Signals given by a police officer

A police officer engaged in traffic control can direct vehicles to stop, proceed, or prepare to stop. The driver's response depends on the direction from which the vehicle approaches the officer; the handbook instructs motorists to obey the officer's traffic signals (SPF, Basic Theory of Driving).

The handbook's signal diagrams include these patterns:

• When the officer's arms are extended to the sides, traffic approaching the officer from the front and rear must stop; traffic approaching from the left and right may proceed.
• When the officer's right arm is extended, traffic approaching from the officer's right, front, and behind must stop; traffic approaching from the officer's left may proceed.
• When the officer faces traffic from the front and behind, that traffic must stop; traffic from the officer's right may proceed and traffic from the left should be ready to stop because the signal is about to change.
• A signal may direct right-turning traffic in front of the officer to proceed while traffic from all other directions stops (SPF, Basic Theory of Driving).

The diagrams are directional: identify the officer's front, rear, left, and right from the officer's position, then follow the movement permitted for the vehicle's approach. Disobeying a traffic direction of a police officer engaged in regulating traffic is also listed by Traffic Police among offences carrying demerit points and a composition fine (SPF, Penalties for Traffic Offences).

Coverage debt

• This article explains the handbook diagrams in text; it does not reproduce the handbook's illustrations.

Sources

• SPF, Basic Theory of Driving
• SPF, Penalties for Traffic Offences