1.
Federal Highway Administration
–
The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agencys major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program and its role had previously been performed by the Office of Road Inquiry, Office of Public Roads and the Bureau of Public Roads. The organization has several organizations and a complicated history. The Office of Road Inquiry was founded in 1893, in 1905 that organizations name was changed to the Office of Public Roads which became a division of the United States Department of Agriculture. The name was changed again to the Bureau of Public Roads in 1915 and it was then shifted to the Federal Works Agency which was abolished in 1949 when its name reverted to Bureau of Public Roads under the Department of Commerce. With the coming of the bicycle in the 1890s, interest grew regarding the improvement of streets, the traditional method of putting the burden on maintaining roads on local landowners was increasingly inadequate. New York State took the lead in 1898, and by 1916 the old system had been discarded everywhere area, demands grew for local and state government to take charge. With the coming of the automobile after 1910, urgent efforts were made to upgrade, the American Association for Highway Improvement was organized in 1910. Funding came from automobile registration, and taxes on motor fuels, in 1916, federal-aid was first made available to improve post-roads, and promote general commerce. Congress appropriated $75 million over a period, with the Secretary of Agriculture in charge through the Bureau of Public Roads. There were 2.4 million miles of rural dirt rural roads in 1914,100,000 miles had been improved with grading and gravel, the rapidly increasing speed of automobiles, and especially trucks, made maintenance and repair high-priority item. Concrete was first used in 1893, and expanded until it became the dominant surfacing material in the 1930s, from 1917 through 1941,261,000 miles of highways were built with federal aid, and cost $5.31 billion. Federal funds totaled $3.17 billion, and state-local funds were $2.14 billion, the FHWA was created on October 15,1966. In 1967 the functions of the Bureau of Public Roads were transferred to the new organization and it was one of three original bureaus along with the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety and the National Highway Safety Bureau. The FHWA’s role in the Federal-aid Highway Program is to oversee federal funds used for constructing and maintaining the National Highway System and this funding mostly comes from the federal gasoline tax and mostly goes to state departments of transportation. FHWA oversees projects using these funds to ensure that requirements for project eligibility. The FHWA also publishes the “Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices”, the MUTCD specifies such things as the size, color and height of traffic signs, traffic signals and road surface markings. The Federal Highway Administration is overseen by an Administrator appointed by the President of the United States by, the Administrator works under the direction of the Secretary of Transportation and Deputy Secretary of Transportation
2.
United States Department of Transportation
–
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the U. S. government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15,1966 and it is governed by the United States Secretary of Transportation. Prior to the Department of Transportation, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Transportation administered the functions now associated with the DOT, the awardees include light rail projects. Other projects include both a rail extension and a subway project in New York City, and a bus rapid transit system in Springfield. The budget provided funding for all of the projects currently receiving Recovery Act funding. It also continued funding for another 18 transit projects that are currently under construction or soon will be. Following the same the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 delegates $600 million for Infrastructure Investments, the Department of Transportation was authorized a budget for Fiscal Year 2016 of $75.1 billion. e. Did not earn an overall grade
3.
Traffic sign
–
Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones, later, signs with directional arms were introduced, for example, the fingerposts in the United Kingdom and their wooden counterparts in Saxony. Such pictorial signs use symbols in place of words and are based on international protocols. Such signs were first developed in Europe, and have adopted by most countries to varying degrees. Traffic signs can be grouped into several types, for example, Annexe 1 of the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, which on 30 June 2004 had 52 signatory countries, defines eight categories of signs, A. Special regulation signs F. Information, facilities, or service signs G. Direction, position, 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 distance from the interchange. A number of countries do not give information for the road ahead, advance directional signs enable drivers to take precautions for the exit. They often do not appear on lesser roads, but are normally posted on expressways and motorways, 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 interchange itself. The earliest road signs were milestones, giving distance or direction, for example, in the Middle Ages, multidirectional signs at intersections became common, giving directions to cities and towns. In 1686, the first known Traffic Regulation Act in Europe is established by King Peter II of Portugal and this act foresees the placement of priority signs in the narrowest streets of Lisbon, stating which traffic should back up to give way. One of these still exists at Salvador street, in the neighborhood of Alfama. The first modern road signs erected on a wide scale were designed for riders of high or ordinary bicycles in the late 1870s and early 1880s. These machines were fast, silent and their nature made them difficult to control, moreover their riders travelled considerable distances, the development of automobiles encouraged more complex signage systems using more than just text-based notices. 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. In 1903 the British government introduced four national signs based on shape, 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 road signs that took place between 1926 and 1949 eventually led to the development of the European road sign system
4.
Road surface marking
–
Road surface marking is any kind of device or material that is used on a road surface in order to convey official information, they are commonly places with road marking machines. They can also be applied in other facilities used by vehicles to mark parking spaces or designate areas for other uses, Road surface markings are used on paved roadways to provide guidance and information to drivers and pedestrians. Uniformity of the markings is an important factor in minimizing confusion and uncertainty about their meaning, however, countries and areas categorize and specify road surface markings in different ways — white lines are called white lines mechanical, non-mechanical, or temporary. Road surface marking can also indicate regulation for parking and stopping, there is continuous effort to improve the road marking system, and technological breakthroughs include adding retroreflectivity, increasing longevity, and lowering installation cost. Mechanical devices may be raised or recessed into the road surface, most are permanent, some are movable. Cats eye, invented by Percy Shaw in the 1930s, Cats eyes equip many major routes in the British Isles and they consist of four reflective lenses mounted in a durable white rubber housing, two facing fore and two facing aft. The housing is mounted within a cast iron shoe, which the rubber housing sinks in to when driven over and this provides protection from snow ploughing and allows the lenses to be self-cleaning—they pass a rubber blade when depressed. The lenses are available in a variety of different colours, mainly white, yellow/orange, green, red, Botts dots, named for the California Caltrans engineer Elbert Botts, who invented the epoxy that keeps them glued down, are one type of a mechanical non-reflective raised marker. Generally they are used to mark the edges of traffic lanes, Botts dots are also used across a travel lane to draw the drivers attention to the road. They are frequently used in this way to alert drivers to toll booths and they are normally only used in warm climates since snow plows usually remove them along with the snow. Rumble strips are used for the same purpose. A rumble strip can be a series of troughs that is ground out of the asphalt. Other alternatives, similar to the Botts dots, use raised strips, a specific form of raised strips using thermoplastic is called profile thermoplastic markings. The markings are created by fusing thermoplastic to the pavement and create alternating elevation and recession pattern and this can be done as inverted-profile markings or raised-profile markings. Inverted-profile markings are created by pressing a cog rolling over the markings while they are wet to make them corrugated, raised-profile markings are created by extruding extra thickness of thermoplastic at a specific interval to create bumps. Raised-profile markings are known as convex traffic lines. Uses of rumble strips can be across the direction or along the travel direction. Their main way of function is creating a strong vibration when driven over that will alert a driver to various upcoming hazards both by sound and the vibration of the vehicle
5.
Traffic light
–
The worlds first, manually operated gas-lit traffic signal was short lived. Installed in London in December 1868, it exploded less than a month later, Traffic control started to seem necessary in the late 1890s and Earnest Sirrine from Chicago patented the first automated traffic control system in 1910. It used the words STOP and PROCEED, although neither word lit up, Traffic lights alternate the right of way accorded to users by displaying lights of a standard colour following a universal colour code. In the typical sequence of phases, The green light allows traffic to proceed in the direction denoted, if it is safe to do so. The amber light warns that the signal is about to change to red, in a number of countries – among them the United Kingdom – a phase during which red and yellow are displayed together indicates that the signal is about to change to green. A flashing amber indication is a warning signal, in the United Kingdom, a flashing amber light is used only at pelican crossings, in place of the combined red–amber signal, and indicates that drivers may pass if no pedestrians are on the crossing. The red signal prohibits any traffic from proceeding, a flashing red indication is treated as a stop sign. In some countries traffic signals will go into a flashing mode if the Conflict Monitor detects a problem, the signal may display flashing yellow to the main road and flashing red to the side road, or flashing red in all directions. Flashing operation can also be used during times of day when traffic is light, before traffic lights traffic police controlled the flow of traffic, a well-documented example being that on London Bridge in 1722. Three men were given the task of directing traffic coming in, each officer would help direct traffic coming out of Southwark into London and he made sure all traffic stayed on the west end of the bridge. A second officer would direct traffic on the east end of the bridge to control the flow of people leaving London and going into Southwark. The main reason for the light was that there was an overflow of horse-drawn traffic over Westminster Bridge which forced thousands of pedestrians to walk next to the Houses of Parliament. The design combined three semaphore arms with red and green gas lamps for use, on a pillar. The gas lantern was manually turned by a police officer. The signal was 22 feet high, at night a red light would command Stop and a green light would mean use Caution. Although it was said to be successful at controlling traffic, its life was brief. It exploded on 2 January 1869, as a result of a leak in one of the gas lines underneath the pavement, injuring or killing the policeman who was operating it. In the first two decades of the 20th century semaphore traffic signals, like the one in London, were in use all over the United States with each state having its own design of the device, One good example was from Toledo, Ohio in 1908
6.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
7.
Highway
–
A highway is any public road or other public way on land. It is used for roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks, It is not an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or a translation for autobahn, autoroute. In North American and Australian English, major such as controlled-access highways or arterial roads are often state highways. Other roads may be designated county highways in the US and Ontario and these classifications refer to the level of government that maintains the roadway. In British English, highway is primarily a legal term, everyday use normally implies roads, while the legal use covers any route or path with a public right of access, including footpaths etc. The term has led to several related derived terms, including highway system, highway code, highway patrol, the term highway exists in distinction to waterway. Major highways are named and numbered by the governments that typically develop. Australias Highway 1 is the longest national highway in the world at over 14,500 km or 9,000 mi, China has the worlds largest network of highways followed closely by the United States of America. Some highways, like the Pan-American Highway or the European routes, some major highway routes include ferry services, such as U. S. Route 10, which crosses Lake Michigan. Traditionally highways were used by people on foot or on horses, later they also accommodated carriages, bicycles and eventually motor cars, facilitated by advancements in road construction. In the 1920s and 1930s, many nations began investing heavily in progressively more modern highway systems to spur commerce and these features are typically present on highways built as motorways. The general legal definition deals with right of use not the form of construction, the status of highway on most older roads has been gained by established public use while newer roads are typically dedicated as highways from the time they are adopted. In England and Wales, a highway is also known as The Queens Highway. The core definition of a highway is modified in various legislation for a number of purposes, scots law is similar to English law with regard to highways but with differing terminology and legislation. What is defined in England as a highway will often in Scotland be what is defined by s, Highways generally have a route number designated by the state and federal departments of transportation. Smaller roads may be termed byways, modern highway systems developed in the 20th century as the automobile gained popularity. The worlds first limited access road was constructed on Long Island New York in the United States known as the Long Island Motor Parkway or the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, construction of the Bonn–Cologne autobahn began in 1929 and was opened in 1932 by the mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer. In the USA, the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 enacted a fund to create a highway system
8.
American Automobile Association
–
The American Automobile Association is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a member service organization, with 55.6 million members in the United States. AAA provides services to its members, including roadside assistance and others and its national headquarters are in Heathrow, Florida. Those individual motor clubs included the Chicago Automobile Club, Automobile Club of America, Automobile Club of New Jersey, the Automobile Club of Buffalo joined in 1903. In 1904, the AAA merged with the very first American automobile organization, the first AAA road maps were published in 1905. AAA began printing hotel guides in 1917, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, which conducts studies on motorist safety, was established as a separate entity in 1947. AAA created an organization called the Racing Board, and later known as the Contest Board, in 1902 to officiate the Vanderbilt Cup international automobile race in Long Island, New York. The Racing Board sanctioned the Indianapolis 500 and awarded national racing championships in 1905,1916, 1920–1941, after the 1955 Le Mans disaster, AAA decided that auto racing distracted from its primary goals, and the United States Automobile Club was formed to take over the race sanctioning/officiating. In 2005, AAA re-entered racing as a sponsor of ISC-owned tracks, in 2006, AAAs foray into racing expanded when it made a three-year commitment to sponsor Roush Racings number 6 car on the NASCAR Nextel Circuit. In 1935, AAA published Sportsmanlike Driving, the first course outline for high school teachers, in 1936, AAA published the first driver education curriculum for use in high schools. AAA has updated its driver training courses throughout the years and many clubs currently offer their own driving schools, knowing that vehicles pose a hazard to pedestrians, in 1936 AAA began a pedestrian safety program with a grant from the Automotive Safety Foundation. AAA went on to commission and publish a study of pedestrian safety for the purpose of reducing pedestrian fatalities and injuries. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety was established as an entity in 1947. AAA has also provided services to the U. S. government in times of war, during the 1940s, AAA offered its services to the Advisory Commission of the Council of National Defense in anticipation of becoming involved in World War II. Reductions in manufacturing because of the war increased the need for conservation in automobiles, in 1944, AAA’s Keep em Rolling campaign sponsored a cross-country tour featuring cars equipped with synthetic tires. The tour demonstrated the reliability of tires made with synthetic rubber, AAA also assisted in the development of a manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and their operation during wartime. In 1946, AAA launched a campaign called Take It Easy, subsequently, fatalities dropped 20 percent below the pre-war figure. In the 1960s, AAA helped draft the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, setting safety standards for automobiles, tires, and equipment
9.
Federal Register
–
The Federal Register, abbreviated FR or sometimes Fed. Reg. is the journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules. It is published daily, except on federal holidays, the Federal Register is compiled by the Office of the Federal Register and is printed by the Government Publishing Office. There are no restrictions on the Federal Register, as a work of the U. S. government. In essence, the Federal Register is a way for the government to announce changes to government requirements, policies, the notice and comment process, as outlined in the Administrative Procedure Act, gives the people a chance to participate in agency rulemaking. Publication of documents in the Federal Register also constitutes constructive notice, the Federal Register is the main source for the U. S. Both proposed and final rules are published in the Federal Register, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking typically requests public comment on a proposed rule, and provides notice of any public meetings where a proposed rule will be discussed. The public comments are considered by the government agency. The United States Government Manual is published as an edition of the Federal Register. Its focus is on programs and activities, to purchase current or back print copies of the Federal Register, one may contact the U. S. Government Publishing Office. In each issue of the Federal Register, there is a subscription page, currently, a years subscription rate within the U. S. is US$929. Each individual issue may be priced from $11 to $33 depending on its pages, virtually every law library associated with an American Bar Association–accredited law school will also have a set, as will federal depository libraries. The Federal Register has been online since 1994. Federal depository libraries within the U. S. also receive copies of the text, outside the U. S. some major libraries may also carry the Federal Register. To help federal agencies manage their dockets, the Federal Docket Management System was launched in 2005 and is the side of regulations. gov. In April 2009, Citation Technologies created a free, searchable website for Federal Register articles dating from 1996 to the present. GovPulse. us, a finalist in the Sunlight Foundations Apps for America 2, provides a web 2.0 interface to the Federal Register, including sparklines of agency activity, on July 25,2010, the Federal Register 2.0 website went live. The new website is a collaboration between the developers who created GovPulse. us, the Government Publishing Office and the National Archives, on August 1,2011, the Federal Register announced a new application programming interface to facilitate programmatic access to the Federal Register content
10.
American Society of Civil Engineers
–
The American Society of Civil Engineers is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering society in the United States and it was the first national engineering society created in the United States. In 1999, the ASCE elected the top-ten civil engineering achievements that had the greatest positive impact on life in the 20th century in broad categories. Monuments of the Millennium were a combination of technical engineering achievement, courage and inspiration, and it also publishes conference proceedings, standards, manuals of practice, technical reports, and monographs. The ASCE corporate website hosts the society’s bookstore, the access to all journal articles published since 1983, all conference proceedings since 2000. Each year, more than 55,000 engineers earn continuing education units and/or professional development hours by participating in ASCE’s continuing education programs, ASCE hosts more than 15 annual and specialty conferences, over 200 continuing education seminars and more than 300 live Web seminars. The Societys Committee on Technical Advancement has 10 divisions, each year, more than 6,000 civil engineering professionals contribute volunteer technical expertise through participation on ASCE technical committees. These committees are housed in the divisions of the Committee on Technical Activities or in the Society’s institutes, the efforts of these volunteers advance the profession in many ways including the numerous conferences held each year, manuals of practice, journals and standards. Certification is the recognition of attaining advanced knowledge and skills in a specialty area of civil engineering, ASCE offers certifications for engineers who demonstrate advanced knowledge and skills in their area of engineering. American Academy of Water Resources Engineers Academy of Geo-Professionals Academy of Coastal, Ocean, michel Award for Industry Advancement of Research and the Charles Pankow Award for innovation,11 scholarships and fellowships for student members. Special consideration is given to private practice engineering work that is recognized as a contribution to the field of environmental engineering. The Lifetime Achievement Award has been presented annually since 1999 and recognizes five different individual leaders, one award is present in each category of design, construction, government, education, and management. ASCE designates national and international Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks, on February 12,2007 Lt. Gen Strock gave all expert review panel members an Outstanding Civilian Service Medals. On June 1,2007, the ASCE issued its expert review panel report, the report stated that had levees and pump stations not failed, far less property loss would have occurred and nearly two-thirds of deaths could have been avoided. The ASCE administration was criticized by the Times-Picayune for an attempt to minimize, the Corps acknowledged receiving a copy of the letter and refused to comment until the ASCEs Committee on Professional Conduct had commented on the complaint. It took over a year for the ASCE to announce the results of the CPC, the ASCE self-study panel did not file charges of ethical misconduct and blamed errors on staff and not review panel members having created the June press release. On November 14,2007, ASCE announced that U. S, congressman Sherwood Boehlert, R‑N. Y. would lead an independent task force of outside experts to review how ASCE participated in engineering studies of national significance. ASCE President David Mongan said the review was to address criticism of ASCE´s role in assisting the Army Corps of Engineers-sponsored investigation of Katrina failures
11.
National Safety Council
–
The National Safety Council is a 501 nonprofit, nongovernmental public service organization promoting health and safety in the United States of America. Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, NSC is an organization, founded in 1913. Members include more than 55,000 businesses, labor organizations, schools, public agencies, private groups, NSC is nonpolitical and does not contribute to or support any political party or candidate. In 1912 the first Cooperative Safety Congress was held in Milwaukee, the event was sponsored by the Association of Iron and Steel Electrical Engineers. At the Second Safety Congress in 1913, the National Council for Industrial Safety was established and it was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and Robert W. Campbell served as first president and William H. Cameron served as secretary. The name was changed to National Safety Council in 1914, to reflect the expanded scope to include traffic. As membership increased, the NSC began producing posters, technical fact sheets, in 1953, the U. S. Congress and President Dwight D. Traffic safety, Motor vehicle crashes are the one cause of unintentional injury deaths in the United States. NSC works public and private group to work to reduce the number of deaths. Defensive driving, the National Safety Council has offered defensive driving courses since 1964 was the first approved course in New Jersey, first aid, NSC offers first aid training courses for safety, compliance and wellness. Classroom programs are available, as well as online training, the group is a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizen Corps, a network of organizations and individuals dedicated to raising awareness about the need for preparedness. Since the NSC’s Emergency Care Services program began in 1991, more than 8 million rescuers have been trained in the program, GDL puts restrictions on high crash risk factors such as passengers and nighttime driving. Workplace safety, NSC works with the U. S, occupational Safety and Health Administration and the U. S. Department of Labor, to strengthen workplace safety and help reduce the number of unintentional injuries and fatalities. Training, NSC offers training courses for safety and health, driver improvement. Elder falls, falls are the cause of injury-related deaths among older adults. The NSC is part of the Falls Free Coalition, which hopes to advance a national plan to build community awareness. Communities apply for the Safe Communities designation by indicating their long-term commitment to the promotion of safety, NSC is governed by a Board of Directors and a Board of Delegates. The Board of Directors manages fiduciary and strategic affairs, the Board of Delegates develops the mission agenda, creates public policies, and tracks safety, health and environmental trends
12.
Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals
–
This conference also produced the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, which complements this legislation by standardising international traffic laws. Amendments, including new provisions regarding the legibility of signs, priority at roundabouts, both the Vienna Convention and the Geneva Protocol reflected a common consensus on road traffic signs that evolved primarily in Europe in the mid-20th century. Most jurisdictions outside Europe have not adopted either treaty, and maintain their own systems of traffic signals. An alternative convention called the SADC-RTSM, provided by the Southern African Development Community, is used by 11 countries in southern Africa and it follows many of the similar rules and principles as in the Vienna Convention. When more than one is available, the one must be used nationally. All signs, except for those that do not apply at night, the convention also specifies road markings. All such markings must be less than 6 mm high, with cats eye reflectors no more than 15 mm above the road surface, the road markings shall be white or yellow. All words painted on the surface should be either of place names, or of words recognisable in most languages. Red lights must be placed on top when lights are stacked vertically, or on the side closest to oncoming traffic if stacked horizontally
13.
Australia
–
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
14.
New Zealand
–
New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
15.
Ireland
–
Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
16.
Road signs in Canada
–
Road signs in Canada may conform to the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Canada by the Transportation Association of Canada for use by Canadian jurisdictions. The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario also has used its own MUTCD which bore many similarities to the TAC MUTCDC. However, as of approximately 2000, MTO has been developing the Ontario Traffic Manual, signs for the most part employ two languages, English, French or both. However, some signs are trilingual, incorporating English, French, in Quebec, Canada, modern signs read either arrêt or stop, however it is not uncommon to see older signs containing both words in smaller lettering, with arrêt on top. Both stop and arrêt are considered valid French words and the Office québécois de la langue française notes that the use of stop on stop signs is attested in French since 1927, all newly installed signs thus use either one word or the other, but not both. The province of New Brunswick has bilingual stop arrêt in English-speaking areas, acadian regions of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island also have bilingual signs. Some areas in Manitoba and Ottawa, Ontario also have bilingual signs, entry points to the country through Canada Customs also have bilingual stop signs. On First Nations or Inuit territories, stop signs sometimes use the local language in addition to or instead of English and/or French. Other parts of Canada use stop, the following are samples of Canadian road signs. The following are samples of Québec road signs
17.
New Brunswick
–
New Brunswick is one of Canadas three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province. In the Canada 2016 Census, Statistics Canada estimated the population to have been 747,101, down very slightly from 751,171 in 2011. The majority of the population is English-speaking of Anglo and Celtic heritage and it was created as a result of the partitioning of the British colony of Nova Scotia in 1784 and was originally named New Ireland with the capital to be in Saint John. The name was replaced with New Brunswick by King George II. The provincial flag features a ship superimposed on a background with a yellow lion passant guardant on red pennon above it. The province is named for the city of Braunschweig, known in English and Low German as Brunswick, located in modern-day Lower Saxony in northern Germany. The then-colony was named in 1784 to honour the reigning British monarch, George III, the original First Nations inhabitants of New Brunswick were members of three distinct tribes. The largest tribe was the Mikmaq, and they occupied the eastern and they were responsible for the Augustine Mound, a burial ground built about 800 BCE near Metepnákiaq. The western portion of the province was the home of the Wolastoqiyik people. The smaller Passamaquoddy tribe occupied lands in the southwest of the province. The next French contact was in 1604, when a party led by Pierre du Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain set up camp for the winter on St. Croix Island, the colony relocated the following year across the Bay of Fundy to Port Royal, Nova Scotia. The whole maritime region was at that time claimed by France and was designated as the colony of Acadia, one of the provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 was the surrender of Acadia to Queen Anne. The bulk of the Acadian population thus found themselves residing in the new British colony of Nova Scotia, the remainder of Acadia was only lightly populated and poorly defended. The Maliseet from their headquarters at Meductic on the Saint John River, participated in guerilla raids and battles against New England during Father Rales War. About 1750, to protect his interests in New France, Louis XV caused three forts to be built along the Isthmus of Chignecto and this caused what is known to historians as Father Le Loutres War. During the French and Indian War, the British completed their displacement of the Acadians over all of present-day New Brunswick, Fort Beauséjour, Fort Menagoueche and Fort Gaspareaux were captured by a British force commanded by Lt. Col. Robert Monckton in 1755. Inside Fort Beauséjour, the British forces found not only French regular troops, Governor Charles Lawrence of Nova Scotia used the discovery of Acadian civilians helping in the defence of the fort to order the expulsion of the Acadian population from Nova Scotia. The Acadians of the recently captured Beaubassin and Petitcodiac regions were included in the expulsion order, other actions in the war included British expeditions up the Saint John River in the St. John River Campaign
18.
Ontario
–
Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city, Ottawa, and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, the province consists of three main geographical regions, The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment, the Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
19.
French language
–
French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
20.
Ministry of Transportation of Ontario
–
The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario is the provincial ministry of the government of Ontario which is responsible for transport infrastructure and related law in Ontario. The ministry traces its roots back over a century to the 1890s, in 1916, the Department of Highways was formed and tasked with establishing a network of provincial highways. The first was designated on 1918, and by the summer of 1925, in the mid-1920s, a new Department of Northern Development was created to manage infrastructure improvements in northern Ontario, it merged with the DOH on April 1,1937. In 1972, the Department of Highways was reorganized as the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the MTO is responsible for,10.4 million registered vehicles 8. These instructors worked to establish specifications for the almost 90,000 kilometres of county- and that same year, the Ontario Good Roads Association was formed. The DOH assumed its first highway, the Provincial Highway on August 21,1917, on February 20,1920, the DOH assumed several hundred kilometres of new highways, formally establishing the Provincial Highway System. In Area Maintenance Contract areas, where one contractor is awarded an area and performs all maintenance work except for rehabilitation. Ministry of Transportation Enforcement Officers enforce a variety of highway safety legislation specific to operators of commercial vehicles. Driver hours of service, cargo securement, dangerous goods transportation, weights and dimensions, tEOs conduct commercial vehicle inspections using a standardized procedure established by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. Transportation Enforcement Officers inspect commercial vehicles, their loads, and driver’s qualifications and they collect evidence, issue provincial offence notices or summons to court for violations, and testify in court. Blitz-style joint force operations are conducted in concert with provincial and municipal police. Although many Transportation Enforcement Officers are licensed vehicle mechanics, most are not, tEOs hail from various backgrounds including driver licensing examination, automobile repair, commercial truck driving and other law enforcement agencies. MTOs headquarters are located on three campuses, Garden City Tower, St. Catharines, Ontario -301 St, Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Historical Committee. Ontario Ministry of Transportation website DriveTest website Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance website MTO Locations in Greater Toronto Area
21.
Comparison of MUTCD-influenced traffic signs
–
Other non-American countries using road signs similar to the MUTCD include Australia, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, and New Zealand. They are also the countries listed here which drive on the left. There are also a number of American signatories to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, and Venezuela. Of those, only Chile, Cuba, and Guyana have ratified the treaty, nonetheless and it is also worth noting that, unlike in Europe, considerable variation within road sign designs can exist within nations, especially in multilingual areas. A notable example of this is Quebec, which uses a substantially different symbology than the rest of Canada, unlike in Europe, the text on stop signs in the Americas varies depending on language, and may be multilingual. Below is a table of the languages used. Note that in non-English speaking countries, English is frequently included on signs near airports, all countries, with the exception of the United States and Great Britain, use the metric system. Some countries mark this fact by using units on various signs, Brazil, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and parts of Canada list units on their maximum speed limit signs. In Canada and Ireland, this is a reflection of recent transitions from Imperial to metric, advisory speed limit signs in most countries list units, although New Zealand does not. The US lists units in mph, height, weight, and width restrictions are almost always accompanied by units, in the US, the short ton is used with no distinction from metric tonnes. Signs in Canada and Mexico near the US border often include both metric and Imperial units, to remind American drivers that they are entering metric countries, No such equivalent exists in the US. The US was, at one time, planning a transition to the metric system, the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 started the process, but it was halted in 1982. Nevertheless, the MUTCD specifies metric versions of speed limit signs, furthermore, Interstate 19 in Arizona is partially signed in metric. Nearly all MUTCD-influenced warning signs are diamond-shaped and yellow, some warning signs may be fluorescent yellow-green in order to draw extra attention, there are a few exceptions to this, Pentagonal signs are used in school zones in the United States, Malaysia and many areas in Canada. But in the Philippines, pentagonal signs are used for pedestrian crossings, Canada and Japan use some pentagonal white-on-blue signs, although Canada is replacing these with black-on-fluorescent yellow-green signs of the same shape. Argentina employs European-style red-bordered triangular warning signs in certain instances where extra attention is required, the Philippines also uses this style for all warning signs. Most countries use orange or yellow diamond-shaped signs for construction zones, Australia and the Philippines use rectangular signs that fit into temporary casings. Prohibitory and restrictive signs are classified as signs, as per the MUTCD
22.
Road signs in the United States
–
There are no plans for adopting the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals standards. There are also localized versions that are used in cities such as New York City which use a naming system compatible with the MUTCD and/or state supplement. The MUTCD and SHS establish seven general categories of signs for road, regulatory signs give instructions to motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists. Signs such as stop, no parking, no turns, some have special shapes, such as the octagon for the stop sign and the X shape for railroad crossings. Some signs can be localized, such as no parking, and some are found in state and local jurisdictions as they are based on state or local laws. These signs are in the R series of signs in the MUTCD, the MUTCDs R1 series is for stop and yield. As not all situations are covered, several states have their own standards in addition to the MUTCD, stop and Yield The MUTCDs R2 series is for speed limit signs. Some state supplements and state MUTCDs place various speed limit signs in other series, as all situations are not covered, several states have their own standards in addition to the MUTCD. Speed limits in the United States are in miles per hour, metric speed limit signs in kilometers per hour are authorized but extremely rare, usually seen near the borders with Canada and Mexico, both of which use the metric system. Many states however disallow the use of signs on state-maintained roads. Speed Limit Signs The MUTCDs R3 series of signs is for lane usage, as all situations are not covered, several states have their own standards in addition to the MUTCD. Lane Usage and Turns Signs The MUTCDs R4 series of signs is for the regulation of movement signs, as all situations are not covered, several states have their own standards in addition to the MUTCD. Regulation of Movement Signs The MUTCDs R5 series of signs is for exclusionary signs, as all situations are not covered, several states have their own standards in addition to the MUTCD. The most common of these signs is the do not enter sign, exclusionary Signs The MUTCDs R6 series of signs is for one way and divided highway signs. As all situations are not covered, several states have their own standards in addition to the MUTCD, the most common of these signs is the one way sign. One Way and Divided Highway The MUTCD allows for three types of parking signs, permissive, no parking, and no standing, however, in most states, there is an additional more restrictive one, no stopping. These signs are found in the R7 series of signs in the MUTCD, as all situations are not covered, several states and local governments have their own standards in addition to the MUTCD. These types of signs allow for parking for either an unlimited or varied amount of time and these types are often used in conjunction with parking meters and parking permits
23.
Warning sign
–
A traffic warning sign is a type of traffic sign that indicates a hazard ahead on the road that may not be readily apparent to a driver. In most countries, they take the shape of an equilateral triangle with a white background. However, both the color of the background and the color and thickness of the border varies from country to country, in the Peoples Republic of China, warning signs appear with a black border and a yellow background. In Sweden, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Finland, Iceland, the polar bear warning sign in Svalbard recently changed from displaying a black bear on white background to a white bear on black background. Some countries that use a white background have adopted an orange or amber background for road work or construction signs. Warning signs in some countries have a shape in place of the standard triangular shape. Some other countries use these standards for some signage. The warning signs usually contain a symbol, in Europe they are based on the UNECE Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. In the United States they are based on the MUTCD standard, some of the first roadside signs —ancient milestones— merely gave distance measures. Hazard warnings were rare though occasional specimens appeared, such as the warning about horse-drawn vehicles backing up which was carved in stone in Lisbons Alfama neighborhood in 1686. The early signs did not have high-contrast lettering and their messages might have been easily overlooked, Signs were written in the local language, symbolic signs, though long used on certain tradesmens signs were to be used for traffic only much later in history. Complex signage systems emerged with the appearance of motorcars, in 1908 the automobile association in West London erected some warning signs. In 1909, nine European governments agreed on the use of four symbols, indicating bump, curve, intersection. The intensive work on road signs that took place between 1926 and 1949 eventually led to the development of the European road sign system. As the 20th century progressed and also as traffic volume and vehicle speeds increased, sign-visibility, earlier flat painted signs gave way to signs with embossed letters. Wording might be spelled out with so-called button copy —letters dotted with reflective glass spheres for night visibility, button copy signs with plastic pips rather than glass appeared in the 1970s. Flat metal signs reappeared in the 1980s with the use of surfaces covered with retroflective sheeting materials like Scotchlite. In Europe, the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals tried, among other things, after the fall of the Iron Curtain and greater ease of country-to-country driving in the Eurozone, European countries moved toward lessening the regional differences in warning signs
24.
Regulatory sign
–
One type of regulatory signs are traffic signs intended to instruct road users on what they must or should do under a given set of circumstances. Examples of non-traffic types of regulatory signs might be signs for vehicles without disabled parking stickers or no-smoking signs where there are laws prohibiting smoking. Section 1A.13 Definitions of Words and Phrases in This Manual, Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Regulatory Sign—a sign that gives notice to users of traffic laws or regulations
25.
Prohibitory traffic sign
–
Prohibitory traffic signs are used to prohibit certain types of manoeuvres or some types of traffic. No admittance to unauthorised personnel, usually shown as a red circle with a white rectangle across its face and it is often used for one-way traffic. These signs denote that the road is only for traffic coming in the opposite direction, Used at intersections to roads with one-way traffic or ramps. Traffic is not permitted to continue straight, and must usually turn and these may occur at an intersection with incoming one-way traffic. Motor vehicles are not permitted in this region, motorcycles are not permitted in this area. Heavy goods vehicles are not allowed Buses are not permitted, pedestrians are not allowed on the road, but may use a footpath instead. Pedestrians and bicycles are not permitted, but may be allowed on a footpath, either for all vehicles or with some exceptions. These are usually to speed up traffic through an intersection or due to cars or other right of ways or if the intersecting road is one-way. Indicated near-universally by a making the prohibited turn overlaid with a red circle with an angular line crossing it. No overtaking or passing signs See, Speed limit Used to indicate a maximum speed limit, the indicated limit is in mph in the USA and the UK, and in km/h in all other countries. Speed limit signs End of speed limit signs Used denote maximum weight for bridges, Used to denote maximum width on narrow roadways. Used to denote height limit on bridges and underpasses Used to denote maximum length, sounding your horn is not allowed for vehicles in some areas, most commonly in school zones, villages, or near hospitals or churches. Amongst one of the most familiar signs, this sign is used where parking is prohibited, the no parking sign is a part of controlled parking zone sign, which is obsolete in Belgrade from 1997. This sign is used where parking and stopping is prohibited, usually shown as a red cross inside a blue circle with a red ring in Europe and parts of Asia, and a E in a red circle with a X through in South America. Stop at customs that are used at crossings, toll roads or police. These are the signs that end restrictions
26.
Mandatory sign
–
Mandatory signs are road signs which are used to set the obligations of all traffic which use a specific area of road. Unlike prohibitory or restrictive signs, mandatory signs tell traffic what it must do, in Vienna Convention signatories, the mandatory sign is either a light blue circle with a white border or a white circle with a red border. The mandatory sign group is not used in Australia, Ecuador, or the United States, canada has developed its own style using a green circle, which is not used in any other country. The U. S. instead uses black arrows and border on taller-than-wide rectangular white signs, below is a chart comparing some of the most common mandatory signs. When a specific area of roadway is designated with a sign specifying a vehicle type. These signs can be combined by putting one pictogram above the other, if the pictograms are side-by-side however, with the sign divided by a white vertical line, each type of vehicle must stay within the lane indicated by the sign. A red line through a sign indicates not that a vehicle of a specific type is prohibited from entering the designated area. Mandatory signs can also be used to issue instructions to all vehicles - common examples include pass on this side signs seen at roadworks, and compulsory roundabout signs seen at mini-roundabouts
27.
Stop sign
–
A stop sign is a traffic sign to notify drivers that they must make sure no cars are coming and slow down before proceeding. The Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals proposed the standard stop sign diameters of 600,900 or 1200 mm, the United Kingdom and New Zealand stop signs are 750,900 or 1200 mm, according to sign location and traffic speeds. In the United States, stop signs have a size of 750 mm across opposite flats of the red octagon, the white uppercase letters in small caps forming the stop legend are 250 mm tall. Larger signs of 900 mm with 300 mm legend and 25 mm border are used on multi-lane expressways, the metric units specified in the US regulatory manuals are rounded approximations of US customary units, not exact conversions. The field, legend, and border are all retroreflective, in the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals of the UN, the instruction on the sign to stop is specified to be either in English as stop or written in the local language. The signs distinctive design was developed and first used in the US, despite this, the US is not a signatory to this UN Convention. The reason that the US has the sign design as specified by the Convention is that the Convention adopted the US standard. However, most countries see fewer of them than North America and South Africa, because all-way stops are never used, at the vast majority of minor intersections in these countries Give Way signs and/or equivalent road markings are used. Finally, at the crossing streets, Give Way signs may be replaced by roundabouts. Stop signs are used in North America to control conflicting traffic movements at intersections that are not busy enough to justify the installation of a traffic signal or roundabout. In the United States, the sign is not intended for use as a traffic calming device. Stop signs may be erected on all intersecting roads, resulting in three-, more recently, Georgia Traffic Engineer Martin Bretherton Jr. Fifteen studies found that unwarranted multi-way stops actually increased speed away from intersections as motorists try to make up lost time spent at unnecessary stop signs, multi-way stop signs impose high vehicle operating costs, longer than needed travel times, excessive fuel consumption and increased vehicle emissions. Researchers also found that safety of pedestrians may sometimes be actually decreased, pedestrians expect vehicles to stop, but many drivers run the unnecessary signs. Engine exhaust, brake, tire and aerodynamic noise may all increase as cars brake, while the initial cost of installing stop signs is low, enforcement costs can be prohibitive, and one 1990 study estimated extra travel costs per intersection as $210, 061/year. Finally, where unwarranted multi-way stops have been removed with public support. Another major issue surrounding the use of stop signs pertains to the publics variegated understanding of their meaning, one prolific source of accidents is the misconception of law that every motorist who attempts to enter a main highway from a side road, does so at his or her peril. He or she has a right to assume that the driver of the car will obey the law, slow down
28.
Yield sign
–
In road transport, a yield or give way sign indicates that each driver must prepare to stop if necessary to let a driver on another approach proceed. A driver who stops or slows down to let another vehicle through has yielded the right of way to that vehicle, in contrast, a stop sign requires each driver to stop completely before proceeding, even if no other traffic is present. Particular regulations regarding appearance, installation, and compliance with the signs vary by jurisdiction, while give way and yield essentially have the same meaning in this context, many countries have a clear preference of one term over the other. The following chart compiles which countries and territories use which term and this chart is based on official government usage in the English language and excludes translations from other languages. A black triangle was a symbol of stop for all vehicles since about 1925 in Germany, in the United States, the first yield sign was installed in 1950 at First Street and Columbia Avenue Tulsa, Oklahoma, having been devised and designed by Tulsa police officer Clinton Riggs. Riggs invented only the sign, not the rule, which was already in place, the sign as originally conceived by Officer Riggs was shaped like a keystone, later versions bore the shape of an inverted equilateral triangle in common use today. In Australia, the Give Way sign experienced a similar evolution as its counterpart in the United States, during the 1940s and 1950s, the sign was circular and yellow. In 1964, the changed to the triangular shape and red. In the 1980s the sign adopted its design and gained a counterpart for use at roundabouts. In road signs in Ireland, the sign reads yield in most areas, though in Gaeltacht areas. Signs erected before 1997 and still in service read yield right of way, Signs 1956–62 had blank white interior or were hollow. In New Zealand, the design also used the keystone shape as in the United States. In the 1980s, the design was adopted. The United Kingdoms Road Traffic Act calls for give way signs, the road marking accompanying the sign consists of a large inverted triangle painted just before the place to give way. In Wales, the signs bear bilingual legends, the Welsh ildiwch appears above give way, in the United Kingdom, a stop or give-way sign may be preceded by an inverted, blank, triangular sign with an advisory placard such as give way 100 yards. If controlling a merge-type movement on the roadway where acceleration geometry and/or sight distance is not adequate for merging traffic operation. The second crossroad of a highway, where the median width at the intersection is 9 m or greater. In this case, a STOP sign may be installed at the entrance to the first roadway of a highway
29.
Crossbuck
–
A crossbuck is a sign composed of two slats of wood or metal of equal length, fastened together on a pole in a saltire formation. In the United States, the crossbuck carries the words RAIL and ROAD on one arm and CROSSING on the other, older variants simply used black and white paint, newer installations use a reflective white material with non-reflective lettering. Some antique U. S. crossbucks were painted in color schemes. Other countries, such as China, also use this layout, often, a supplemental sign below the crossbuck indicates the number of tracks at the crossing. A special kind of crossing sign assembly was introduced on a basis in Ohio in 1992. The experiments final report gave the device a favorable review, however, the plate was rejected for inclusion in the 2003 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. In Canada, crossbucks have a red border and no lettering, in Mexico, the crossbucks read CRUCERO FERROCARRIL, a literal translation of its U. S. counterpart. Older designs read CUIDADO CON EL TREN, meaning beware of the train, in Argentina, the most common legend is PELIGRO FERROCARRIL. A version with a yellow and black cross, and one with the cross in white with a red border, a special symbol in the center indicates an electric railroad crossing, cautioning road users about excessive height cargo that may contact the electric wires. In Australia, the crossbuck is a St Andrews Cross as in Europe, but uses words, in contrast to the American RAILROAD CROSSING, Australian signs say RAILWAY CROSSING or TRAMWAY CROSSING. Different countries may classify the sign differently, for example, in Australia it is considered a regulatory sign, while in close neighbour New Zealand it is considered a warning sign. Some countries, such as Australia, France, New Zealand, several countries use a sign to indicate that multiple tracks must be crossed at a level crossing. In Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the U. S. a sign is mounted beneath the crossbuck with the number of tracks, many European countries use multiple crossbucks or additional chevrons below the first one. Taiwan also uses half-crossbucks below the regular crossbuck, several countries include the crossbuck design in their advance warning signs for a railway crossing ahead. Traffic Control for Railroad and Light Rail Transit Grade Crossings, U. S, Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices,2009 ed
30.
Dead end (street)
–
A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac, is a street with only one inlet/outlet. While historically built for reasons, one of its modern uses is to calm vehicle traffic. The term dead end is understood in all varieties of English, some of these are used only regionally. In the United States and other countries, cul-de-sac is often not a synonym for dead end and refers to dead ends with a circular end. See below for regionally used terms, Dead ends existed in towns and cities long before the automotive 20th century, particularly in Arab and Moorish towns. The earliest example was unearthed in the El-Lahun workers village in Egypt, the village is laid out with straight streets that intersect at right angles, akin to a grid, but irregular. Dead-end streets appeared also during the period of Athens and Rome. The 15th century architect and planner Leon Battista Alberti implies in his writings that dead-end streets may have been used intentionally in antiquity for defense purposes, the same opinion is expressed by an earlier thinker, Aristotle, when he criticized the Hippodamian grid. But for security in war the opposite, as it used to be in ancient times, for that is difficult for foreign troops to enter and find their way about when attacking. In the UK, their existence is implied by an 1875 law which banned their use in new developments. In the earlier periods, traffic was excluded from residential streets simply by gates or by employing the cul-de-sac and it was in the UK that the cul-de-sac street type was first legislated into use, with The Hampstead Garden Suburb Act 1906. Unwins applications of the cul-de-sac and the related crescent always included pedestrian paths independent of the road network, the 1906 Act defined the nature of the cul-de-sac as a non-through road and restricted its length to 500 feet. Garden cities in the UK that followed Hampstead, such as Welwyn Garden City all included culs-de-sac, the US Federal Housing Authority recommended and promoted their use through their 1936 guidelines and the power of lending development funds. In Canada, a variation of Stein’s Radburn 1929 plan that used crescents instead of culs-de-sac was built in 1947 in Manitoba, Wildwood Park, Winnipeg, the Varsity Village and Braeside, subdivisions in Calgary, Alberta also used the Radburn model in the late 1960s. Although dead end streets, i. e. Doxiadis has additionally argued their important role in separating man from machine, originally unplanned dead ends have been created in the centers of cities that are laid on a grid by blocking through traffic. A recent variation of limiting traffic is the closure by using retractable bollards which are activated by designated card holders only. However, not only do they stop cars, they also stop ambulances and other emergency vehicles, Dead ends are created in urban planning to limit through-traffic in residential areas. This design improvement, which selectively excludes one mode of transport while permitting others and its application retains the dead ends primary function as a non-through road, but establishes complete pedestrian and bicycle network connectivity
31.
One-way traffic
–
One-way traffic is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, one-way streets typically result in higher traffic flow as drivers may avoid encountering oncoming traffic or turns through oncoming traffic. Residents may dislike one-way streets due to the route required to get to a specific destination. Some studies even challenge the original motivation for one-way streets, in that the circuitous routes negate the claimed higher speeds. Signs are posted showing which direction the vehicles can move in, commonly an upward arrow, or on a T junction where the road is one-way. Sometimes one portion of a street is one-way, another portion two-way, an advantage of one-way streets is that drivers do not have to watch for vehicles coming in the opposite direction on this type of street. The abstract No Entry sign was adopted for standardization at the League of Nations convention in Geneva in 1931. The sign was adapted from Swiss usage, derived from the practice of former European states that marked their boundaries with their formal shield symbols, restrictions on entry were indicated by tying a blood-red ribbon horizontally around the shield. The sign is known as C1, from its definition in the Vienna Convention on Road Signs. The European No Entry sign was adopted into North American uniform signage in the 1970s, in addition to the standardized graphic symbol, the US version still retains the wording Do Not Enter, while the European and Canadian versions typically have no text. Since Unicode 5.2, the Miscellaneous Symbols block contains the glyph ⛔, representable in HTML as ⛔, or ⛔. One-way streets may be part of a system, which facilitates a smoother flow of motor traffic through, for example. This is achieved by arranging one-way streets that cross in such a fashion as to eliminate right turns or left turns, traffic light systems at such junctions may be simpler and may be coordinated to produce a green wave. In the United States,37 states and Puerto Rico allow left turns on red only if both the origin and destination streets are one way, see South Carolina law Section 56-5-970 C3, for example. Five other states, namely Alaska, Idaho, Michigan, Oregon, an attempt was apparently made in 1617 to introduce one-way streets in alleys near the River Thames in London. The next one-way street in London was Albemarle Street in Mayfair and it was so designated in 1800 because the public science lectures were so popular there. The first one-way streets in Paris were the Rue de Mogador, one story of the origin of the one-way street in the United States originated in Eugene, Oregon. On 9 September 1934, the on-fire SS Morro Castle was towed to the shore near the Asbury Park Convention Center, the Asbury Park Police Chief decided to make the Ocean Avenue one-way going north and the street one block over in one-way going south, creating a circular route
32.
Speed limit
–
Road speed limits are used in most countries to set the maximum speed at which road vehicles may legally travel on particular stretches of road. Speed limits may be variable and in some places speeds are unlimited, Speed limits are normally indicated on a traffic sign. Speed limits are set by the legislative bodies of nations or provincial governments. The first maximum speed limit was the 10 mph limit introduced in the United Kingdom in 1861, the highest posted speed limit in the world is 140 km/h, which applies to some roads in Poland and Bulgaria, similarly Texas posts 85 mph on one 40-mile long toll road. However, some roads have no speed limit for certain classes of vehicles, best known are Germanys less congested Autobahns, where automobile drivers have no mandated maximum speed. Measurements from the German state of Brandenburg in 2006 showed average speeds of 142 km/h on a 6-lane section of autobahn in free-flowing conditions, rural roads on the Isle of Man and the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Telangana, also lack speed limits. Speed limits are set to attempt to cap road traffic speed. It is often done with an intention to improve traffic safety. Speed limits may also be set in an attempt to reduce the impact of road traffic. Some cities have reduced limits to as little as 30 km/h for both safety and efficiency reasons, however, it has also been shown that in some circumstances changing a speed limit has little effect on the average speed of cars. In situations where the road speed is considered too high by governments. For some classes of vehicle, speed limiters may be mandated to enforce compliance, since their introduction, speed limits have been opposed by some motoring advocacy groups. The United Kingdom Stage Carriage Act 1832 first introduced the offense of endangering the safety of a passenger or person by furious driving. The Locomotives on Highways Act 1896, which raised the limit to 14 mph is celebrated to this day by the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. The first person to be convicted of speeding is believed to be Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent and he was fined 1 shilling plus costs. In Australia, during the early 20th century, there were reported for furious driving offences. One conviction in 1905 cited furiously driving 20 mph when passing a tram traveling at half that speed. Most jurisdictions use the metric speed unit of kilometers per hour for speed limits, while some, primarily the United States, Australia followed the United Kingdom system before changing to the metric system in the 1970s
33.
Speed limits by country
–
A road speed limit is the limit of speed allowed by law for road vehicles, usually the maximum speed allowed. Occasionally there is a speed limit. Speed limits are set by the legislative bodies of national or local governments. The following tables show various jurisdictions default speed limits apply to different types of vehicles travelling on three different types of road. Actual speed limits may range beyond these values, speeds are listed in kilometers per hour. The enforcement tolerance is specified in km/h or percentage above the stated limit, for the United Kingdom and the United States, the speed limit is also listed in miles per hour in brackets. Germany, with its Autobahns, is the country without a general speed limit on its highways. The Isle of Man is the jurisdiction without a general speed limit on rural two-lane roads. American interstate highways are patrolled by law enforcement, typically referred to as Highway Patrol. Speed limit enforcement is the most profitable part of their duty, enforcement varies notably between states and traffic conditions. Montana and Nebraska have high tolerance toward speeding, more states are experimenting with variable speed limits, with electronic speed limit displays replacing fixed-number signs. The idea is to speed limits with traffic and weather conditions. From 1980, regulations for 30 km/h zones were enacted and have been widely applied
34.
Advisory speed limit
–
An advisory speed limit is a speed recommendation by a governing body, used when it may be non-obvious to the driver that the safe speed is below the legal speed. It is a posting which approximates the Basic Speed Law or rule, Advisory speed limits are often set in areas with many pedestrians, such as in city centers and outside schools, and on difficult stretches of roads, such as on tight corners or through roadworks. The advisory speed limit when not posted is generally the same as the speed limit in ideal conditions. As local councils require consent from the Department for Transport before changing speed limits, the Richtgeschwindigkeit is a legal term in Germany describing the advisory speed limit for roads without a mandatory speed limit. Autobahns have a speed limit of 130 kilometres per hour on non-signposted sections. Until 31 August 2009, a different reference speed could be posted by the traffic signs number 380 and 381, according to §42 of the German traffic code, as these traffic signs were only rarely used, they meanwhile have been abolished. The signage for advisory speed limits is not defined by the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, though they list speeds, the U. S. advisory speed signs are classified as warning signs, not regulatory signs, as primary speed signs are. Australia uses a design as the U. S. in spite of regulatory speed limit signs being quite different. Germany uses a square sign with a background and white lettering, similar to the minimum speed limit sign. The United Kingdom currently uses a white rectangle with black lettering stating Max Speed. Media related to Advisory speed limit road signs at Wikimedia Commons
35.
Direction, position, or indication sign
–
Direction signs are far more varied internationally than other classes of sign, as the Vienna Convention does not specify sizes, colours, symbols or positions of such signs. Direction signs are the oldest type of sign, Plutarch writes about milestones being placed in the 3rd century BC. However, it was not until the invention of the car at the turn of the 20th century that modern direction signs evolved, with fewer words. The use of milestones continued following the decline of the Roman Empire, however, as trading between towns and regions increased, milestones were found to be inconvenient for giving directions at crossroads. As a result, the fingerpost developed, erected by local parishes, fingerposts were easier to read from horseback and were cheaper to make. Similar signs were developed in countries and remained in use until the early-20th century. These proved unwieldy, and modernisation efforts quickly sprang up to change them, the end of the war, on the other hand, presented itself as an opportunity, seized by many European nations, to set about redeveloping their directional signage systems. The British Worboys Committee went even further, creating signs with detailed diagrams of junction layouts, such signs have now been in use almost unchanged for over half a century. Additionally, direction signs on motorways must be blue or green, some areas have special evacuation route signs that are to be followed in case of certain disasters. The signs point to either to safety or to less danger. Evacuation signs are common in areas where there is a risk of dangers such as flash flooding, volcanic activity and lahar, tsunami, hurricane. For example, along the Japanese shorelines, the warning signs are linked with a network of warning sirens. Bilingual sign Cairn Exit number Highway location marker Driver location signs
36.
Variable-message sign
–
Such signs warn of traffic congestion, accidents, incidents, roadwork zones, or speed limits on a specific highway segment. In urban areas, VMS are used within parking guidance and information systems to guide drivers to car parking spaces. They may also ask vehicles to take alternative routes, limit travel speed, vMSs were deployed at least as early as the 1950s on the New Jersey Turnpike. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority replaced those signs with more flexible electronic signs between 2010 and 2016, the current VMS systems are largely deployed on freeways, trunk highways, or in work zones. Since the late 1990s, the most common used in new installations for variable message signs are LED displays. In recent years, some newer LED variable message signs have the ability to display colored text, dot-matrix variable message signs are divided into three subgroups, character matrix, row matrix, and full matrix. In a character matrix VMS, each character is given its own matrix with equal spacing between them, typically with two or three rows of characters. In a full matrix VMS, the sign is a single large dot matrix display, allowing the display of different fonts. Overhead variable message signs are available in three form factors, front access, rear access, and walk-in. In a front access variable message sign, maintenance is performed by lifting the sign open from the front, most smaller VMS are of the front access form factor, and are typically installed today on major arterials. The walk-in form factor is a recent introduction, where maintenance on the sign is performed from the inside of the sign. A key advantage of the form factor is that lane closures are generally not required to perform maintenance on the sign. Most of the largest VMS units installed today are walk-in units, the NJ Turnpike Authority counts five unique types of variable message signs under its jurisdiction, at least one of which has been replaced by newer signs. They are, REDUCE SPEED neon signs, electronic VMS, signs with remotely controlled messages displayed on them, the messages are sent from the State Traffic Management Center, updating the signs automatically. Variable speed limit signs - used for varying the speed limits within work zones. A portable VMS has much the same characteristics as a fixed electronic VMS, early models required an operator to be physically present when programming a message, whereas newer models may be reprogrammed remotely via a wired or wireless network or cellphone connection. A complete message on a panel generally includes a statement indicating incident, roadwork. A location statement indicating where the incident is located, a statement indicating lane closure, delay, etc
37.
Bilingual sign
–
A bilingual sign is the representation on a panel of texts in more than one language. The use of signs is usually reserved for situations where there is legally administered bilingualism or where there is a relevant tourist or commercial interest. However, more informal uses of bilingual signs are found on businesses in areas where there is a high degree of bilingualism. Beyond bilingualism, there is a tendency toward the substitution of internationally standardized symbols. The use of signs has experienced a remarkable expansion in recent times. The increase in bilingualism there has been paralleled by increases in international travel, as a result, all street signs in the Brussels Capital Region are bilingual in Dutch and French. Another example is the German-speaking South Tyrol, which was annexed to Italy during World War I, in observance of international treaties, Italy was eventually compelled to acknowledge and accommodate its German-speaking citizens through the use of bilingual signs and countless other measures. In Greece, virtually all signs are bilingual, with the Greek text in yellow font, if the sign is Greek only, an equivalent sign in English will often be situated nearby. Bilingual signs are used in the Republic of Ireland, with all roads, towns. The Irish appears on the top of the sign with the English underneath, the exception to this is in Gaeltacht regions, where only Irish language signage tends to be used. In Finland, the multilingual signs appeared at the end of the 19th century, the signs were in the official languages Swedish, Finnish and, during that period, also Russian. After the independence of Finland, the signs became bilingual Finnish - Swedish in the bilingual areas of the country. Bilingual signs are used in the United Kingdom, in Wales, Welsh and English are official languages and most road signs are bilingual. Each local authority decides which language is shown first, in Scotland, Scottish Gaelic is increasingly visible on road signs, not only in the north-west and on the islands, but also on main primary routes. Railway station signs and signs on buildings such as the Scottish Parliament are increasingly bilingual. In parts of Slovenia, where languages other than Slovene are official and this regulation is not always strictly enforced, but nevertheless all road signs in these areas are bilingual. In Turkey bilingual village signs are used in Eastern Anatolia Region Airports, european airports have signs that are generally bilingual with the local language and English, although there are significant variations between countries. In multilingual countries such as Belgium and Switzerland, airports generally have signs in three or four languages, provincial road signs are also bilingual in French-designated areas of Manitoba and Ontario
38.
Driver location sign
–
Only roads in England feature these signs, they are not found on roads in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. This information might be useful in the event of an emergency or breakdown and they were first introduced in 2003, and they complement distance marker posts. Both types of display an unique location number. The number, although given without units, is the distance in kilometres from a designated location for the road. While the driver location signs are metric, other road signs throughout the UK use imperial measurements, since at least 1980, motorways have had distance marker posts installed at 100 metre intervals alongside the hard shoulder. These posts are used to help pinpoint road locations for maintenance and emergency purposes, on the M25 for example, distances are referenced to a point near Junction 31 even though the section of the ring road between Junction 31 and Junction 1a is the A282, not the M25. On motorways distance marker posts also bear an arrow pointing towards the location of the nearest emergency telephone, the number used on distance marker posts is also encoded into the numbers associated with motorway emergency roadside telephones. In this way motorway control centre staff can pinpoint the telephone from which a call is being made, items of highway furniture are commonly uniquely identified by a code number attached to or stencilled onto them. On motorways the number from the closest distance location marker is incorporated into such identifiers. They are also sent in the signal from traffic cameras to identify the location of the camera and these signs give the same location information as distance marker posts, but more visibly on larger signs, which are generally placed at 500-metre intervals. If obstacles prevent signs from being spaced at 500-metre intervals, then the interval must be reduced to either 400 or 300 metres. By the end of the 2009 financial year,80 percent of Englands motorway network had been fitted with 16,000 driver location signs at a cost of £5.9 million. It was expected that the remaining 20% of the network would be covered by April 2010 at a cost of £1.6 million. As of July 2009 driver location signs had not been erected in Scotland, by the early 2000s mobile phones were being used as the primary means of reporting accidents. This required the government to rethink marker posts, the need for more visible roadside location information was shown in 2007, in an incident on a motorway before the driver location signs had been erected. The Devon and Somerset Fire & Rescue Service reported that after a collision on the M5. Callers gave the operators locations stretching over 40 miles of road, as a result, four emergency service centres were mobilised instead of just one. Research on trial sections of motorways showed that emergency service organisations responded 10 percent more rapidly when a motorway had driver location signs than when it did not
39.
Logo sign
–
Logo signs are blue road signs used on freeways that display the logos of businesses prior to an interchange. Typically, a business pays fees to a department to have their logos displayed on a large panel alongside other businesses. In the United States, logo signs were permitted on rural Interstates in 1965 as part of the Highway Beautification Act, originally, such signs were limited to the following categories, gas, food, lodging, and camping. The 1976 amendments to the Highway Beautification Act expanded the program to federal-aid primary rural highways, as of 2015, logo signs are permitted on urban highways in 16 states, with Tennessee being the most recent state to repeal the restriction for installing logo signs on rural highways only. The 2000 MUTCD also added the category, followed by the 2003 MUTCD which added the 24-hour pharmacies category. Logo signs in the United States are limited to six logos per sign, in California, as well as on the Pennsylvania Turnpike the label GAS is replaced by FUEL. Logo signs are found along highways in Ontario, namely 400-series highways 400 and 401. A separate signage is used for ONroute rest areas
40.
Priority to the right
–
Priority to the right is a right-of-way system, in which the driver of a vehicle is required to give way to vehicles approaching from the right at intersections. The system is stipulated in Article 18.4, the system is widely used in countries with right-hand traffic, including most European countries. What varies, however, is the prevalence of uncontrolled intersections, in some countries, the right of way at virtually all but the most minor road junctions is controlled by the display of priority vs. Most states in the United States enforce priority-to-the-right at uncontrolled intersections, at T-Intersections, traffic on the terminating road must yield to all traffic at the termination point. Some countries use the rule, despite driving on the left. Australia uses the rule at four-way intersections where the roads all have equal priority. Singapore also uses priority-to-the-right, as well as priority to vehicles going straight, intersections to which priority to the right applies are usually not equipped with signage or road markings. Priority signs override the priority to the rule and are often used on roads with heavier traffic. However, if an intersection is not easily visible, a sign may be erected. This sign does not regulate priority but just warns of an intersection, white, yellow and black diamond signs on the main road show that users have priority over entering traffic. Under the priority-to-the-right system, priority is given to traffic entering an intersection from the right. In Switzerland, road markings may also be used to indicate that the junction is a priority-to-the-right junction
41.
Comparison of European road signs
–
Despite an apparent uniformity and standardisation, European traffic signs present relevant differences between countries. In Russia and Belarus the road signs are almost same with some exceptions, the convention has not been adopted in Ireland, Moldova, Spain, and the UK. The design of individual pictograms, while similar, often varies in detail from country to country. Type of arrows may be different, fonts of written words This list is incomplete. You can help by adding missing countries or typeface, albania and Italy use the Alfabeto normale typeface, a heavier version of the British Transport typeface. Albania has recently started using Arial Narrow Bold typeface, Austria and Slovakia use the TERN typeface. In the past, Austria used the Austria Mittelschrift and Engschrift typefaces until 2010, Slovakia used the Universal Grotesk typeface until 2014. Belarus, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine use typefaces based on one specified in a Soviet standard ГОСТ 10807–78, in Belarus, the according standard is СТБ 1140–99. In Ukraine, it is ДСТУ 4100–2002, in Russia, it is ГОСТ Р 52290–2004. Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovenia, Switzerland used this typeface until 2003. Cyprus, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Turkey, Portugal, Denmark uses the Dansk Vejtavleskrift typeface. The typeface is derived from the British Transport typeface, Estonia and Moldova use the Arial Narrow Bold in mixture with Helvetica typeface. Finland uses a typeface developed in the 1960s by the national board of roads. Germany, Czech Republic and Latvia use the DIN1451 typeface, Greece used a modified version of the British Transport typeface and, today, uses a modified version of DIN1451. Hungary does not use a typeface as the letters are defined one-by-one in the national regulation. The typeface resembles the DIN1451 typeface closely, Luxembourg uses Arial, Caractères Italic, DIN1451, and the SNV typefaces, often inconsistently. Turkey and Ukraine use the FHWA typeface, Spain uses two typefaces, Autopista for motorways and Carretera Convencional for other situations. The typeface Carretera Convencional is derived from the British Transport typeface, Netherlands use typefaces derived from FHWA typeface, ANWB/RWS Cc, Dd and Ee
_Adoption.svg)
