(1)When between the hours of eight in the morning and half-past five in the afternoon a vehicle is approaching a place in a road where children on their way to or from school are crossing or seeking to cross the road, a school crossing patrol wearing a uniform approved by the Secretary of State shall have power, by exhibiting a prescribed sign, to require the person driving or propelling the vehicle to stop it.
(2)When a person has been required under subsection (1) above to stop a vehicle—
(a)he shall cause the vehicle to stop before reaching the place where the children are crossing or seeking to cross and so as not to stop or impede their crossing; and
(b)the vehicle shall not be put in motion again so as to reach the place in question so long as the sign continues to be exhibited;
and a person who fails to comply with paragraph (a) above, or who causes a vehicle to be put in motion in contravention of paragraph (b) above, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50.
(3)In this section—
(a)" prescribed sign " means a sign of a size, colour and type prescribed by regulations made by the appropriate Minister, or, if authorisation is given by the appropriate Minister for the use of signs of a description not so prescribed, a sign of that description; and regulations under this subsection may provide for the attachment of reflectors to signs, or for the illumination of signs; and
(b)" school crossing patrol " means a person appointed to patrol in accordance with arrangements made under section 24 of this Act.
(4)For the purposes of this section—
(a)where it is proved that a sign was exhibited by a school crossing patrol, it shall be presumed to be of a size, colour and type prescribed, or of a description authorised, under the foregoing provisions of this section, and if it was exhibited in circumstances in which it was required by the regulations to be illuminated, to have been illuminated in the prescribed manner, unless the contrary is proved ;
(b)where it is proved that a school crossing patrol was wearing uniform, the uniform shall be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to be a uniform approved by the Secretary of State ; and
(c)where it is proved that a prescribed sign was exhibited by a school crossing patrol at a place in a road where children were crossing or seeking to cross the road, it shall be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that those children were on their way to or from school.