This sign always surprises drivers: what to do if you see it

Road signs are particularly rich and diverse. A little too much? Sometimes the meaning of certain signs is not immediately obvious. In France, there are nearly 600 different models in the Highway Code .... It is already quite complicated to remember them all. So, for the holidays, when you go to foreign countries , you sometimes have to improvise, because they have just as many.

This is evidenced by the official catalog of the Spanish DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico), which lists more than 500 different signs. And French drivers, many of whom travel on the roads of our neighbors across the Pyrenees each year, should learn to know them better.

It is therefore in Spain that we come across this famous P-35 sign, a triangle with a red edge on a white background, displaying two black cars in parallel with two crossed arrows. This sign does not exist in France and can therefore surprise motorists. It was put in place to meet a specific need: to alert drivers to areas where the trajectories of vehicles intersect, typically when approaching a junction combining an acceleration lane and a deceleration lane. These areas, called "braiding zones", are particularly accident-prone , because they involve numerous simultaneous lane changes, increasing the risk of collisions.

When faced with this sign, it is therefore recommended to slow down, carefully observe the movements of other vehicles, yield to users traveling on the main road, make lane changes gradually and always maintain a sufficient safety distance. Always use your indicator to signal any lane change and, if possible, change lanes in advance.

According to Spanish media outlet Motor.es, the DGT ( General Directorate of Transport) has received numerous inquiries about this sign. This widespread confusion among drivers has several reasons. First, the sign's design, featuring two cars and crossed arrows, may be reminiscent of other signs such as the lane crossing sign, which warns of a lane crossing on motorways. Another factor contributing to the confusion is that braided lanes are not particularly common on all of the country's motorways.