Dead signals, a traffic officer and a scholar patrol
It is 16:20 on a hot Friday and load shedding has knocked out the traffic signals at the junction of a four-lane arterial and a side road. A traffic officer in a reflective vest stands in the middle of the intersection. He is facing you, right arm raised vertically with the palm towards you, left arm pointing across the junction. At the same time a scholar patrol member steps onto the pedestrian crossing that runs along your left, holding a red-and-white stop sign straight out over the road. The white SUV in the lane to your right edges forward past its stop line because the driver is watching the dark signal head instead of the officer. Yellow no-stopping lines run along the left kerb, and a painted island with white chevrons separates your lane from the right-turn lane. Your lane is clear ahead and you want to turn left into a side street 80 m beyond the junction.
1. What does the officer's arm position require you to do, and how does it rank against the dead signal head and the markings?
Read the worked answer
You stop.
A traffic officer's hand signals override traffic signals, signs and road markings. When an officer faces you with the right arm raised vertically and the palm towards you, traffic approaching from that direction must stop and stay stopped until he lowers the arm or signals you on.
Ranking, from strongest to weakest:
- The officer's signal - binding, because a human is directing the actual traffic in front of him.
- Statutory signs and markings - including the stop line and the chevron island, which remain in force but are suspended where they conflict with the officer.
- The signal head - irrelevant here. A dark head is not a green light; it is simply out of service.
The trap is treating a dead signal as an automatic right of way. It is not: with no signal aspect showing, the officer, then the signs, then the general yield-to-the-right rule govern the junction. The SUV's decision to creep forward does not transfer any right to you - it only means you must watch it as a hazard.
2. The scholar patrol member is now on the crossing. Explain your obligations and how you handle the SUV that is edging forward.
Read the worked answer
A scholar patrol displaying a stop sign has the authority to stop traffic, and you obey it as you would any stop sign.
- Stop before the crossing, not on it, and remain stopped while the sign is held out.
- Do not rev, do not inch forward to "help" them along, and do not wave children across - the patrol member controls the crossing, not you.
- Wait until the sign is lowered and the crossing is completely clear of children before moving.
Handling the SUV: its driver is watching the signal head, so he has not seen the officer or the patrol. Treat him as unpredictable rather than as someone who will stop because he should.
- Do not pull alongside or ahead of him.
- Give him lateral space - stay in your lane, not on the lane divider.
- Cover the brakes and watch his front wheels, not his indicator.
- If he starts to roll into the crossing while children are on it, hold your position and use your horn briefly to alert the patrol member and the SUV driver.
Defensive principle: the law gives the patrol priority, but priority is only useful if the other driver sees you.
3. What does the painted island with white chevrons mean, and what may you legally do with it?
Read the worked answer
It is a painted island - a separation marking, not a lane.
The white chevrons mark an area of road that vehicles must keep off. You may not ride or drive across it, stop on it, or use it to queue-jump or to overtake a line of traffic waiting to turn right. It exists to separate streams of traffic and to give turning vehicles a refuge, not to give you a shortcut.
Exceptions, and their limits:
- You may enter it only if directed to by a traffic officer, or in a genuine emergency where stopping elsewhere would be more dangerous.
- If your lane is blocked by an obstruction such as a broken-down vehicle and there is no other way past, crossing is defensible - but only after checking mirrors, signalling, and confirming nothing is already in the island or the turn lane.
For your left turn 80 m past the junction, the island is simply irrelevant: it splits the right-turn lane off from your lane, so you continue straight past it, signal left in good time, and check your blind spot for a cyclist before you turn.
Do not confuse a chevron island with a hatched area bounded by a solid line or with a yellow box junction - those carry their own rules about stopping and blocking the box.