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    How will a school crossing officer signal you to stop?

    DVSA-style practice question · Vulnerable Road Users

    The answer options

    • Show you a red light
    • Point to children who are waiting to cross
    • Will display a stop signCorrect
    • Give you an arm signal

    Why the other options are wrong

    • “Show you a red light” is a distractor. It does not meet the standard the question is testing, which will display a stop sign does. Picking it in the real test costs a mark you cannot get back, and with a pass mark of 43 out of 50 you only have seven to spare.
    • “Point to children who are waiting to cross” is a distractor. It does not meet the standard the question is testing, which will display a stop sign does. Picking it in the real test costs a mark you cannot get back, and with a pass mark of 43 out of 50 you only have seven to spare.
    • “Give you an arm signal” is a distractor. It does not meet the standard the question is testing, which will display a stop sign does. Picking it in the real test costs a mark you cannot get back, and with a pass mark of 43 out of 50 you only have seven to spare.

    Why that is the answer

    A school crossing patrol officer will step into the road and display an official round 'Stop' sign to signal drivers to stop. Under the Highway Code and road traffic law, you must stop when this sign is shown. They do not use red lights or simple arm signals to control traffic. Always wait patiently until the officer and all pedestrians have safely cleared the road and the sign is lowered.

    What vulnerable road users covers

    • · Passing distances for cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians in the road
    • · Blind spots and shoulder checks before turning or changing lane
    • · Pedestrian crossing types and who has priority at each
    • · Children near schools, ice-cream vans and residential streets

    Mistakes learners repeat on this topic

    • · Overtaking a cyclist just before turning left across them
    • · Passing a horse at speed or sounding the horn to warn the rider
    • · Failing to check the nearside blind spot before moving off
    • · Assuming a pedestrian waiting at a zebra crossing must give way to you

    Instructor tip: On any question involving a cyclist at a junction, the safe answer almost always involves waiting behind them.

    How this comes up in the real test

    Questions from vulnerable road users appear throughout the 50-question multiple-choice section, and the wording changes between versions. Learn the rule rather than the sentence: the DVSA can ask the same point from the opposite direction, and a memorised answer falls over the moment the phrasing moves.

    The pass mark is 43 out of 50, so seven wrong answers is your entire margin. If a whole category is shaky, run the topic practice below until you are getting every question right for the right reason, then go back to full mocks under the clock.

    Practise Vulnerable Road UsersSit a full mock test

    More vulnerable road users questions

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