Vehicle weights and dimensions: bus & PCV theory test questions

1. A notice showing the vehicle's travelling height ✓
2. A notice showing the vehicle's unladen weight
3. The date of the last brake test
4. A list of low bridges on your route

Answer: A notice showing the vehicle's travelling height. If the travelling height is over 3 metres, a notice showing that height must be displayed in the cab where you can easily read it. It helps you judge bridges and other overhead hazards.

Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, reg 10

1. Feet and inches, with metres also allowed ✓
2. Metres only
3. Centimetres only
4. Yards and feet

Answer: Feet and inches, with metres also allowed. The height notice must give the height in feet and inches, and it may show metres as well. Many older bridge signs in the UK show feet and inches, so you need to compare like with like.

Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, reg 10

1. 2.25 metres
2. 2.55 metres ✓
3. 2.75 metres
4. 3.00 metres

Answer: 2.55 metres. Most motor vehicles and trailers may be no wider than 2.55 metres. Knowing your width helps you judge narrow roads, width restrictions and road works.

Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, reg 8

1. Drive through slowly in the middle of the road
2. Let some air out of your tyres to lower the vehicle
3. Follow a smaller vehicle through to check the clearance
4. Stop before the bridge and find another route ✓

Answer: Stop before the bridge and find another route. If your vehicle is taller than the height shown, it will not fit, so you must stop and find another way. Bridge strikes can cause serious injury and close roads or railways for hours.

The Highway Code: Traffic signs

1. No vehicles over the maximum gross weight shown ✓
2. Maximum axle weight advised for this bridge
3. End of a weight restriction
4. Goods vehicles may load and unload up to this weight

Answer: No vehicles over the maximum gross weight shown. A red circle giving a weight in tonnes, with no vehicle symbol, bans any vehicle over that maximum gross weight. Red circles are mostly signs that give orders.

The Highway Code: Traffic signs

1. Raising or lowering the air suspension ✓
2. Switching on the endurance brake
3. Using dipped headlights
4. Loading or unloading a tall load or container ✓

Answer: Raising or lowering the air suspension; Loading or unloading a tall load or container. Adjusting the air suspension and changing what you carry can both change your vehicle's height. Check your height again after anything that alters the suspension, body or load.

Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, reg 10

1. On your driving licence
2. On the tax reminder letter
3. On the tachograph printout
4. On the plate fixed to the vehicle ✓

Answer: On the plate fixed to the vehicle. The vehicle's plate shows its maximum permitted weights, including axle weights. You must not exceed them.

Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986

1. Vehicles taller than the height shown may not pass safely under the cable ✓
2. The road is closed to all vehicles higher than 3 metres
3. There is a tram depot ahead
4. You must use your hazard lights under the cable

Answer: Vehicles taller than the height shown may not pass safely under the cable. This sign warns of an overhead electric cable, and the plate gives the maximum height of vehicle that can pass safely. Touching overhead lines can be fatal.

The Highway Code: Traffic signs

1. At the left-hand edge of the road
2. At the right-hand edge of the road
3. It's the same across the whole width
4. In the centre of the arch ✓

Answer: In the centre of the arch. The headroom under an arched bridge is usually greatest in the middle. You may need to wait for a clear road so you can use the middle without meeting oncoming traffic.

The Highway Code: Traffic signs

1. Swing out to the right ✓
2. Follow exactly the path of the front wheels
3. Cut in sharply to the left
4. Lift slightly off the road

Answer: Swing out to the right. When you turn, a long rear overhang swings out in the opposite direction to the turn. Check your mirrors so the rear doesn't hit other vehicles, street furniture or people.

The Highway Code: rule 221

1. Bus stop ahead
2. Buses only
3. Bus lane ends
4. No buses with more than 8 passenger seats ✓

Answer: No buses with more than 8 passenger seats. This sign bans buses with more than 8 passenger seats. You'll need another route unless a plate gives an exception.

The Highway Code: Traffic signs

1. Check the route for low bridges and overhanging trees ✓
2. Lower the tyre pressures to reduce height
3. Plan to use the right-hand lane on all motorways
4. Ask passengers to sit downstairs only

Answer: Check the route for low bridges and overhanging trees. A double-deck bus is tall, so low bridges and overhanging branches are a real danger. Planning your route first means you won't be caught out.

The Highway Code: rule 97

1. It would make the tachograph record the wrong speed
2. Only because the fares would be wrong
3. Extra passengers make the fuel tank harder to fill
4. The bus could be overloaded, affecting its braking and steering ✓

Answer: The bus could be overloaded, affecting its braking and steering. Too many passengers can overload the bus and its axles, which affects braking, steering and stability. It also makes an emergency evacuation harder.

The Highway Code: rule 98

1. The rear of the bus swinging over the kerb ✓
2. Traffic approaching from the opposite direction
3. The fuel gauge
4. The front wheels

Answer: The rear of the bus swinging over the kerb. When you steer away from the kerb, the rear overhang swings towards it and can strike people or objects on the pavement. Watch your nearside mirror as you pull out.

The Highway Code: rule 221