Who and how did they decide what size motorway signs should be?

Question

Maybe I should have been more specific!! I mean UK.. and I was just wondering as I drove past a massive sign on the motorway this morn and I was just wondering...

Answer 1

A program was shown on BBC 4 'the secret life of the Motorway, which I watched.

The motorway signs where developed in the 1960's by the Anderson Committee. The signs before the sign system composed of confusing independant signs which began to confuse drivers and cause accidents when the motorways first appeared.

The signs where designed in the 60's and where large and colour coded in relation to the Gulford Rule, this design was so sucessfull that the signs designed in the 1960's still remain unchanged today.

New sign designs are still developed but the shape, size and colour combinations still remain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_...

Answer 2

They need to be big so you can see them from a distance.

American 'high'way signs are little tiny yellow hexagons, that you need to almost stop to read

Answer 3

In the UK, in order to make a roadsign legally enforcable they have to meet regulations in relation to size, height and placing. The regulations are set out by legislation and implemented by the Highways Agency.

If you want a really boring read, have a look at the website I've attached, it may also come in handy if you're ever prosecuted for any offence involving signs, parking/speeding etc as, if they're not correctly placed, you can fight your case on those grounds.

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2002/2002311...

Answer 4

The standard lettering for conventional road guide signs shall be all capital letters (Section 2A.14), or a combination of lower-case letters with initial upper-case letters. When a combination of upper- and lower-case letters are used, the initial upper-case letters shall be approximately 1.33 times the "loop" height of the lowercase letters.

Answer 5

I think you're getting confused between motorway signs and registration plates. There is no legal minimum or maximum for a motorway sign, the only minimums apply to number plates and sign serected by the highways agency around towns. The only signs that legally mean anything are those erected by the highways agency, i assume you're in the uk because you used the word motorway.

It's like the signs in supermarket carparks saying 5mph etc, they aren't legal because the agency didnt put them up but for motorways there are many different sizes.

Answer 6

The Dept of Transportation in Washington DC regulates traffic signs.  The letters has to be large enough that a person with 20/20 vision can see it at a pre determined distance.  States, counties, and city ordinances may have laws stipulating that a sign (example, "No Parking Anytime") must be posted every so many feet, so as to give the motoring public plenty of warning.