Scholar Patrol - Legislation

13.1 Authorisation of Scholar Patrols

CHAPTER IX  Road traffic signs

Minister may prescribe road traffic signs

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1. The Minister may, subject to this Act and for the purpose of prohibiting, limiting, regulating or controlling traffic in general or any particular class of traffic on a public road or a section thereof or for the purpose of designating any public road or a section thereof as a public road of a particular class, prescribe such signs, signals, markings or other devices (to be known as road traffic signs) as he or she may deem expedient, as well as their significance and the conditions on, and circumstances under, which any road traffic sign may be displayed on a public road.
2. The Minister may, subject to such conditions as he or she may deem expedient, authorise any person or body to display on a public road any sign, signal, marking or other device for the purpose of ascertaining the suitability of such sign, signal or device as a road traffic sign.

Authority to display road traffic signs

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1. The Minister, or any person authorised thereto by him or her generally or specifically, may in respect of any public road cause or permit to be displayed in the prescribed manner such road traffic signs as he or she may deem expedient
2. The MEC concerned, or any person authorised thereto by him or her either generally or specifically, may in respect of any public road not situated within the area of jurisdiction of a local authority, cause or permit to be displayed in the prescribed manner any such road traffic signs as he or she may deem expedient.
3. (a) A local authority, or any person in its employment authorised thereto by it either generally or specifically, may in respect of any public road within the jurisdiction of that local authority display or cause to be displayed in the prescribed manner any such road traffic signs as such authority or person may deem expedient.
   (b) A local authority may in writing authorise any other person or body to display or cause to be displayed within its area of jurisdiction and in the prescribed manner any road traffic sign approved by it prior to the display of such sign.
   (c) A local authority referred to in paragraph (b) may determine the conditions for such display and may order the removal of such sign.
4. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (2) and (3), the MEC concerned, or any person authorised thereto by him or her either generally or specifically, may in respect of any public road referred to in subsection (3) and which is a road constructed or maintained by the Administration of the province concerned, in addition to the road traffic signs referred to in subsection (3), cause or permit to be displayed in the prescribed manner such road traffic signs as he or she may deem expedient, and no local authority may without the consent of that MEC remove or permit to be removed any such road traffic sign.
5. In such circumstances and subject to such conditions as the MEC concerned may determine, scholars or students may be organised into patrols (to be known as scholar patrols) for the purpose of displaying, in the prescribed manner, an appropriate road traffic sign so as to ensure the safety of scholars or students crossing a public road.
6. The MEC concerned may authorise any association or club to display any such road signs as he or she may deem expedient, subject to such conditions as the MEC may determine, on any public road referred to in subsection (2) or (3), and any such association or club may thereupon, in the prescribed manner, display a badge or other token of the association or club in conjunction with any such road traffic sign.
7. Any road traffic sign displayed in terms of a repealed ordinance or Road Traffic Act, 1989 (Act No. 29 of 1989), shall be deemed to be displayed in terms of this chapter.

Failure to obey road traffic sign prohibited

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1. Subject to subsection (3), no person shall, unless otherwise directed by a traffic officer, fail to comply with any direction conveyed by a road traffic sign displayed in the prescribed manner.
2. In any prosecution for a contravention of or failure to comply with a provision of subsection (1), it shall be presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the road sign concerned was displayed by the proper authority under the power conferred by this Act and in accordance with its provisions.

13.2 Road signs

The following are excerpts from the South African Road Traffic Signs Manual (SADCRTSM 11/97) as prescribed by National Road Traffic Act, Act 93 of 1996.

Scholar Patrol Stop Sign   R1.1

Sign R1.1 may be displayed by a temporary Scholar Patrol. Such signs should be 450mm wide and should be manufactured from a light-weight material and in a back-to-back or double sided manner, when used in two-way streets, so that sign R1.1 is displayed in both directions by each scholar operating a Scholar Patrol (subsection 2.2.1).

A Scholar Patrol shall include a scholar operating R1.1 signs on each side of the roadway. A STOP regulatory sign R1.1 displayed by a member of a Scholar Patrol imposes a mandatory requirement that the driver of a vehicle stop such vehicle in front of such sign or immediately behind a YIELD line marking RTM2 in conjunction with which the sign is used, and remain stationary until the sign is no longer displayed.

Where advance visibility of a stop sign R1 or any of its derivatives is inadequate and stop control may be unexpected, the use of temporary warning signs must be applied.

The distance displayed should take into account the stopping distance requirements of approaching vehicles and the likely existence of traffic queues at the stop sign. Minimum stopping sight distances are given in Table 1.

Scholar Patrol Ahead   TW305

The SCHOLAR PATROL AHEAD warning sign shall only be used as a temporary warning sign TW305 and is to warn road users that a temporary Scholar Patrol is operating ahead. The Scholar Patrol crossing shall be properly marked in accordance with provisions of chapter 7 of the SADCRTSM.

Sign TW305 should be a temporary portable sign and should be displayed only for the period during which the Scholar Patrol is in operation. The reverse side shall be marked with alternating black and yellow horizontal stripes 150mm wide (subsection 2.1.10).

These signs should be displayed in the centre of a two-way roadway or on the left side of the median island of a dual roadway and should be of the size given in Table 2. It is recommended that when the signs are mounted in a sunken socket in the roadway that where possible this and the signpost be of a square section to prevent the swivelling of the sign due to wind. These signs should where possible be located at least 60m ahead of the crossing.

Pedestrian crossings subject to part-time control by Scholar Patrols should be preceded by Permanent PEDESTRIAN CROSSING warning signs W306 and CHILDREN warning signs W308. A pedestrian crossing controlled by a traffic signal should be preceded by a TRAFFIC SIGNALS AHEAD warning sign W301. These signs should where possible be located at least 90m ahead of the crossing. In rural areas Table 2 is applicable.

Pedestrian Crossing    W306

The PEDESTRIAN CROSSING warning sign W306 is to warn road users of a marked pedestrian crossing ahead.

Sign W306 should, where possible, be displayed not less than 90m or more than 180m in advance of any block-marked pedestrian crossing. In addition, if the block marked crossing is primarily for school children a CHILDREN warning sign W308 should be placed a suitable distance in advance of sign W306.

Children     W308

The CHILDREN warning sign W308 is to warn road users of the possible presence of children near schools, playgrounds, sports fields or other places ahead.

Sign W308 should, where possible, be displayed not less than 90m or more than 180m in advance of a point or area where children may be expected. The CHILDREN warning sign may be appropriate some distance from a school particularly if a system of safe routes to the school has been established for children.

Yield to Pedestrians     R2.1

The YIELD TO PEDESTRIANS sign R2.1 places a mandatory requirement on drivers of vehicles approaching the sign that they shall yield right of way to pedestrians crossing the public road or wanting to cross the public road.

Sign R2.1 should, where possible, be displayed between 3m and 6m in advance of a pedestrian crossing marking.

Unless indicated otherwise in the descriptive sections on the individual signs, advance warning signs should be displayed at the distance from the hazard given in the table below.

In the event that inadequate sight distance exists to the warning sign when located in accordance with table 1, the warning sign shall be moved further from the hazard until clear visibility distance is realised.

When a warning sign is located 300m or more from the hazard, the use of a distance supplementary plate is recommended.

13.3 Road markings

Stop line markings RTM 1 shall not be used at a scholar patrol crossing (subsection 7.2.1).

Yield line markings RTM 2 shall be used at any location, which is not controlled normally by a traffic signal,

where regular but short term point duty is performed by a traffic officer or a scholar patrol (subsections 7.2.1, 7.2.3 and 7.2.4)

Pedestrian guide line markings GM2 should be used at a G Type crossing and where informal crossings are instituted (subsection 7.2.3 and 7.4.2).

For further details regarding lengths and distances, see subsection 7.2.2 and volume 4 of the SADCRTSM.

Block pedestrian crossing markings RTM 4 shall be used for scholar patrol crossings, apart and in conjunction with pedestrian crossing ahead lines RM 11 (subsection 7.2.15). Details are contained in Volume 2, section 14.3.4 and Volume 4 of the SADCRTSM.

Examples of typical sign/marking arrangements for crossing controlled by part-time scholar patrols :

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