Road Signs and Safety

Most elementary school students know the meaning of a red octagon-shaped road sign is "Stop." The stop sign is one of the more than 500 federally approved road signs and signals in use in the United States.

Function

To protect the public safety, transportation authorities require that people who drive know the meaning of road signs. Road signs contain symbols, words or numbers that indicate the speed limit or alert motorists that a detour, construction zone or possible obstacles lie ahead.

Regulation

The Federal Highway Administration publishes the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which defines and regulates the size, color, shape, wording and placement of road signs in the United States. The uniformity increases safety for motorist and pedestrians.

Danger

To help motorists avert danger, transportation authorities should avoid overuse of road signs. According to a report in the London Telegraph, the excessive use of road signs may lull motorists into a false sense of security and actually make the roads less safe.

Solution

Some towns in Germany have abolished the use of road signs, reasoning that motorists and pedestrians will pay more attention to what others are doing, thereby lowing the overall number of accidents. In a town in the Netherlands, accidents declined dramatically after removal of the road signs.

References

• USA Traffic Signs: Traffic and Road Sign Test
• Seton: What is the MUTCD?
• Telegraph: Road Signs Don't Always Point to Safety
• Spiegel: German Town Scraps Road Signs to Increase Safety