What’s the purpose of a crawler lane?

• A. To enable emergency vehicles to get quickly to the scene of an incident
• B. To enable other traffic to overtake on the nearside
• C. To enable slow-moving traffic to move further over to the left on uphill gradients
• D. To enable large vehicles to park out of the way

Answer: (C)

Crawler lanes are extra lanes on uphill gradients designed to help slow-moving vehicles, especially heavy goods vehicles, keep moving without holding up faster traffic. By moving over to the left into the crawler lane, these slower vehicles can climb at their own pace while the remaining lanes are kept clear for quicker traffic to overtake on the right. This improves flow and reduces the risk of queues and collisions on hills. It isn’t for emergency vehicles to rush to a scene or for parking, and it isn’t intended for overtaking on the nearside.