Home SECTION IV SIGNAGE CHAPTER VI TYPES AND MEANINGS OF ROAD SIGNS AND ROAD MARKINGS SECTION 5 ROAD MARKINGS Article 167 Longitudinal white lines

Article 167 Longitudinal white lines

by Mark Nolan

The system and the meaning of the longitudinal white lines are the following:

 

A) Continuous longitudinal line. A longitudinal line consisting of a continuous line on the road means that no driver with their vehicle or animal must cross it or drive with their vehicle over it, when the line separates the two directions of movement, drive on the left of it.

 

A longitudinal line consisting of two continuous lines attached has the same meaning.

 

Remember that you can pass a continuous line to overtake cyclists, animals, pedestrians and stopped vehicles, as long as traffic does not come in the opposite direction.

 

A continuous white line on the roadway can also indicate the existence of a special lane, and drivers of the vehicles that are in the special lane can pass outside it with the necessary precautions to leave it when required by the manoeuvre or where they intend to go. In this case, the line is noticeably wider than usual.

 

B) Broken longitudinal line. A broken line on the road is intended to guide the movement of vehicles within lanes, and means that no driver should cross it, except when necessary and the traffic flow allows it, on roads with narrow lanes (less than three metres wide).

 

It can also be intended for:

 

1. Advising the driver approaching a longitudinal line too what is not allowed by this white line or that a section or road presents a greater risk; in these cases, the separation between the lines of the line is noticeably shorter than usually.

 

Or

 

2. Indicating the existence of a special lane (for certain types of vehicles, when they enter or exit); in this case the lines are significantly wider than usual.

 

C) Double broken longitudinal white lines. The unusual case of double broken lines, means the lane is reversible, that is to say, the traffic can flow in both directions, say by lane traffic lights or other means.

 

D) Continuous longitudinal white lines alongside broken ones. In the event of one side of the double line being broken, drivers should take into account the line on the side of the lane in which they are driving, thus vehicles on that side of the lane are allowed to cross the line if necessary, but the vehicles on the side of the lane where it is solid are not permitted to cross. When these marks change meaning, this does not mean that drivers carrying out an overtaking manoeuvre must return to their normal place in their own lane.

 

E) Guide marks at an intersection. They tell drivers how to perform a certain manoeuvre at an intersection.

 

F) Edge and parking lines. For the purposes of this article, the lines marking the edges of the road and parking places are not considered longitudinal lines.

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