RAILWAY CROSSINGS

Southland Times, Issue 20786, 29 May 1929, Page 5

RAILWAY CROSSINGS

RESTRICTIONS ON MOTOR TRAFFIC,

“COMPULSORY STOP” SIGNS.

Under the Government Railways Amendment Act, 1928, the restrictions on motor traffic at railway crossings have been amended and come into force on Saturday. For the benefit of motorists Section 9 of the Amending Act is given below: (1) Every person driving a motor vehicle on any road or street shall, when approaching a railway crossing, reduce speed when within one hundred yards of the crossing to a rate not exceeding fifteen miles an hour and shall not increase speed until after he has crossed the railway line. It shall be his duty to keep a vigilant lookout for approaching trains and he shall not attempt to cross unless the line is clear.

(2) If at any such crossing there is a “compulsory stop”'sign erected pursuant to regulations under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1924, or by the railway authorities, it shall be the duty of the person driving any .motor vehicle as aforesaid at such sign for such time as may be necessary to make adequate observations to ascertain whether or not the line is clear.

(3) Every person who fails to comply with'the requirements of this section or who crosses or attempts to cross any railway line while the same is not clear commits an offence and is liable to a fine of ten pounds. (4) This section is in substitution for section fifty-eight of the principal Act and that section is hereby accordingly repealed. (5) This section shall come into force on the first day of June, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine.

A Times reporter was informed yesterday by the "local office of the Railway Department that 92 “compulsory stop” signs have been erected in Southland. The sign, which is octagonal in shape, has on it the words "Compulsory Stop” painted in black against a yellow background, and stands three feet above the road on the lefthand side, although in some cases the signs will also be erected on the righthand side. As they gre placed from some 20 to 50 feet from the railway line motorists approaching the crossing will be able to obtain a clear view. Besides these there will be advance signs of the St. Andrew’s cross type erected by the County Council from some 300 to 350 feet from the railway line.

Although some of the “compulsory stop” signs have just recently been erected, schoolboys have been unable to resist the temptation to use them as targets at which to throw stones, with the result that some of the enamel has already been broken off. The Railway Department intends to prosecute anyone detected defacing the signs which have been erected with the view of tending towards safety and obviating accidents.