Section 36 — Road Traffic Act 1988: Drivers to comply with traffic signs.

Drivers to comply with traffic signs. 36 1 Where a traffic sign, being a sign—

a of the prescribed size, colour and type, or b of another character authorised by the relevant authority under the provisions in that behalf of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, has been lawfully placed on or near a road, a person driving or propelling a vehicle who fails to comply with the indication given by the sign is guilty of an offence.

2 A traffic sign shall not be treated for the purposes of this section as having been lawfully placed unless either—

a the indication given by the sign is an indication of a statutory prohibition, restriction or requirement, or b it is expressly provided by or under any provision of the Traffic Acts that this section shall apply to the sign or to signs of a type of which the sign is one; and, where the indication mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection is of the general nature only of the prohibition, restriction or requirement to which the sign relates, a person shall not be convicted of failure to comply with the indication unless he has failed to comply with the prohibition, restriction or requirement to which the sign relates.

3 For the purposes of this section a traffic sign placed on or near a road shall be deemed—

a to be of the prescribed size, colour and type, or of another character authorised by the relevant authority under the provisions in that behalf of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, and b (subject to subsection (2) above) to have been lawfully so placed, unless the contrary is proved.

4 Where a traffic survey of any description is being carried out on or in the vicinity of a road, this section applies to a traffic sign by which a direction is given—

a to stop a vehicle, b to make it proceed in, or keep to, a particular line of traffic, or c to proceed to a particular point on or near the road on which the vehicle is being driven or propelled, being a direction given for the purposes of the survey (but not a direction requiring any person to provide any information for the purposes of the survey).

5 Regulations made by the national authority may specify any traffic sign for the purposes of column 5 of the entry in Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 relating to offences under this section (offences committed by failing to comply with certain signs involve discretionary disqualification).

6 Before making regulations under subsection (5) the Secretary of State must consult with the Welsh Ministers and the Scottish Ministers.

7 Before the Welsh Ministers or the Scottish Ministers make regulations under subsection (5) they must consult with the Secretary of State.

8 In this section “relevant authority” has the meaning given by section 64(6A) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.