§ Mr. Perkinsasked the Minister of Transport the reasons why, in paragraph 4 of Circular 499, his Department refuses to allow the word Halt to be written on the road at halt signs; and whether he will state in which counties the ruling is being carried out and in which counties it is being ignored?
§ Mr. BurginThe "Halt" sign, If properly sited, is conspicuous, and in my opinion it is unnecessary and undesirable to repeat it. I am aware that in the case of both this and other traffic signs some highway authorities have not yet observed their obligations under Section 48 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930. I am in communication with Highway Authorities generally on the subject of unauthorised traffic signs, but I regret that I am not in a position to give the specific information asked for in the last part of the question.
§ Mr. Perkinsasked the Minister of Transport whether he will consider approaching all local authorities with the object of getting the word Halt written on the road at halt signs as well as the white lines?
§ Mr. BurginI should be reluctant to take the course suggested by my hon. Friend. The "Halt" sign is conspicuous, and if it is properly sited there should be no difficulty in seeing it. It would be undesirable to accept the principle that a driver cannot be expected to see and observe a traffic sign unless it is duplicated or repeated. If the principle were accepted generally there would be an enormous increase in the number of signs.