Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of roads to provide information to road users. With increasing speed of transport, the tendency is for countries to adopt pictorial signs or otherwise simplify and standardize signs, to facilitate international travel where language differences can create barriers and in general to reduce the risks in driving. Such pictorial signs use symbols in place of words and are usually a result of international standards. Such signs were first developed in Europe, and have been adopted by most countries to varying degrees.
Categories
Traffic signs can be grouped into several types. For example, Annexe 1 of the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals (1968), which at 30 June 2004 had 52 signatory countries, defines eight categories of signs:
- A. Danger warning signs
- B. Priority signs
- C. Prohibitory or restrictive signs
- D. Mandatory signs
- E. Special regulation signs
- F. Information, facilities, or service signs
- G. Direction, position, or indication signs
- H. Additional panels
In the United States and in Australia signs are categorised as follows:
- Regulatory signs
- Warning signs
- Guide signs
- Street signs
- Route marker signs
- Expressway signs
- Freeway signs
- Welcome Signs
- Informational signs
- Recreation and cultural interest signs
- Emergency management (civil defense) signs
- Temporary traffic control (construction or work zone) signs
- School signs
- Railroad and light rail signs
- Bicycle signs
In the United States, the categories, placement, and graphic standards for traffic signs and pavement markings are legally defined in the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices as the standard.
A rather informal distinction among the directional signs is the one between advance directional signs, interchange directional signs, and reassurance signs. Advance directional signs appear at a certain distance from the interchange, giving information for each direction. A number of countries do not give information for the road ahead (so-called "pull-through" signs), and only for the directions left and right. Advance directional signs enable drivers to take precautions for the exit (e.g., switch lanes, double check whether this is the correct exit, slow down). They often do not appear on lesser roads, but are normally posted on expressways and motorways, as drivers would be missing exits without them. While each nation has its own system, the first approach sign for a motorway exit is mostly placed at least 1000 m from the actual interchange. After that sign, one or two additional advance directional signs typically follow before the actual interchange itself.
History
The earliest road signs were milestones, giving distance or direction; for example, the Romans erected stone columns throughout their empire giving the distance to Rome. In the Middle Ages, multidirectional signs at intersections became common, giving directions to cities and towns.
Traffic signs became more important with the development of automobiles. One of the first modern-day road sign systems was devised by the Italian Touring Club in 1895. By 1900, a Congress of the International League of Touring Organizations in Paris was considering proposals for standardization of road signage. The basic patterns of most traffic signs were set at the 1908 International Road Congress in Rome. In 1909, nine European governments agreed on the use of four pictorial symbols, indicating "bump", "curve", "intersection", and "grade-level railroad crossing". The intensive work on international road signs that took place between 1926 and 1949 eventually led to the development of the European road sign system. The United States developed its own road signage system, which was also adopted by several other nations. Beginning in the 1960s, North American signage began adopting international symbols and signs into its system.
Over the years, change was gradual. Today, signs are almost all metal, rather than wood, and are coated with retroreflective sheetings of various types for nighttime and low-light visibility.
New generations of traffic signs based on big electronic displays can also change their symbols and provide intelligent behavior by means of sensors or by remote control. These "road beacon systems" are based on the use of RFID transponders buried in the asphalt to allow for on-board signalling and interaction between the car and the road.
Yet another "medium" for transferring information ordinarily associated with visible signs is RIAS (Remote Infrared Audible Signage), e.g., "talking signs" for print-handicapped (including blind/low-vision/illiterate) people. These are infra-red transmitters serving the same purpose as the usual graphic signs when received by an appropriate device such as a hand-held receiver or one built into a cell phone.
North America and Australia
Colour schemes
The North American, Australian and New Zealand colours normally have these meanings:
- red with white for stop signs, yield, and forbidden actions (such as No Parking)
- green with white letters for informational signs, such as directions, distances, and places
- brown with white for signs to parks, historic sites, ski areas, forests, and campgrounds
- blue with white for rest areas, food, gasoline or petrol, hospitals, lodging, and other services
- black with white for commercial, exempt, special, and signs were used in the past
- white with black (or red letters) for regulatory signs, such as speed limits (or parking)
- yellow with black letters and symbols for warning signs, such as curves and school zones
- orange with black letters for temporary traffic control zones and detours associated with road construction
The U.S. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices prescribes five other colors:
- fluorescent yellow-green for school zone, school bus stop, pedestrian, playground, and bicycle warning signs
- fluorescent pink for incident management signs
- coral, light blue, and purple, which are unassigned, although purple has been proposed as a color to be used on signs for electronic toll collection. In Australia, toll routes are indicated by blue signs with gold lettering in place of green with white.
Regulatory signs are also sometimes seen with white letters on red or black signs. In Quebec, blue is often used for tourist attractions and brown public services such as rest areas; many black-on-yellow signs are red-on-white instead.
Many U.S. states and Canadian provinces now use fluorescent orange for construction signs.
Highway symbols and markers
Every state and province has different markers for its own highways, but use standard ones for all federal highways. Many special highways– such as the Queen Elizabeth Way, Trans-Canada Highway, and various auto trails in the U.S. – have used unique signs. Counties in the U.S. sometimes use a pentagonal blue sign with yellow letters for numbered county roads, though the use is inconsistent even within states.
Units
Distances on traffic signs generally follow the measurement system in use by the country. Most U.S. road signs use the imperial system of miles (or a fraction) or yards, although the federal Department of Transportation has developed metric standards for all signs. United Kingdom signs also display distances in miles. Elsewhere, metric distances are in very wide use, though not universal.
Languages
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