Paying attention to road markings is essential for correct, safe and efficient driving. Some support the function of vertical signs that indicate the right of way at an intersection, such as stop and yield signs, while others such as solid and broken lines extend the entire length of the road.
As a general rule, the continuous line indicates to drivers the prohibition to cross or cross the lane, and to circulate to the left of it when it demarcates the two directions of traffic. Meanwhile, the dashed line delimits both directions of traffic in the same way, but indicates permission for overtaking, without driving on it in any case. But what happens when the driver comes across a dashed line with lines that get shorter and shorter?
The discontinuous lines allow overtaking, both on motorways and on conventional roads, as long as drivers can do so in compliance with traffic regulations and in optimum safety conditions. That is why seeing a dashed line that is shorter than usual, despite the initial confusion that it may generate for the driver, means the proximity of a section of road in which there is a special risk.
The significantly shorter discontinuous lines can announce a multitude of situations, although all of them usually lead to the appearance of a continuous line and the vertical signaling corresponding to each context:
There are shorter broken lines with a specific purpose and, therefore, different from that of warning of the proximity of an obstacle. This is the case of some special situations such as, for example, the mandatory lane change when arriving at a nearby exit. Once completed, the lanes to each exit will be delimited by a solid line.
In some urban areas, a shorter dashed line may indicate a complete ban on overtaking. In any case, the increasingly shorter lines indicate road sections in which there is a high degree of danger, so it is a priority to respect these road markings and drive with caution at all times.
