---
title: "When you are travelling on the motorway, the… | Theory Test"
description: "When you are travelling on the motorway, the car in front shows its hazard lights for a short period of time. What does this mean? The correct answer is “Traf"
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# When you are travelling on the motorway, the car in front shows its hazard lights for a short period of time. What does this mean?

DVSA-style practice question · Motorway Rules

## The answer options

-   The police are ahead 
-   The driver wants you to overtake 
-   They are about to change lanes 
-   Traffic ahead is suddenly slowing or stopping**Correct** 

## Why that is the answer

Drivers may briefly use their hazard warning lights on a motorway or dual carriageway to warn trailing traffic that queueing or slow-moving traffic is immediately ahead. The Highway Code permits this specific use to help prevent collisions when speed drops abruptly. Hazard lights must never be used to signal a lane change, invite another driver to overtake, or warn others about police presence.

## How this comes up in the real test

Questions from motorway rules 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 Motorway Rules](/theory/quiz/motorway-rules)[Sit a full mock test](/theory/mock-test)

## More motorway rules questions

-   [Before making a journey on the motorway it is important to check your vehicle fully. Why is this?](/theory/questions/before-making-a-journey-on-the-motorway-it-is-important-to-check-your-vehicle-fully-why-is)
-   [Following a breakdown on the hard shoulder, how should you rejoin the motorway?](/theory/questions/following-a-breakdown-on-the-hard-shoulder-how-should-you-rejoin-the-motorway)
-   [How do smart motorways avoid traffic clustering?](/theory/questions/how-do-smart-motorways-avoid-traffic-clustering)
-   [How should you deal with traffic already on the motorway when joining from a slip road?](/theory/questions/how-should-you-deal-with-traffic-already-on-the-motorway-when-joining-from-a-slip-road)
-   [In England and Wales, traffic officers work on motorways as well as some secondary routes. What powers do they have?](/theory/questions/in-england-and-wales-traffic-officers-work-on-motorways-as-well-as-some-secondary-routes-w)
-   [On a motorway, how are the lanes to be used?](/theory/questions/on-a-motorway-how-are-the-lanes-to-be-used)

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