Road Traffic Act 1960

22 Signs for indicating speed restrictions

(1) It shall be the duty of the competent authority—

(a) to erect and maintain the prescribed traffic signs in such positions as may be requisite in order to give effect to general or other directions given by the appropriate Minister for the purpose of securing that adequate guidance is given to drivers of motor vehicles as to whether a road is or is not a restricted road for the purposes of section nineteen of this Act, and what limit of speed is to be observed where a road is a restricted road for those purposes; and

(b) to alter or remove traffic signs as may be requisite in order to give effect to such directions as aforesaid, either in consequence of the making of an order by the appropriate Minister or otherwise ;

and if the authority make default in executing any works required for the performance of the duty imposed upon them by this subsection, the appropriate Minister may himself execute them; and the expense incurred by him in so doing shall be recoverable by him from the authority and, in England or Wales, shall be so recoverable summarily as a civil debt.

(2) In its application to a trunk road the foregoing subsection shall have effect with the omission of the words " in order to give effect to general or other directions given by the appropriate Minister " in paragraph (a), and the words from the beginning of paragraph (b) to the end of the subsection.

(3) Where no system of street lighting furnished by means of lamps placed not more than two hundred yards apart is provided on a road but the road is a restricted road for the purposes of section nineteen of this Act, a person shall not be convicted of a contravention of that section unless the fact that it is a restricted road for those purposes is indicated by means of such traffic signs as are mentioned in subsection (1) of this section.

(4) In any proceedings for such a contravention as aforesaid, being proceedings relating to driving on a road provided with such a system of street lighting as is specified in the last foregoing subsection, evidence of the absence of traffic signs displayed in pursuance of this section to indicate that the road is not a restricted road for the purposes of section nineteen of this Act shall be evidence that the road is a restricted road for those purposes.

(5) In this section " the competent authority " means—

(a) as respects a road outside the London Traffic Area, not being a trunk road, the local authority ;

(b) as respects a road in the London Traffic Area, not being a trunk road, the Common Council of the City of London if the road is in the City, the council of a metropolitan borough if the road is elsewhere in the administrative county of London, and the local authority if the road is outside the administrative county of London;

(c) as respects a trunk road, the appropriate Minister.