Continuous longitudinal centre line

The figure shows a carriageway with a continuous longitudinal line at its centre and edge lines at the sides. The centre line separates opposing traffic and must not be crossed. It is too broad to say that the centre line prevents overtaking in every case: what is prohibited is crossing or straddling the continuous line, and an overtake that remains entirely within the available lane must still be assessed under all other rules. Absolute wording such as 'in every case' is therefore misleading.