All traffic control devices including signs, signals, and markings
(pavement and/or curb) installed or used for the purpose of directing
and controlling traffic within the City of Panhandle shall conform
with the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets
and Highways, Volumes I and II (hereinafter called the manual). (Article
6701d, Vernon’s Civil Statutes states.) All signs, signals,
and markings erected or used by the City of Panhandle shall be uniform
and be located so far as practicable according to the directions shown
in the manual throughout the city. All existing traffic control devices
and those erected in the future by the city being consistent with
the manual, state law, and this article shall be official, traffic
control devices.
(1993 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 17, Article 1,
Sec. 17-1)
The driver of any vehicle, motor vehicle, or animal shall obey
the instructions of any official traffic control device, sign, signal,
or marking applicable thereto placed in accordance with this article
unless otherwise directed by a police officer, subject to the exceptions
granted the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle permitted by
this article.
(1993 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 17, Article 1,
Sec. 17-2)
(a)
The
driver of an authorized emergency vehicle, as the term “authorized
emergency vehicle” is defined by state law, when responding
to an emergency call or when in the pursuit of an actual or suspected
violator of the law, or when responding to but not upon returning
from a fire alarm, may exercise the privileges set forth in this section,
but subject to the conditions herein stated.
(b)
The
driver of an authorized emergency vehicle may:
(1)
park or stand, irrespective of the provisions of this article or
any ordinance;
(2)
proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, but only after slowing
down as may be necessary for safety operation;
(3)
exceed the prima facie speed limits so long as he does not endanger
life or property;
(4)
disregard regulations governing direction if movement or turning
in specified directions.
(c)
The
exemptions herein granted to an authorized emergency vehicle shall
apply only when the driver of any said vehicle in motion sounds audible
signal by bell, siren, or exhaust whistle as may be reasonably necessary,
and when the vehicle is equipped with at least one lighted lamp displaying
a red light visible under normal atmospheric conditions from a distance
of five hundred feet to the front of such vehicle, except that an
authorized emergency vehicle operated as a police vehicle need not
be equipped with or display a red light visible from in front of the
vehicle.
(d)
The
foregoing provisions shall not relieve the driver of an authorized
emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety
of all persons, nor shall such provisions protect the driver from
the consequences of his reckless disregard for the safety of others.
(1993 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 17, Article 1,
Sec. 17-3)
(a)
No
person shall place, maintain, or display upon or in view of any highway,
street, or alley any unauthorized sign, signal, marking, or device
which purports to be or is an imitation of or resembles an official
traffic control device or railroad sign or signal, or which attempts
to direct the movement of traffic, or which hides from view or interferes
with the effectiveness of any official control device or any railroad
sign or signal.
(b)
No
person shall place or maintain nor shall any public authority permit
upon any highway, street, or alley any traffic sign or signal bearing
thereon any commercial advertising.
(c)
This
section shall not be deemed to prohibit the erection upon private
property adjacent to highways, streets, or alleys of signs giving
useful directional information and of a type that cannot be mistaken
for official signs.
(d)
Every
such prohibited sign, signal, or marking is hereby declared to be
a public nuisance, and the chief of police is hereby empowered to
remove the same or cause it to be moved without notice.
(1993 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 17, Article 1,
Sec. 17-4)
No person shall without lawful authority attempt to or in fact
alter, deface, injure, knock down, or remove any official traffic
control device, sign, or signal or any railroad sign or signal or
any inscription, shield, or insignia thereon, or any part thereof.
(1993 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 17, Article 1,
Sec. 17-5)
(a)
The
city council shall by ordinance direct that the city manager shall
have the duty of erecting or installing upon, over, along, or beside
any highway, street, or alley signs, signals, and markings, or cause
the same to be erected, installed, or placed in accordance with this
article and consistent with the manual. Said traffic control devices
shall be installed immediately, or as soon as such specific device,
sign, or signal can be procured.
(b)
Whenever
the city manager has erected and installed any official traffic control
device, signal, or sign at any location in the city, or has caused
the same to be done under his direction, in obedience to this article,
he shall thereafter file a report in writing and signed officially
by the city manager, stating the type of traffic control device, sign,
or signal, and when and where the same was erected and installed.
The city secretary shall file and maintain such report among the official
papers of the office of the city secretary.
(1993 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 17, Article 1,
Sec. 17-6)
It being unlawful for any person other than the city manager,
acting pursuant to an ordinance of the city, to install or cause to
be installed any signal, sign, or device purporting to direct the
use of the streets or the activities on those streets of pedestrians,
vehicles, motor vehicles, or animals. It shall be proof in any prosecution
for a violation of this article or any traffic ordinance of the city,
that any traffic control device, sign, signal, or marking was actually
in place on any street shall constitute prima facie evidence that
the same was installed by the city manager pursuant to the authority
of this article and of the ordinance directing the installation of
such device, signal, or marking.
(1993 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 17, Article 1,
Sec. 17-7)
Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of this article shall be punished by a fine in accordance with the general penalty provision in section 1.109 of this code.
(1993 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 17, Article 1,
Sec. 17-8)
(a)
Yield
signs shall be installed at the intersection of Maple Avenue and 12th
Street, with said yield signs to be placed on the east/west intersection,
in order that through traffic flowing north to south will have the
right-of-way.
(b)
A yield
sign on West First Street at its intersection with West Broadway Street.
(1993 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 17, Article 9,
Sec. 17-82)
The city manager is hereby directed to install traffic control
signs at the following intersections:
(1)
Stop
sign on Pecan Avenue at its intersection with West Broadway/Country
Club Road;
(2)
Stop
sign on the private drive entering/exiting the Panhandle Country Club
at its intersection with West First Street/West Broadway.
(1993 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 17, Article 9,
Sec. 17-83)
(a)
The
city manager shall cause regulatory traffic signs to be erected to
make this change applicable locations referenced in Ordinance 511
on file in the office of the city secretary.
(b)
The
city manager and city secretary are hereby authorized and directed
to make necessary changes to all records of the city to reflect this
section.
(Ordinance 511 adopted 8/26/04)
