1Traffic regulation orders outside Greater London.
(1)Subject to sections 84A, 84B and 84C of this Act, the authority hereinafter specified may make an order (in this section and section 5 of this Act referred to as a " traffic regulation order ") as respects any road outside Greater London where it appears to the authority making the order that it is expedient so to do—
(a)for avoiding danger to persons or other traffic using the road or any other road or for preventing the likelihood of any such danger arising, or
(b)for preventing damage to the road or to any building on or near the road, or
(c)for facilitating the passage on the road or any other road of any class of traffic (including foot passengers) or of vehicles, or
(d)for preventing the use of the road by vehicular traffic of a kind which, or the use thereof by such traffic in a manner which, is unsuitable having regard to the existing character of the road or adjoining property, or
(e)without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (d) above, for preserving the character of the road in a case where it is specially suitable for use by persons on horseback or on foot, or
(f)for preserving or improving the amenities of the area through which the road runs.
(2)Subject to section 82 of this Act, the authority having power to make traffic regulation orders—
(a)as respects roads not being trunk roads, shall be the local authority, that is to say, in England or Wales, the council of a county borough ; as respects any non-county borough or urban district having a population of over 20,000 according to the last census for the time being, the council of the borough or urban district; and as respects any other area the council of the county; and in Scotland a county council or a town council;
(b)as respects trunk roads, shall be the appropriate Minister;
and the appropriate Minister, on application in that behalf being made to him by the governing body of a university in the receipt of a grant from public moneys, and after holding, if he thinks fit, a public inquiry, shall have power to make a traffic regulation order as respects a road not being a trunk road.
(3)Subject to subsections (3A) and (4) below, the provision which may be made by a traffic regulation order shall be any provision prohibiting, restricting or regulating the use of a road or any part of the width thereof by vehicular traffic or by such traffic of any class specified in the order, either generally or subject to exceptions so specified, and either at all times or at times, on days or during periods so specified, and, without prejudice to the generality of this subsection, any provision—
(a)requiring such traffic to proceed in a specified direction or prohibiting its so proceeding,
(b)specifying the part of the carriageway to be used by such traffic proceeding in a specified direction,
(c)prohibiting or restricting the waiting of vehicles or the loading and unloading of vehicles,
(d)prohibiting the use of roads by through traffic,
(e)prohibiting or restricting overtaking;
but no prohibition or restriction on waiting imposed under this section shall apply to a stage carriage or express carriage.
(3A)The provision which may be made by a traffic regulation order shall include any provision prohibiting, restricting or regulating the use of a road or any part of the width thereof by, or by any specified class of, foot passengers, either generally or subject to exceptions specified in the order, and either at all times or at times, on days or during periods so specified.
(3B)A traffic regulation order may make provision for identifying any part of any road to which, or any time at which or period during which, any provision contained in the order is for the time being to apply by means of a traffic sign of a type or character specified in the order (being a type prescribed or character authorised under section 54 of this Act) and for the time being lawfully in place; and for the purposes of any such order so made any such traffic sign placed on or near a road shall be deemed to be lawfully in place unless the contrary is proved.
(3C)A traffic regulation order which imposes any restriction upon the use by vehicles of a road, or the waiting of vehicles in a road, may include provision with respect to the issue and display of certificates or other means of " identification of vehicles which are excepted from the restriction, whether generally or in particular circumstances or at particular times.
(3D)A traffic regulation order may also include provision with respect to the issue, display and operation of devices (to be approved either generally or specially by the appropriate Minister) for indicating the time at which a vehicle arrived at, and the time at which it ought to leave, any place in a road in which waiting is restricted by the order, or one or other of those times, and for treating the indications given by any such device as evidence of such facts and for such purposes as may be prescribed by the order.
(4)Provision for regulating the speed of vehicles on roads shall not be made under this section.
(5)Subject to subsection (6) below and section 5 of this Act, no order shall be made under this section with respect to any road which would have the effect of preventing at any time access for foot passengers, or preventing for more than eight hours in any period of twenty-four hours access for vehicles of any class, to any premises situated on or adjacent to the road, or any other premises accessible for traffic of that class from, and only from, the road.
(6)Subject to section 5 of this Act, subsection (5) above, so far as it relates to vehicles, shall not have effect in so far as the authority making the order is satisfied that, for avoiding danger to persons or other traffic using the road to which the order relates or any other road, or for preventing the likelihood of any such danger arising, or for preventing damage to the road or buildings on or near it, or for facilitating the passage of vehicular traffic on the road, it is requisite that that subsection should not apply, and it is stated in the order that the said authority is satisfied as aforesaid.
(7)This section shall not apply in relation to any part of a special road on or after such date as may be declared by a notice published by the highway authority, in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations made by the appropriate Minister, to be the date on which it is open for use as a special road.
(8)A person who contravenes a traffic regulation order or who uses a vehicle, or causes or permits a vehicle to be used, in contravention of a traffic regulation order shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding, in the case of an offence committed in respect of a motor vehicle by a failure to comply with a requirement to proceed or not to proceed in a specified direction or along a specified part of the carriageway, £50 and, in any other case, £20.
(9)If any local Act contains any provision extending the powers conferred by section 26 of the [1960 c. 16.] Road Traffic Act 1960 in the application of that section to the area of any local authority, the appropriate Minister, after consultation with that local authority, may by order made by statutory instrument, which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament, repeal any provision of that local Act which appears to that Minister to be unnecessary, or make any other amendments to that local Act which appear to that Minister to be required, in consequence of the provisions of Part IX of the [1968 c. 73.] Transport Act 1968; and the power to make an order under this subsection shall include power to make an order varying or revoking any previous order thereunder.