Driving instructor identifies three spots in Prague where road signs leave drivers baffled

Grajner, an instructor at Prague's King driving school, has flagged three specific locations in the capital where road signs and markings tend to confuse drivers. According to him, these aren't isolated incidents — Prague has quite a few such problem spots, and in some cases the confusion isn't the fault of planners at all, but stems from an unfortunate combination of different road elements clashing with one another.

The fork at Pankrác

The first spot is at Pankrác: a driver heading towards Pražského povstání sees signs permitting travel both to the left and right of the tram island. Right after that, however, a sign on the right prohibits entry to everyone except vehicles servicing the adjacent area. If a driver misses that sign, they risk turning into a road they shouldn't be on, and then have to turn around right across the tram tracks.

"The sign says 'you may,' but then there's actually nothing to do there, so you end up having to cross back over the rails. It's just badly marked," the instructor explained. In his view, the situation could be clarified with an additional warning indicating that the right-hand lane is reserved for service vehicles only.

Lane confusion on Vídeňská

The second example is Vídeňská Street. Based on the signs posted there, the dedicated bus lane ends exactly where a regular left-hand lane for going straight is supposed to begin. In reality, though, that left-hand lane simply doesn't exist. As a result, the markings give the impression that the road has two lanes, when in fact one of them is missing.

"If you look, the bus lane ends and only the left lane remains — but there is no left lane here," the instructor said, pointing out the mismatch between the signage and the actual road layout. The sign itself may technically be compliant, but the problem, he says, lies in how drivers perceive the whole picture together.

An unexpected cyclist on Moskevská

The third location is Moskevská Street. Drivers are used to being on the main road and don't expect a cyclist to appear from the right. However, as the instructor explains, cyclists can also travel along this street in the opposite direction, and in that case, they have right of way from the right.

"Nobody realises they need to yield to a cyclist coming from the right here. Even driving schools have a bad habit of failing students specifically for not checking to the right," Grajner said. Spotting the cyclist is difficult for drivers, since the possibility of oncoming traffic is indicated only by a small supplementary sign placed beneath a much more prominent one-way street sign.

If a driver encounters a similarly confusing spot, the instructor advises reporting it to the municipal police whenever possible. According to him, it's precisely such complaints from drivers and other road users that sometimes lead to confusing road markings being changed later on.

Read also: 9 best cycling routes around Prague: from the Vltava embankments to Karlštejn Castle

Source: novinky.cz