Test 11

Answer: All road tests in Zimbabwe are strictly with manual vehicle

A test may be taken in an automatic vehicle, the licence then being restricted to automatics, so the claim that every road test uses a manual is the wrong one. The 5000kg net mass for a heavy vehicle test and the dual footbrake fitted to driving school cars are both correct.

Answer: I may proceed with caution and without stopping provided there is no other approaching traffic

A give way sign does not order you to stop. Slow down, look, and if nothing is coming you may carry on without stopping. It is not only traffic from your right that counts: you give way to everything already on the road you are joining.

Answer: All motorists must be courteous to the old, disabled and children when using the roads

The Code asks every driver for courtesy and consideration towards other road users, and puts a special responsibility on the driver towards those with little protection, so courtesy to the old, the disabled and children is required of all motorists. A person pushing a wheelbarrow is a pedestrian, not a motorist.

Answer: Traffic already in the intersection regardless of which side it is coming from.

A vehicle already in the intersection has committed itself and everyone else waits, whichever side it came from. Only once the intersection is clear does the give way to the right rule decide who enters next.

Answer: Make sure a vehicle is fitted with good tyres

Wet roads come down to grip. Tyres with proper tread cut through the water and hold the road, while worn tyres let the vehicle slide or aquaplane. The handbrake and the interior lights do nothing for grip in the rain.

Answer: Width restriction

A narrow bridge is narrow, so width is what matters: whether two vehicles can pass on it at all, and how wide your own vehicle or load is. Height limits belong to structures you drive under, not to a bridge you drive across.

Answer: Once you have stopped in a legally permitted place

A call is taken only after you have pulled up somewhere it is legal to stop. Using a hand held phone while the vehicle is moving is an offence, and an empty rural road changes nothing: the danger is the distraction, not the amount of traffic.

Answer: Car B

The road Car B is on is the narrow one that ends at this T junction, and joining a bigger road from a small one means giving precedence to all the traffic on it. B is turning right, so it has to cross into the very lane the green car is coming up. Car B is the one that stops.

Answer: Car C

Both give way signs face the road running from top to bottom, the road car C is on, which makes the road car B is crossing on the priority road. Car C must wait for car B, so a car C that is moving is the one breaking the law.

Answer: Sun glare

A sun visor folds down to block low sun from your eyes, mostly early morning and late afternoon when the sun sits straight ahead of you. It does nothing about rain, and it is not there for street lights.

Answer: Immediately before making a left turn

Never overtake a cyclist just before turning left: you would pass and then cut straight across the line the cyclist is riding on. Hold back, let the cyclist go on, and turn behind them.

Answer: Turn at all

The lane you are in decides your direction. A straight ahead lane means straight ahead only, so no turn is allowed out of it, indicated or not. If you need to turn, move into the turning lane in good time.

Answer: Slow down and proceed with caution.

A narrow bridge takes one vehicle at a time or leaves very little room, so you slow down, look for anything already on it and cross with care. Overtaking on or near it is out, and flashing your lights decides nothing about who has the room.

Answer: Do not exceed the stated speed

A speed restriction sign states the maximum. You may drive at that speed or below it when conditions allow, but never above it. It is not an instruction to drive very slowly, and it applies whether or not there is a police officer about.

Answer: Slow down, check the rear view mirror, pull off the road and stop

Stopping is planned, not sudden: check the mirror, signal, slow down, pull right off the road and stop clear of the traffic lane. Braking hard in the lane invites the vehicle behind into your boot, and hazard lights do not give you the road.

Answer: Stop, look both sides and cross when safe

Open booms do not clear a heavy vehicle. It stops short of the rails, looks along the line in both directions, and crosses only when it can get right over without having to stop, because a heavy vehicle is slow to clear a crossing.

Answer: Keep the vehicle stationary

The parking brake holds a stopped vehicle still, on level ground as much as on a slope. It is not a brake for slowing down while you are moving; the footbrake does that.

Answer: Wait patiently and proceed when appropriate

At a pedestrian crossing the pedestrian has right of way. Wait behind the line until the crossing is clear, then move off. Waving people across or hooting at them hurries someone into the path of a vehicle you cannot see.

Answer: In heavy mist

Fog lights are for the times visibility collapses, in heavy mist or fog, when headlights alone are thrown back at you. They are not general night lights, and left on in clear air they dazzle the drivers around you.

Answer: Command sign

Command signs tell you what you must do, and a one way sign commands the direction of travel on that road. Warning and danger signs only alert you to something ahead; this one leaves you no choice.

Answer: White reflectors in front

Reflectors are white at the front and red at the rear, so a driver can tell in the dark which way a stationary vehicle is facing. Red showing towards you means you are looking at the back of a vehicle.

Answer: Yes

The Code says you must have your headlights on between 5.30pm and 6.30am, and 06.00 falls inside that stretch, so they must be lit. The rule runs on the clock, not on how light you judge the morning to be.

Answer: When going out

You indicate left as you come to your exit, so the drivers waiting to enter can see the gap coming. Going in needs no signal, because traffic in a circle can only travel one way round it.

Answer: Give way to oncoming traffic

Turning right takes you across the path of everything coming the other way, so you wait for oncoming traffic and turn only in a clear gap. Pedestrians on the pavement or at a shop window are not in your path.

Answer: 120km/h for light vehicles and 80km/h for heavy vehicles

The highway maximum is 120km/h for light vehicles and 80km/h for heavy vehicles, so no single figure covers everything on the road. Any lower limit that is posted, or the town limit, still overrides it.