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Road signs in Lithuania conform to the general pattern of those used in most other European countries as set out in the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. [1]
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2025) |
Road signs in Lithuania conform to the general pattern of those used in most other European countries as set out in the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. [1]
The first road signs were introduced in Lithuania on 1 October 1930, after President Antanas Smetona signed the 1926 International Convention relative to Motor Traffic. [2] In 1932, a set of road signs were legally defined by a new government regulation. [2] In 1940, after the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, the Soviet road traffic rules and road signs were adopted in Lithuania (the USSR itself adopted them in 1936). [3] On 1 January 1980, the standard GOST 10807-78 was adopted in the Soviet Union, including in the territory of the present day Lithuania. In 1990, after Lithuania restored its independence, the road sign design remained generally unchanged. [4]
Lithuanian road sign design saw minor changes in 2014.[ citation needed ] Some of the warning signs design were changed, a few new signs were added, like the sign indicating speed bump (formerly uneven road sign was used for indicating speed bumps), or sign indicating emergency stopping lane. However, Lithuania also adopted the use of both a blue and green background on the "Motorway" road sign.[ citation needed ] In the past, Lithuania used only the green background on the "Motorway" road sign, which is still used by the former Soviet states. Also, some new road signs were created over the time.
Due to the fact that modern road signs in Lithuania are very similar in design to Soviet signs, including modern Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, and Moldovan signs, there have been proposals to change the design of road signs used in Lithuania. In 2020, Seimas member Kęstutis Masiulis complained to the Minister of Transportation Jaroslavas Narkevičius and proposed to change the design of road signs. [5]
In March 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, two road signs were installed in the Liepkalnis area of Vilnius, indicating distances to the Ukrainian and Belarusian capitals, Kyiv and Minsk, respectively. [6] The Ukrainian flag is displayed at the bottom of the sign indicating the distance to Kyiv on the left, while "OCCUPIED BY KREMLIN" is written at the bottom of the sign indicating the distance to Minsk on the right.
On 2 April 2024, members of the parliament Andrius Vyšniauskas, Paulė Kuzmickienė and Mindaugas Skritulskas appealed to the Minister of Transport, proposing to change the design of road signs, because in their opinion, the design of road signs used in Lithuania is similar to the signs used during the Soviet occupation. [7] However, the Ministry of Transport and Communications stated that there is no sufficient legal basis to change the design of road signs following the example of other countries. The ministry also emphasized that installing one standard road sign costs an average of €200. [8] [9] [10]
The official typeface used on road signs in Lithuania remains based on the Soviet standard GOST 10807-78. [11]
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Media related to Road signs in Lithuania at Wikimedia Commons