straddle them: no overtaking, no turning right, no parking on either side, except to avoid an accident in an emergency |
| RM-13 | Lane lines (broken) | On roads of four or more lanes, drive within a lane. Use the outside (left) lanes for normal driving; the inside lanes are for overtaking and turning right |
| RM-14 / RM-15 | Edge line (with or without studs) | Marks the edge of the carriageway |
| RM-19 | Centre median or island edge line | Marks the edge of a median or traffic island |
| RM-20 to RM-22 | Hatched areas | Do not enter unless it is safe to do so. Where hatching separates traffic leaving in the same direction, enter only in an emergency |
| RM-53 / RM-54 | Asphalt strips, or two continuous lines 600 mm apart, as a median on four-lane undivided roads | Do not cross to overtake. You may cross only to turn right |
The sample paper uses these exact rules. A single continuous white line in the middle means "you may cross it to turn right, but you may not overtake". Two continuous white lines mean "you may neither overtake nor turn right across them".
Bus lanes and cycle lanes
A bus lane is marked by the words BUS LANE (RM-40), a lane line (RM-44) and the sign OSD-07, ending at OSD-08. Under regulation 27(6), only public transport vehicles may use or cross it, except:
- to avoid an accident, without endangering bus-lane users;
- where your own part of the road is blocked and the bus lane is the most convenient way past, returning as soon as possible;
- when a police officer directs you across it;
- for pedestrians crossing, for people getting in or out of a vehicle, and for loading or unloading where that is allowed.
Panels may limit a bus lane to certain hours or days (regulation 27(9)). Cycle lanes (RM-41, RM-42, RM-45 and OSD-09) work the same way for cyclists.
3. Transverse Markings: Lines Across the Road
| Code | Marking | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| RM-01 | Stop line (continuous) | When required to stop (STOP sign, red light or police signal), do not go beyond this line. Section 148(14) of the Act also requires a vehicle entering a road to stop where stop lines are painted |
| RM-39 | The word STOP on the road | You are approaching a junction controlled by a STOP sign and stop line |
| RM-02 | Give-way line (broken, across your lane) | Do not cross it in a way that endangers traffic on the major road or in the roundabout, or forces that traffic to change speed or course |
| RM-37 | Give-way triangle painted before the give-way line | The same give-way duty, at a minor road or roundabout entry |
| RM-36 | Warning marking for a pedestrian crossing or intersection ahead | Laid about 50 m before the crossing or junction; approach slowly, reducing speed by about 10 km/h |
| RM-38 | The word SLOW | Potential danger ahead; proceed with caution |
| RM-27 to RM-32 | Pedestrian crossing stripes (some raised, some with rumble strips) | Give way to pedestrians on the crossing (section 4.2) |
| RM-23 to RM-26 | Lane arrows (compulsory left, right, straight; traffic lanes) | You must follow the arrow for your lane |
| RM-51 / RM-52 | Speed limit painted on the road, and end of the limit | Same force as the sign |
4. Junction Boxes (RM-46 and RM-47)
A junction box is a yellow area of criss-cross diagonal lines inside a yellow border, placed at a junction other than a roundabout (regulation 27(12)). Schedule V states the rule:
- You must not enter the box in a way that causes any part of your vehicle to remain stationary inside it because of other stationary vehicles.
- Exception: a vehicle turning right may wait inside the box when it is prevented from completing the turn only by other stationary vehicles in or near the box that are waiting to complete a right turn.
- The box does not override traffic lights, signs or other markings at the junction. All of them apply together.
So, going straight or turning left, you enter only if your exit is clear.
5. Parking and Standing Restrictions
Yellow edge lines
| Code | Marking | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| RM-16 | Single yellow line along the edge | Parking on that side is prohibited or restricted; usually backed by the No Parking sign PHS-23 |
| RM-17 / RM-18 | Double yellow line (RM-18 with reflective studs) | Parking, loading, unloading and standing on that side are prohibited or restricted; backed by PHS-24 |
Times and exemptions, if any, appear on the white panel under the sign. Painted parking bays (RM-48 parallel, RM-49 perpendicular, RM-50 angle) show where you may park.
Prohibited parking distances (Schedule VII, regulation 37)
The authority may prohibit or restrict parking, by signs or markings, in these places:
| Place | No parking within |
|---|---|
| An intersection on a major road | 25 m |
| An intersection on a minor road | 10 m |
| A bus stop (OSD-06) | 30 m on the approach and 15 m on the departure side (regulation 13(8): no halting or parking within 30 m of the sign) |
| A bus bay | Inside the bay, and within 15 m before it and 10 m after it |
| A pedestrian crossing | On the crossing, within 30 m on the approach and 15 m on the departure side (regulation 28(12) also forbids stopping there) |
| Traffic lights at an intersection | 50 m on the approach |
| Pedestrian-operated lights away from an intersection | 30 m on the approach and 15 m on the departure side |
The DMT sample paper asks where a vehicle may be parked, offering distances from a junction, a bus halt and a pedestrian crossing. Use these figures. Away from marked restrictions, section 166(6) still forbids leaving a vehicle where it obstructs, or is likely to obstruct, traffic.
6. Exam Checklist
- Single continuous centre line: cross only to turn right, never to overtake.
- Double continuous centre lines: do not cross at all, except to avoid an accident in an emergency.
- Mixed lines: the line nearest you decides. Broken on your side, you may overtake; continuous on your side, you may not.
- Yellow: parking control, or a junction box.
- Distances: 25 m or 10 m from a junction; 30 m and 15 m at bus stops and pedestrian crossings; 50 m before traffic lights.
A single continuous white line runs along the centre of the road. Under regulation 27(2), when may you cross it?
To overtake a slow vehicle when the road ahead is clear
Only to turn right (or to avoid an accident in an emergency)
At any time during daylight
Never, not even to turn right
Which parking restriction distance may the road authority apply near an omnibus stopping place under Schedule VII of the 2015 regulations?
30 m on the approach and 15 m on the departure side
9 m on either side of the bus-stop sign
15 m on the approach and 5 m on the departure side of the stop
3 m on either side, measured from the bus shelter
Two continuous white lines run along the middle of the road. A driver wants to turn right into a side road across them. What does regulation 27(1) require?
The driver may cross them to turn right, provided that no oncoming traffic is in sight
The driver may straddle them while waiting for a gap in oncoming traffic to turn right
The driver may cross them to turn right, but only during daylight hours
The driver must not cross them to turn right, so must find another route
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.