Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals

The Convention on Road Signs and Signals, commonly known as the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, is a multilateral treaty designed to increase road safety and aid international road traffic by standardising the signing system for road traffic (road signs, traffic lights and road markings) in use internationally.

This convention was agreed upon by the United Nations Economic and Social Council at its Conference on Road Traffic in Vienna 7 October to 8 November 1968, was concluded in Vienna on 8 November 1968 and entered into force on 6 June 1978. This conference also produced the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, which complements this legislation by standardising international traffic laws.

The convention revised and substantially extended the earlier 1949 Geneva Protocol on Road Signs and Signals,^[1] itself based in turn on the 1931 Geneva Convention concerning the Unification of Road Signals.^[2]

Amendments, including new provisions regarding the legibility of signs, priority at roundabouts and new signs to improve safety in tunnels were adopted in 2003.

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 road traffic signals. For example, the U.S. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) does not follow the symbol policy espoused by the Vienna Convention; for example signs for speed limits and forbidden parking are among the most visible differences. In order to make it accepted in as many countries as possible, the convention allows some variations, for example danger warning signs can have triangular or square diamond shape and road markings can be white or yellow.

A competing convention called the SADC-RTSM, provided by the Southern African Development Community, is used by 7 countries in southern Africa. It follows many of the similar rules and principles as in the Vienna Convention.

Rules

Road signs

In article 2 the convention classes all road signs into a number of categories (A – H):

• A Danger warning signs
• B Priority signs
• C Prohibitory or restrictive signs
• D Mandatory signs
• F Information, facilities, or service signs
• G Direction, position, or indication sign
• H Additional panels

The convention then lays out precise colours, sizes and shapes for each of these classes of sign:

Class of sign	Shape	Ground	Border	Size	Symbol	Examples
Danger warning sign	Equilateral triangle	White or yellow	Red	0.9 m (large), 0.6 m (small)	Black or dark blue
	Diamond	Yellow	Black	0.6 m (large), 0.4 m (small)	Black or dark blue
Priority signs
Yield sign	Inverted equilateral triangle	White or yellow	Red	0.9 m (large), 0.6 m (small)	None
Stop sign	Octagon	Red	White	0.9 m (large), 0.6 m (small)	Stop† written in white
	Circular	White or yellow	Red	0.9 m (large), 0.6 m (small)	Stop† written in blue or black inside red inverted triangle
Priority road	Diamond	White	Black	0.5 m (large), 0.35 m (small)	Yellow square
End priority	Diamond	White	Black	0.5 m (large), 0.35 m (small)	Yellow square and grey or black diagonal lines crossing the sign
Priority for oncoming traffic	Circular	White or yellow	Red	Unspecified	Black arrow indicating direction with priority, red arrow indicating direction without
Priority over oncoming traffic	Rectangle	Blue	None	Unspecified	White arrow indicating direction with priority, red arrow indicating direction without
Prohibitory signs
Standard prohibitory	Circular	White or yellow	Red	0.6 m (large), 0.4 m (small)	Varies
Parking prohibitory	Circular	Blue	Red	0.6 m (large), 0.2 m (small)	Varies
End of prohibition	Circular	White or yellow	None	0.6 m (large), 0.4 m (small)	Black, blue or grey diagonal line
Mandatory signs
Standard mandatory	Circular	Blue	None	0.6 m (large), 0.4 m (small), 0.3 m (very small)	Varies, white
	Circular	White	Red	0.6 m (large), 0.4 m (small), 0.3 m (very small)	Varies, black
Special regulation signs
All signs	Rectangular	Blue	Unspecified	Unspecified	Varies, white
		Light	Unspecified	Unspecified	Varies, Black
Information, facilities or service signs
All signs	Unspecified	Blue or green	Unspecified	Unspecified	Varies, on white or yellow rectangle
Direction, position or indication signs
Informative signs	Rectangular, sometimes with arrowhead	Light	Unspecified	Unspecified	Varies, dark
		Dark	Unspecified	Unspecified	Varies, light
Motorways	Rectangular	Blue or green	Unspecified	Unspecified	Varies, white
Temporary	Rectangular	Yellow or orange	Unspecified	Unspecified	Varies, black
Additional panels
All panels	Unspecified	White or yellow	Black, blue or red	Unspecified	Varies, black or dark blue
		Black or dark blue	White or yellow	Unspecified	Varies, white or yellow
Class of sign	Shape	Ground	Border	Size	Symbol	Examples

^† May be written in English or the national language

It also specifies the symbols and pictograms which may be used, and the orientations in which they may be used. When more than one is available, the same one must be used nationally. All signs, except for those that do not apply at night, must be reflective enough to be seen in darkness with headlights from a distance.

Road markings

The convention also specifies road markings. All such markings must be less than 6 mm high, with cat's eye reflectors no more than 15 mm above the road surface. The road markings shall be white or yellow.^[3]

The length and width of markings varies according to purpose, although no exact figures for size are stated; roads in built up areas should use a broken line for lane division, while continuous lines must only be used in special cases, such as reduced visibility or narrowed carriage ways.

All words painted on the road surface should be either of place names, or of words recognisable in most languages, such as "Stop" or "Taxi".

Traffic lights

The Convention specifies the colours for traffic lights and their meanings, and places and purposes lights may be used for, like so:

Type	Shape	Colour		Position	Meaning
Non-flashing	Plain		Green	At intersection	Proceed
			Amber	At intersection, level crossing, swing bridge, airport, fire station or ferry terminal	Stop if possible
			Red	At intersection	Stop
			Red and amber	At intersection	Signal is about to change (usually to green)
	Arrow pointing left		Green	At intersection	Only traffic turning left may proceed
	Arrow pointing right		Green	At intersection	Only traffic turning right may proceed
	Arrow pointing upwards		Green	At intersection	Only traffic travelling straight ahead may proceed
	Arrow pointing downwards		Green	Above lane	Traffic may continue in lane
	Cross (×)		Red	Above lane	Traffic may not enter lane (lane closed)
	Arrow pointing diagonally downwards		Amber or white	Above lane	Lane closes shortly ahead, change lane in the direction of the arrow
Flashing	Plain		Double Red (alternating)	At level crossing, swing bridge, airport, fire station or ferry terminal	Stop
			Amber (flashing)	Anywhere except intersection	Proceed with caution
			Amber (flashing)	At intersection	The priority is determined by Priority Route or Yield signs.
			Lunar white	At crossing	Proceed

Red flashing lights may only be used at the locations specified above; any other use of the lights is in breach of the convention. Red lights must be placed on top when lights are stacked vertically, or on the side closest to oncoming traffic if stacked horizontally.

Contracting parties

The convention has 65 state parties at August 2016: Albania, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Central African Republic, Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.

The only countries in Europe that are not signatories to the Convention are Iceland, Ireland, Andorra, Malta, and Liechtenstein; Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Holy See are all signatories but have yet to ratify the Convention.

The only countries in Asia that are not signatories to the Convention are Bangladesh, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Laos, Japan, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Armenia, Yemen, Oman, North Korea, and Afghanistan; Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand are all signatories but have yet to ratify the Convention.

See also

• Vienna Convention on Road Traffic
• Comparison of European road signs
• Comparison of MUTCD-Influenced Traffic Signs

References

External links

• Ratifications
• Full text of convention
• Consolidated text of convention including diagrams
• Amendments adopted in 2003