16.4 Signals, Arm Signals & Authorised Persons

Quick Answer: Signals indicate your intentions — never use them as instructions to other road users. Arm signals are for when indicators are not used, or to reinforce indicators and stop lights, and are also used by pedal cyclists. You must promptly obey signals from police officers, traffic wardens and other authorised persons. Always cancel an indicator after the manoeuvre.

Two Chapters, One Skill

The Road Users' Code splits communication across two places. Chapter 1: For All Road Users creates the duty to understand and obey signals. Chapter 8: The Language of the Road opens with Signals before moving on to traffic lights, signs and markings, which Sections 14.1 to 14.3 of this guide already cover. This section fills the gap those sections left: the signals given by people, not by equipment.

The Rule That Decides the Most Questions

The Code states it in two short sentences:

You should only give signals to indicate your intentions to other road users. Never use them as instructions.

Read that twice, because taxi work is where it is broken most often. Flashing your headlamps at a pedestrian to send them across a road, waving a car out of a side turning, or beckoning a passenger through moving traffic are all instructions. If the person you waved is then struck by a vehicle you could not see, you gave an instruction you had no information to support.

The correct behaviour is narrower and safer: signal what you are about to do, then let other road users make their own judgement. Section 16.1 showed the other half of the same design — the Road Crossing Code tells pedestrians to judge the traffic themselves and warns them not to expect a driver to slow down.

How the Code Says to Signal

That last line is the Code's own competence standard, and it is the reason signals appear on a written test at all: an uncancelled indicator is a false statement of intention, and other drivers act on it.

Arm Signals: When They Apply

The Code gives arm signals a precise job:

• Arm signals are for use when direction indicator signals are not used; or
• when necessary to reinforce direction indicator signals and stop lights
• They are also for use by pedal cyclists

So an arm signal is not an alternative style preference — it is either a substitute where indicators are absent or unusable, or a reinforcement where an indicator alone may not be understood. Bright sunlight washing out a rear indicator, or a cyclist with no indicators at all, are the situations the rule anticipates.

Section 16.3 added the rider's caveat: an arm signal from a motor cycle means riding one-handed, which is dangerous, so riders are told not to give arm signals for longer than necessary and sometimes not at all. Expect two-wheeler arm signals to be brief — do not wait for a long, clear gesture before acting.

Signals Given by People in Authority

Chapter 1 is unambiguous: you must promptly obey all signals given by:

• Police officers
• Traffic wardens
• Other authorised persons — the Code gives examples: authorised personnel at a tunnel area or control area, and school crossing patrols

This duty overrides the equipment. If an officer is directing traffic through a junction, the officer's signal governs, not the traffic light. For a taxi driver, tunnel and control-area personnel matter especially: Section 15.4 covered tunnel and control-area driving, and the staff directing lane use inside those areas are exactly the "authorised persons" this rule names.

The reciprocal duty is also examinable: know the meaning of signals, including arm signals, given by drivers (including riders of motor cycles and motor tricycles) and cyclists, look out for them, and take necessary action promptly.

The General Duties in Chapter 1

The Code's opening chapter sets baseline conduct for everyone on the road, and these general rules make good short-answer material:

1. Avoid any behaviour likely to put any person in danger, cause damage to public or private property, or obstruct other road users.
2. Do not obstruct others by throwing, depositing or leaving any object or substance on the pavement or roadway.
3. If you cannot avoid creating such an obstruction, take the necessary steps to remove it as soon as possible.
4. If an obstruction cannot be removed immediately, you should give warning to other road users.
5. Make allowance for and help children, disabled persons, elderly people, and others who may have difficulty getting around — including people with injuries or travelling with children or luggage.

Rule 5 reads like courtesy and is in fact a Code duty. It is also the professional standard Section 15.3 described: a passenger with luggage, a child, or a mobility aid is not a slower fare, they are the person the Code names.

Applying It in the Cabin

Three habits convert this section into marks and into safe practice:

Section Takeaways

1. Signals state intention, never instruct — do not wave pedestrians or vehicles through.
2. Arm signals substitute for indicators, or reinforce indicators and stop lights, and are used by pedal cyclists.
3. Promptly obey police officers, traffic wardens, tunnel and control area personnel, and school crossing patrols.
4. Give only the illustrated signals, clearly and in good time, and cancel indicators afterwards.
5. Chapter 1 duties: no dangerous or obstructive behaviour, remove or warn about obstructions, and make allowance for vulnerable road users.