If a driver ignores a road sign, they do so at their own risk. In the case of Buffel V Cardox ltd, a cyclist crossing the main road was injured by a lorry travelling up that main road.
About 95 yards from the crossing there were signs and studs in the road warning drivers on the main road to ‘slow’ and there were also a cross roads sign and a flashing beacon to warn drivers of the dangers ahead but the lorry driver on the main road decided to ignored the road signs failing to slow down and carried on driving at a high speed, which the Court found to be a dangerous speed for the road conditions.
The judge in this case agreed that it is difficult to define the word ‘slow’ as it would mean a different thing to a pedestrian and a different thing to a driver. The Judge decided that it should be taken that ‘slow’ means that you should be travelling at a speed which would allow you to come to a stop quickly if something appears from one or more of the crossroads.
You must note that you would only be failing to obey the road sign if you were in the vicinity that the road sign governs. This was the case in Braxier V Alabaster when a motorist approached the roundabout; there was an intersection which ended approximately 62 feet before the roundabout. Instead of going round the roundabout the motorist made a U-tern at the end of the intersection to go back down the road that he had came from. There was a keep left sign on the roundabout but the motorist could not be convicted of ‘failing to obey it’ because it was not governing the part of the road the motorist was driving on.
Therefore, if you pass a traffic sign and fail to obey it, then you may be convicted for that failure, and if you cause an accident, you can be held up to 100% liable for the traffic accident claim for failing to obey road signs.
Our advice to you is to therefore ALWAYS obey the traffic signals, if they apply to the road you are travelling along!
