4.3 Police Hand Signals and Driver Signals
Key Takeaways
Instructions from police officers or traffic wardens directing traffic take precedence over traffic lights, signs and markings (regulation 3(2); s.162).
Schedule VIII police signals: HSP-01 stops traffic from the front, HSP-02 stops all traffic, HSP-03 stops traffic from front and behind, and HSP-04 to HSP-06 release traffic from the right, front or left.
Drivers signal with amber electric indicators (s.153(1)); arm signals are given with the right arm through the driver's window.
The arm signals are: right turn, arm straight out (SDR-01); slowing down, arm moved up and down (SDR-02); left turn, arm rotated anti-clockwise (SDR-03; s.153(4)).
Keep both hands on the wheel except when changing gear, giving a hand signal or working essential controls (s.152(4)).
4.3 Police Hand Signals and Driver Signals
Police and traffic-warden hand signals, and the signals drivers give to each other, appear on every version of the DMT sample paper. You are shown a photograph of an officer and asked "what is the officer's command?", or asked which signal a driver gives before turning or slowing. Three legal sources apply:
- Section 162 of the Motor Traffic Act: a driver must obey all verbal directions and signals given by a police officer on duty to stop, slow down, turn back, pass on a particular side or keep to a line of traffic.
- Regulation 3(2) of the 2015 Signs Regulations: instructions from authorised officials directing traffic take precedence over traffic lights, signs and markings.
- Section 153 of the Act and Schedule VIII of the 2015 regulations: the signals drivers must give.
1. Why the Officer Always Wins
Regulation 3(2) of the Motor Traffic (Signs, Signals, Symbols and Road Markings) Regulations No. 02 of 2015 sets the order of authority:
- Authorised officials directing traffic (police officers and traffic wardens)
- Traffic light signals
- Road signs regulating priority (STOP, GIVE WAY, priority road)
- Other road signs and road markings, which must also be obeyed
If the light is green but the officer signals you to stop, you stop. If the light is red but the officer waves you on, you go with care. Regulation 22(4)–(5) explains how to recognise the people who can do this: a traffic warden wears the warden jacket (MS-19) and a traffic police officer wears the police jacket (MS-20).
2. The Six Official Police Hand Signals (Schedule VIII, Part (a))
| Code | Name in the schedule | What the officer does (as illustrated) | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSP-01 | Traffic approaching from the front to STOP | Faces you with one arm raised straight up, palm towards you | Stop if you are approaching from the front |
| HSP-02 | All traffic to STOP | Raises both arms | All traffic stops |
| HSP-03 | Traffic approaching both from front and behind to STOP | Raises one arm towards the front traffic and extends the other arm sideways towards the traffic behind | Traffic from both front and behind stops |
| HSP-04 | Traffic from the right to proceed | Beckons with the arm towards traffic on the right | Traffic from the officer's right may proceed |
| HSP-05 | Traffic from the front to proceed | Beckons traffic in front towards the officer | Traffic in front may proceed |
| HSP-06 | Traffic from the left to proceed | Beckons with the arm towards traffic on the left | Traffic from the officer's left may proceed |
Read the photograph in an exam question carefully. Note which way the officer's body faces, how many arms are raised, and whether an arm points ahead or to the side. In the sample paper, an officer with one arm raised and the other extended sideways means "traffic from the front and from behind must stop", not just one direction. An officer showing a raised palm to you means stop.
When you approach an officer at a junction
Section 153(6) requires you to show the officer where you want to go: extend your arm in the direction you wish to take, so that the officer can see it, or use your electric direction indicators.
3. Signals Given by Drivers
Electric indicators come first
Section 153(1) says a driver's signals shall be given by an electro-mechanical device, illuminated by day and night, flashing intermittently and visible from the front and rear. The colour is amber (white only with the Commissioner-General's authority). Headlamp flashing is used to show you are moving forward. Section 153(2) forbids any other flashing light on or inside the vehicle. Hand signals are used when the indicators fail (s.153(3)) and in the situations below.
Schedule VIII part (c) lists the direction-indicator signals: DIS-01 turn right and DIS-02 turn left. Regulation 38 adds the signal for slowing down or stopping.
Arm signals (Schedule VIII part (b) and section 153)
In a right-hand-drive car every arm signal is given with the right arm through the driver's window.
| Code | Intention | How it is given |
|---|---|---|
| SDR-01 | Turn right or move to the right | Right arm extended straight out horizontally |
| SDR-02 | Slow down or stop | Right arm extended, moved up and down. The schedule notes this is particularly important at zebra crossings, so pedestrians know you are stopping |
| SDR-03 | Turn left or move to the left | Right arm extended horizontally, palm to the front, rotated from the shoulder in an anti-clockwise direction (s.153(4)) |
Two further optional signals in section 153(5) are tested:
- Telling a driver behind not to overtake: right arm straight out, palm downwards, moved up and down.
- Inviting a driver behind to overtake: right arm held below shoulder level, palm to the front, moved backwards and forwards, or switch on the left indicator.
Warning
Only invite someone to overtake when you can see that it is safe. The overtaking driver still has the legal duty to have a clear view of the road ahead (s.148(3)), but a careless wave can contribute to a crash.
Keep control while signalling
Section 152(4) requires both hands on the steering wheel at all times, except when changing gear, giving a necessary hand signal or working essential controls. Give the signal early, then return your hand to the wheel before you turn. Check your right mirror before putting your arm out, because motorcycles often pass close by.
4. Other Warnings Drivers Give
- Horn: only to warn of danger and avoid an accident, or to show you intend to overtake (s.155(2)). Not near PHS-09 No Horning signs.
- Headlamp flash: section 155(1) allows a warning by flashing the dipped beam. At night a driver may flash the headlights to show they intend to overtake (s.155(2)).
- Hazard lights: the DMT sample paper's answer is that they are for warning others when your vehicle has stopped because of a breakdown or emergency where it would not normally stop. They do not mean "I am going straight on" and they do not claim priority.
5. Quick Self-Test
- The officer faces you, one arm straight up with the palm towards you. You stop.
- The officer raises both arms. Everyone stops.
- Your indicators have failed and you want to turn left. Right arm out, rotated anti-clockwise.
- You are slowing for a zebra crossing. Right arm out, moved up and down (SDR-02), plus the brake lights.
A police officer directing traffic raises one arm straight up towards traffic in front and extends the other arm sideways towards traffic behind. What does this signal mean (Schedule VIII, HSP-03)?
Traffic approaching from the front may now proceed
Traffic approaching from the left may now proceed
Traffic from both the front and behind must stop
Only traffic approaching from behind must stop
Your car's electric indicators have failed and you intend to turn left. What arm signal does section 153(4) prescribe?
Right arm out, palm to the front, rotated anti-clockwise from the shoulder
Extend the right arm straight out and hold it still until you turn
Extend the right arm with the palm facing down and move it slowly up and down
Wave the left arm out of the passenger window towards the left kerb
Under section 153(5)(b), how may a driver signal to a following vehicle that it may overtake?
Flash the hazard warning lights several times so that the driver behind notices
Extend the right arm horizontally with the palm down and move it up and down
Sound the horn twice and then move closer to the left edge of the road
Right arm below shoulder, palm forward, moved back and forth, or left indicator
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.