Trialing Tutorial - Traps

The main skill in trialing is to find the errors in the ASR's and CRI's to enable you to follow the correct route. Traps can take many forms far too numerous to list (apart from the fact that there are new traps being dreamt up all the time) but here is a list of common ones for you to keep an eye out for.

ASR Traps.

• Not so much a trap as a point of confusion, always check the order of priorities in the ASR's. This lists the priority that certain instructions/rules should be implemented and can become important if you reach an intersection where you could follow any of three or four different instructions. Generally instructions given in the ASR's will be most important, followed by section overriding instructions, the individual CRI instructions and line of least deviation, but check none the less.
• Check what you should do upon encountering certain check codes. It is usual for L to mean left, R to mean right etc but it is a simple and effective trap to switch the meaning of one or both around.
• Definition of signs. Look out for hidden instructions in any ASRs defining signs. All example instructions will be preceded by "for example" or "eg" - any instructions not prefixed could be able to be executed during the trial, and instructions found in the ASR's generally override all other instructions.
• Watch for requirements to execute all instructions at intersections. This trap works well with checks instructing competitors to execute a u-turn - most competitors will do a u-turn immediately after the check and miss the check further up the street before the next intersection where the u-turn should be executed.
• Always be careful of instructions setting out definitions and procedures for no exit roads, and in particular where to execute u-turns in them.
• Definitions of roads should be closely examined. Sometimes carparks are deemed to be roads, sometimes they are not. Ditto driveways without letterboxes. Watch out for roads being named which do or do not exist.
• ASR's defining how signs are set out in the CRI's can often hold traps. While the convention is for signs to be words quoted in all CAPITAL LETTERS a neat trap is for signs to be words with Capital Letters.
• All other ASR instructions should be scrutinised closely and implemented exactly as they read. If an ASR instruction is in there it is to either clarify points or to provide a hidden trap.

CRI Traps

• Spelling errors. You can almost guarantee that somewhere in the CRI's there will be some deliberate spelling errors. These errors can greatly change what a CRI instruction means. Look especially out for number 5 instead of letter S, number 1 instead of letter I, number 0 instead of letter O, "f" instead of "t" (especially effective in words like "traffic lights")
• Quoting Signs (CAPITAL LETTERS). When a sign is quoted in capital letters in the CRI's, the physical sign must have exactly the same words with exactly the same spelling, and all words on the sign must be quoted. Look out for ROAD instead of RD, STREET instead of ST etc (there is a difference), the words NO EXIT where those words are also part of the sign (not where they are on a separate sign) and incorrect spelling as outlined above.
• Instructions with Quoted Signs (CAPITAL LETTERS). Here you need to take the instructions literally. take the following instructions:

Left at MOWBRAY PL
Left into MOWBRAY PL
Follow MOWBRAY PL

The first instruction can be followed (you are able to turn at a sign), as can the third instruction if the sign is a fingerboard (ie: pointing one way - you go the direction the fingerboard is pointing). The second instruction cannot be followed, because it is not possible to turn your car into a sign!

• Naming Signs (Sentence Case). Where a sign is written in sentence case in the CRI's this is usually to name a road, which is in turn named by the sign. You don't therefore have to find a sign with the exact same words on it (eg: the CRI name can omit the words NO EXIT, even if they are on the sign) but the spelling of the road name must still be the same. Again, watch out for spelling traps (1's, 5's, 0's etc)
• Instructions with Naming Signs (Sentence Case). Since you are not actually concentrating on the sign, the important object to take literally is the road. Thus:

Left at Mowbray Pl
Left into Mowbray Pl
Follow Mowbray Pl

The first instruction can be executed because you are turning at a specific physical object (the road Mowbray Pl). This time the second instruction can also be executed (you can turn into a road) but the third instruction cannot be executed (you cannot follow a road as it doesn't point anywhere the same as a fingerboard sign does)

• Stay on this road. If you get an instruction like this you must stay on the road you are on until a certain condition occurs.Take the following instructions:

Stay on this road until turning left into Mowbray Pl
Stay on this road

With the first instruction you must stay on the road you are on and not leave it until you are able to finish the instruction by turning left into Mowbray Pl. The second instruction is worse because you cannot finish the instruction until it is deleted by a check. Therefore, upon reaching the end of the road you are on you will have to do a u-turn (so that you can still stay on this road) and go back until you find the check to delete the instruction.

Be aware that in determining what this road is, you should take into account road markings at intersections (always follow the road markings) and the road surface (if this changes from, say, tarmac to gravel then this road has changed and you must u-turn)

• Stay on "named road". This can be even more devious as you need to look out for a change of name in the road. For example:

Stay on Kitchener Rd

As you travel along Kitchener Rd you are fine, but then suddenly without warning the name of the road chances to Hurstmere Rd. There is no warning, the road still looks the same, there is no intersection as such, but the name of the road has changed. Therefore, to stay on Kitchener Rd you must do a u-turn. The only way to finish a stay on "named road" instruction is to find a check to delete the instruction.

• Crossroads. These are another favourite for trial plotters as there is only one correct spelling for telling a competitor what to do at a set of crossroads. You could encounter the following instructions:

Left at crossroads
Left at cross roads
Left at crossroad
Left at CROSSROADS

Of these four instructions only the first (and possibly the last) can be executed. Instruction two indicates you should turn left at some "angry" roads, instruction three tells you to turn left at the single road (there must be multiple roads for crossroads to exist). As the the last instruction it would not be executed at a set of crossroads but at the sign "CROSSROADS".

"Along the Route" Traps

There are some traps which can only be found while actually out in the car. These include:

• A road sign quoted in the CRI's or ASR's must be clearly visible in its entirety from the direction of approach. If you can't read the sign from the road it cannot exist.
• Intersections can be modified by roads which are deemed not to exist (see the En Route section for more information). Also be careful of this when counting roads for instructions like "Third road on the left".
• Line of least deviation. Often an intersection will not have an instruction, especially if the intersection is with only a minor side-street. Be aware that when there are no instructions for an intersection then the "Order of Priorities" in the ASR's apply, which will often require you to take the line of least deviation, which may just be up that side street.

Introduction | En Route | Traps | Example One | Example Two