Traffic controller gestures: main positions and decoding

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

In recent times, when traffic lights were installed at rare intersections, and even those periodically failed, the presence of a traffic controller on the roads was taken for granted. Gradually, the picture changed, the technical equipment improved, and it seemed that the time had come when the three-color traffic regulators finally forced out the man with a rod in his hands from busy intersections. How to know, how to know … But until this happens, it is still better to remember the gestures of the traffic controller.

When is it likely to see a traffic cop at an intersection

One of the main reasons for the appearance of a policeman at an intersection is a malfunction of a traffic light. No matter how new and perfect the technical equipment of traffic control installations, the reasons why they fail from time to time can be very different. These are traffic accidents, when the traffic light itself becomes the victim, and natural disasters, but you never know what can happen. Unreliable citizens can intentionally damage it. These are the most common exit casestraffic light failure. There are also extraordinary breakdowns, but they are individual.

So, the appearance of a traffic controller at the intersection may be the result of a serious traffic accident, in which there is no way to continue driving at a traffic light. In some cases, when it becomes necessary to create a special traffic regime at difficult main intersections (during sports or cultural events, the passage of a motorcade of a foreign delegation or a road train with a high-risk cargo), the traffic controller also takes his place at the intersection. Drivers who got into this period on sections of roads controlled by traffic police inspectors should forget about traffic lights and switch their attention to the gestures of the traffic controller.

Who is more important: a traffic light or a traffic controller?

Often, motorists who have forgotten the rules of the road are confused by the presence of a traffic controller at a working traffic light. What to do and whom to "obey"? To avoid such embarrassing situations (and many of them end in fines), you need to know what the 2013 rules say about this.

They clearly state that the priority direction indicator is the traffic controller on the problematic section of the road. He also ensures order on it. This means that even with a working traffic light, drivers should only respond to the gestures of the traffic controller. Ignorance of the rules can lead toonly to an accident, but also to the deprivation of a driver's license. Especially if one of the motorists shows imprudence and enters into an argument with the traffic police inspector about the rules, thereby revealing his criminal ignorance.

Gestures of the traffic controller as a signal for action

Safety on the tracks depends on the quickness of the traffic inspector and his ability to instantly respond to the situation. This is an axiom. The appearance of a man in uniform with a striped baton in his hand should make attentive drivers especially vigilant - a motorist can move nearby, who finds it difficult to understand the main gestures of the traffic controller and their meaning. In this case, it is necessary not only to follow the signals of the policeman, but also to keep an eye on the behavior of other car owners. It is possible that someone will react to the signals incorrectly, and in this case a traffic accident cannot be avoided.

Simple traffic controller gestures

Consider the simple gestures of a traffic controller at an intersection, such as a raised arm, both arms extended to the sides or lowered along the body. These signals do not require an instant assessment of the situation, as the interpretations are very simple. A raised hand means a ban on the movement of any vehicles, except for those that were already at the intersection at the time of the signal. They need to complete the maneuver, and the rest have to wait for the permission of the policeman. Arms extended to the sides or lowered along the body serve as a signal for those who are behind.policeman or in front of his face that you can’t go. Those who move from the sides in relation to the traffic controller can continue to move straight and to the right. Pedestrians should hurry to cross the road. Trams can only go straight ahead.

Hands up, or How to respond to gestures?

In more detail it is necessary to analyze those gestures of the traffic controller and their meaning, which can confuse inexperienced car owners. For example, what does the right hand extended forward mean? It should be noted right away that the decoding of any signal depends on the position of the driver to the body of the policeman. In this case, the traffic controller, standing with his right hand raised facing the driver, gives him permission to move exclusively to the right. The same applies to trams. Pedestrians have to wait. The movement of vehicles from the back or right side is prohibited. But pedestrians from the back of the traffic controller can cross the road. If the car moves from the left side of the policeman, it can choose any direction. Here, the restrictions apply only to trams, they are allowed to move only in one direction - to the left.

Move left, move right

The pattern of gestures of the traffic controller is not particularly difficult for an attentive and intelligent driver. But for those who get lost in the simplest situation using the rules of orientation, you need to memorize the principles of signaling more thoroughly.

First of all, you need to remember that the hands of the traffic controller are a kind of barriers that we all got used to, watchingat almost every railroad crossing. And his back is a kind of red traffic light, to which there can be only one reaction - a complete stop of traffic. You can move along the traffic controller only from two directions at a four-way intersection. So, back - two directions of movement - arms. Here are, perhaps, those first lessons that need to be memorized, and then it will be easier.

Simple tricks for memorizing traffic controller signals

Motorists have come up with a lot of tricks on how to remember the traffic controller's gestures. One of them sounds like this: you can leave and drive in only through the sleeve; through the back and chest - do not pass. If you take this joke apart and compare it with what the rules say, it turns out that the joke reflects the truth and should be taken seriously. With a good visual memory, you can make yourself a memo in pictures, in which the driver’s actions will be recorded from all positions in relation to how the body of the traffic controller is located in a given situation. Frequent review of the memo, and, if possible, comparison of the situations depicted in it with the real situation on the road will be an excellent training for the driver.

From video tutorial to practice

But if visual memory training does not help you remember the basic signals of a police officer, you should start all over from the beginning. All the existing gestures of the traffic controller are detailed in the rules of the road. Cases when, after obtaining a driver's license, everything that was learned is forgotten immediately and for a long time,occur quite frequently. This error must be urgently eliminated by repeating the rules or taking classes on video tutorials that can be easily found on the Internet. And if you do not yet perceive the traffic controller as an evil employee who can only create problems, but remember that the policeman on the road is the first assistant, the gestures of the traffic controller will become much easier to understand.