STANDARD DESIGNS FOR ROAD SIGNS

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30302, 30 November 1963, Page 15

STANDARD DESIGNS FOR ROAD SIGNS

Complete standardisation of road' signs and markings in future will mean that motorists will be able to recognise signs no matter how far from home they are, says the New Zealand Road Safety Council. The signs committee of the National Roads Board was set up in 1955 to examine and pool knowledge on road signs, and to decide on standardised signs for State highways. These will give a lead to local bodies in the sign-post-ing of other streets and eventually will become standard signs for New Zealand, contributing greatly to road safety because they are easily recognised and understood by drivers. The recommendations of the committee will eventually be incorporated in a manual of signs. Regulatory signs, which give an instruction to the driver that must be obeyed, will have a red border except in the case of the stop sign, which is all red. Warning signs will have a yellowborder, and information signs will probably have a white border. Whenever any of the signs apply at night they will have reflectors to show up in the

driver’s headlights. It is the policy of the committee to see that signs are designed with large lettering and short messages, so that they can be read from a distance by drivers and quickly understood without the driver having to pay attention for a prolonged time. Their uniformity will make it easier for a driver to recognise a sign without having to “read” it. All signs will be erected far enough from the hazard to which they refer to give drivers ample time to slow down or stop. For example, on a road where speeds of 50 m.p.h. are normal, warning signs such as "one lane bridge” will be placed so that a driver who has to stop has ample time to do so without sudden braking before he reaches the bridge. Destination signs will be so placed that drivers have enough time to make up their minds which way they wish to go. The committee has been giving special consideration to the need to include, on destination signs, information about the towns that may be reached on each road, as well as the route numbers at present shown