Page:Report of the Departmental Committee on Traffic Signs (1946).djvu/39

 General principles governing prohibitory signs

86. The following observations summarise the principles which we consider should govern the design of new prohibitory signs:

(a) Signs prohibiting the use of the highway by specified classes of vehicles should be of one of the following types :

(i) Red disc surmounting a rectangular plate on which the prohibition is detailed in black letters on a white ground. (Diagram 50.)

(ii) Red disc with details of the prohibition displayed on the disc. (Diagram 48.)

(iii) Red ring surrounding a disc of another colour (blue being reserved for “waiting” signs only) on which particulars of the prohibition are displayed. (Diagrams 60 and 61.)

(b) Signs restricting the use of highways without imposing total prohibition of any class of vehicle, e.g. speed limits, should be surmounted, or surrounded, by a red ring. (Diagrams 53, 56 and 58.)

(c) Subject to the recommendations made later in this Report (paragraph 101) in respect of mandatory signs, the use of the types of signs detailed above should be restricted to cases where statutory powers to impose the prohibition or restriction have been exercised by the appropriate authority.

Meaning of term

87. In this Report the term “Mandatory Signs” is taken as including all roadside traffic signs which make it obligatory for drivers of vehicles to take the particular course of action indicated by the signs. They fall into two main classes:

(a) Signs requiring traffic to follow a particular route or to keep to a particular part of the highway, e.g. “Turn Left, One Way Only” (diagram 62), and “Dual Carriageway, Keep Left of Islands” (diagram 65). With the exception of the “Keep Left” sign (diagram 69) used on island refuges and other obstructions in the carriageway, signs in this class can properly be erected only where the direction given by the sign is backed by an appropriate statutory Order or Regulation.

(b) Signs requiring traffic to halt, e.g. “Halt at Major Road Ahead ”’ (diagram 70) and “Stop, Children Crossing” (diagram 71). Signs in this class do not require the backing of a statutory Order or Regulation, but the conditions under which they may be erected are specified by the Minister, either in his formal authorisation of them or in complementary Directions issued by him under Section 48(1) of the Road Traffic Act, 1930.

Signs adopted by Geneva 1931 Conference

88. The Geneva 1931 Conference adopted only two signs coming within the category of mandatory signs. One of these indicates the presence of a frontier Customs post at which traffic must stop. A sign for that purpose is not required in this country. The other sign consists of a disc on which an arrow indicates the direction to be followed by vehicles in accordance with regulations. We considered whether we should recommend the adoption of this latter sign in this country, but came to the conclusion that an arrow by itself to indicate that traffic must proceed in a particular direction would not be satisfactory. In the signs shown in diagrams 62, 63 and 68 we recommend the use of the arrow to supplement the worded instruction.