Re: Request help with traffic terminology

[John Nurick <j -dot- nurick -at- IALDAY -dot- IPEXPAY -dot- OMCAY>]

On 16 Nov 1997 10:44:09 GMT, "RJ" <rjaffe -at- inter -dot- net -dot- il> wrote:

>Could someone help me with the correct terms in American and British
>English for the types of traffic violations described below. Perhaps there
>is no better term for some of them, such as speeding:

In BrE, it's "offences", not "violations". The following are the
terms used in the booklet the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency
sent with my latest UK driving licence (DVLA) or the 1992
edition of the UK Highway Code (HC). The DVLA booklet has a
section explaining "endorsement offence codes", the driving
offences for which your licence may be endorsed with "penalty
points". The HC is not the code of traffic law but an official
guide on how to behave on the road.

>Speeding

The DVLA mentions several kinds of speed limit offence, almost
all expressed in terms of "exceeding ... speed limit ..." HC
says "You *MUST NOT* exceed the maximum speed limits for the
road and for your vehicle".

>Tailgating (driving too close to the car in front)

There seems to be no specific offence covering tailgating,
though the word is widely understood. Usually the police would
just stop and warn you; I imagine you could be booked for
"driving without reasonable consideration for other road users"
or "dangerous driving" (DVLA). HC says "Leave enough space
between you and the vehicle in front so you can pull up safely
if it suddenly slows down or stops."

>Driving in the breakdown lane

The usual term is "driving on the hard shoulder"; the hard
shoulder is a breakdown lane, although the term is not used. HC
says "You *MUST NOT* use the hard shoulder for overtaking" and
so on. I don't know how the specific offences are phrased but I
expect it's in terms of not driving anywhere except on the
carriageway (traffic lanes).

>Driving over the solid median dividing line

Common parlance is things like "crossing the double white line"
(I don't think we have solid single median lines). HC says
"Where there are double white lines along the road and the line
nearest to you is unbroken, you *MUST NOT* cross or straddle
it..."; "Where the marked [with white diagonal stripes or
chevrons] area is bordered by an unbroken white line, you *MUST
NOT* enter it...". I don't know how the actual offences are
phrased.


John

I dislocated my e-mail address, and the doctor says it will be
six months before I can see a specialist.

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