Traffic Police Hand Signals and Driver Arm Signals

When a traffic police officer is directing traffic, the officer's signals come first: before the traffic lights, before the signs and before the normal right-of-way rules. You also need to know the hand signals drivers and riders give each other, because indicators fail, bicycles have none, and a clear arm signal is often the only way to be understood.

What the law says

• Police signals come first: you must obey the signals and instructions of a uniformed police officer about how vehicles move, notwithstanding any other rule or sign (Regulation 24(3) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving) Regulations, 2017).
• At an intersection: slow down and follow the directions of a uniformed police officer or authorised person directing traffic (Regulation 13).
• Driver hand signals: a driver must show the intention to turn, change course or make any manoeuvre, using the indicators or by hand signals (Regulation 11). Regulation 11(2) sets out the hand signals to use when no working indicator is fitted.
• Penalty: disobeying a lawful direction of a police officer can be fined ₹2,000 under Section 179 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, or one month in prison, or both.

Traffic police hand signals

Indian traffic police use a standard set of signals, shown by city traffic police such as the Delhi Traffic Police. They include signals to:

• stop vehicles coming from the front and from behind at the same time;
• stop vehicles coming from the right and from the left at the same time;
• start vehicles coming from the left, or from the right, or from one side only;
• change the flow from one direction to another; and
• manage a T-junction, stopping one road and starting another.

How to read them

1. Raised palm towards you: stop. An arm raised straight up, or held out with the palm facing your way, means traffic coming towards that hand must stop.
2. Officer's chest or back towards you: stop and wait, even if no arm is pointed at you.
3. Officer side-on to you and beckoning: you may go, in the direction shown. A waving or sweeping arm means "come on".
4. Both arms raised: all traffic stops, often to clear the way for an emergency vehicle.
5. Not sure what a signal means? Stop and wait. Never guess and move.

Officers often add a whistle: one long blast usually means stop, and short blasts mean move on. At night they may use a torch or a lighted baton. Watch the officer, not the traffic light, until you have passed.

Hand signals by drivers and riders

Use these when your indicators or brake lights are not working, on a bicycle, or to back up an indicator when others may not see it. In a right-hand-drive vehicle, give them with the right arm out of the window (Regulation 11(2)):

• I am going to stop or slow down: raise the right forearm vertically, palm to the right, outside the vehicle.
• I am going to turn right (or move out to the right): extend the right arm straight out, horizontally, palm to the front.
• I am going to turn left: extend the right arm and rotate it in an anti-clockwise direction.
• You may overtake me: swing the right arm backward and forward in a semi-circular motion.

Give the signal in good time, hold it long enough to be seen, and bring your arm back in before you turn so that both hands are on the controls for the manoeuvre. Look before you signal: a hand signal does not give you the right to move (Rule 02).

Signals from other people

• Home Guards, traffic wardens and authorised persons directing traffic must also be obeyed (Regulation 13).
• At road works, follow the worker with the STOP/GO board or the flag.
• At a railway crossing, obey the gateman's signals and flag (Rule 13).
• A school crossing patrol holding up a sign means stop for the children.
• Informal waves from other drivers are not signals you must follow. A driver waving you out of a junction cannot see what is coming. Check for yourself.

Common mistakes

Remember