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Road signs in Switzerland and Liechtenstein generally conform to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. [1]
Although Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, the road signs largely follow the general European conventions concerning the use of shape and color to indicate their function. However, this is only a general pattern, as there are several exceptions.
Switzerland signed the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals on November 8, 1968 and ratified it on December 11, 1991. [2] On March 2, 2020 Liechtenstein acceded to the Convention.
The Swiss road signs are defined in the Road Signs Act, which is based on several laws and ordinances. Liechtenstein largely follows the legislation of Switzerland.
The major laws are:
SR/RS No. | Title | de | fr | it | ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
741.21 | Road Signs Act | Signalisationsverordnung vom 5. September 1979 (SSV) | Ordonnance du 5 septembre 1979 sur la signalisation routière (OSR) | Ordinanza del 5 settembre 1979 sulla segnaletica stradale (OSStr) | [3] |
741.01 | Road Traffic Act | Strassenverkehrsgesetz vom 19. Dezember 1958 (SVG) | Loi fédérale du 19 décembre 1958 sur la circulation routière (LCR) | Legge federale del 19 dicembre 1958 sulla circolazione stradale (LCStr) | [4] |
741.11 | Road Traffic Rules Act | Verkehrsregelnverordnung vom 13. November 1962 (VRV) | Ordonnance du 13 novembre 1962 sur les règles de la circulation routière (OCR) | Ordinanza del 13 novembre 1962 sulle norme della circolazione stradale (ONC) | [5] |
725.111 | National Roads Act | Nationalstrassenverordnung vom 7. November 2007 (NSV) | Ordonnance sur les routes nationales du 7 novembre 2007 (ORN) | Ordinanza sulle strade nazionali del 7 novembre 2007 (OSN) | [6] |
No. | Title | de | ref |
---|---|---|---|
741.21 | Road Signs Act | Strassensignalisationsverordnung (SSV) vom 27. Dezember 1979, LGBl. 1978 Nr. 18 | |
Road Traffic Law | Strassenverkehrsgesetz (SVG) vom 30. Juni 1978, LGBl. 1978 Nr. 18 | ||
Road Traffic Rules Act | Verkehrsregelnverordnung (VRV) vom 1. August 1978, LGBl. 1978 Nr. 19 |
Each canton is responsible for the management and placement of its road signs and complementary panels and uses one of the four official languages of Switzerland accordingly.
Distances and other measurements are displayed in metric units.
Category | Shape | No. | Character | (Major) colour of | Example(s) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
border | background | content | |||||
Warning | triangular | 1.01–1.32 | Conducting | red | white | black | ![]() |
Regulatory | circular | 2.01–2.20 | Prohibitive | red | white | black | ![]() |
2.30–2.65 | Commanding | white (thin) red | blue white | white black | ![]() ![]() ![]() | ||
Priority | various | 3.01–3.25 | various | ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||
Indication | rectangular | 4.01–4.25 | Conducting | white (thin) | blue | white & black | ![]() |
Routing![]() 4.27–4.77.2 | minor route minor road | black (thin) | white | black | ![]() ![]() | ||
particular purpose | ![]() | ||||||
main route main road | white (thin) | blue | white | ![]() ![]() | |||
motor-/expressway 4.60–4.73 | white (thin) | green | white | ![]() ![]() | |||
detour route | black (thin) | orange | black | ![]() | |||
commercial direction | black (thin) | grey | black | ![]() | |||
bicycle route, mountain bike route, vehicle-like transport means route | white (thin) | falu red | white | ![]() | |||
4.79–4.95 | Informational | white (thin) | blue | white | ![]() | ||
Complementary Panels | rectangular | 5.01–5.58 | Compulsory | black (thin) | white | black | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Road Markings | various | 6.01–6.31 | none | - | white yellow blue red | ![]() | |
Traffic Lights | circle cross arrows | - | Commanding | white | black | red yellow green | ![]() |
Police Instruction Signs | - | - | - | - | - |
Starting in 2003, the font ASTRA-Frutiger replaced the previous SNV, which is still used in several other European countries. [7] [8]
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General remarks:
General Remarks:
When parking in a Blue Zone, you should set and display a blue parking disc with the time of arrival according to the Blue Zone Rules. Parking in a blue zone space is limited to 1 hour unless otherwise indicated. When parking, make sure the whole vehicle, including bumpers, are within the marked parking space.
Blue disks are available in various places, such as the police station, hotels, tourist offices, newsstands, the local Gemeinde/Town hall, garages and gas stations.
Set the disc to the exact time or the next half-hour mark if the exact time is not printed on the disc.
Between | Parking Allowed |
---|---|
8:00-11:30 | For 1 hour after set time |
13:30-18:00 | For 1 hour after set time |
11:00-13:30 | Until 14:30 |
18:00-19:00 | Until 09:00 the next morning |
19:00-07:59 | Blue disc is not needed if you leave by 08:00 |
From Saturday 18:00 until Monday 09:00 blue-zone parking is free. No need to set blue disc.
For Blue Zones marked with a 4 digit area code and you do not have the corresponding parking permit just follow regular Blue Zone parking rules. If you have a valid parking permit for the specific area code, parking is unlimited in these zones.
Road signs in Sweden are regulated in Vägmärkesförordningen, VMF (2007:90), and are to be placed 2 metres from the road with the sign 1.6 m from the base for motorized roads. Except for route numbers, there are a maximum of three signs on a pole, with the most important sign at the top. All signs have a reflective layer added on selected parts of the sign as is custom in European countries; most larger signs also have their own illumination.
Road signs in Norway are regulated by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Statens vegvesen in conformity with the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, to which Norway is a signatory.
The design of road signs in Poland is regulated by Regulation of the Ministers of Infrastructure and Interior Affairs and Administration on road signs and signals. The Annex 1 to the regulation describes conditions related to usage of the road signs – size, visibility, colors and light reflections, typeface and text, criteria of choosing the type of foil to signs faces, colorful specimens and schematics.
The road signs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as well as Suriname, are regulated in the Reglement verkeersregels en verkeerstekens 1990, commonly abbreviated as RVV 1990. While most previous signage, from the RVV 1966 (Dutch) remained legal and official, they have been updated / replaced. Some aren't official anymore and have lost legal validity, but most surviving old signs remained valid.
Road signs in South Korea are regulated by the Korean Road Traffic Authority.
Road signs in Finland were formerly regulated in Tieliikenneasetus (5.3.1982/182), but now are currently regulated in Siirtymäsäännökset (8.5.2020/360).
Road signs in Austria are regulated in Straßenverkehrsordnung (StVO).
Traffic signs, installations, and symbols used in Germany are prescribed by the Road Traffic Regulation (StVO) and the Traffic Signs Catalog (VzKat).
Road signs in Ukraine are governed by a combination of standards set out by the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, the European Union (EU), and Ukraine Transport and Roads Agency. Ukrainian signs are similar to the signs of other post-Soviet states and are set out in 7 separate categories based on meaning: warning, priority, prohibitory, mandatory, information, service, and additional plates.
Road signs in Hong Kong are standardised by the Transport Department. Due to being a former British territory, the road signage in Hong Kong is similar to road signs in the United Kingdom, with the addition of Traditional Chinese characters.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a signatory to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. Therefore, road signs do not differ much from the rest of Europe, such as Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and North Macedonia. Ministry of Transportation of Bosnia and Herzegovina regulates them. Bosnia and Herzegovina drives on the right as with the rest of Europe, except for Cyprus, Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom. Bosnian and Herzegovinan road signs have two scripts, Latin and Cyrillic script.
This is a list of road signs in Denmark.
Road signs in Mongolia are similar to the Soviet and other European road sign systems. Road signs are regulated in the MNS 4597:2014 standard and conform to the general pattern of road signs as set out in the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. Despite the fact that Mongolia was never part of the Soviet Union, the MNS 4597:2014 standard for road signs has many similarities with its post-Soviet counterparts based on the Soviet standard ГОСТ 10807-78 and the Russian standard ГОСТ Р 52290-2004. Mongolia acceded to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals on December 19, 1997.
Road signs in Georgia are similar to the road sign system of other post-Soviet states that ensure that transport vehicles move safely and orderly, as well as to inform the participants of traffic built-in graphic icons. However, some road signs look a bit different from Soviet ones and closer to the European ones. These icons are governed by the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic and Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.
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. Due to the country being occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union between 1940 and 1990, when it restored its independence, modern road signs used in Lithuania are in many ways similar in design to road signs used in the Soviet Union before its dissolution in 1991. This design of road signs is still used in most post-Soviet states, in particular Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Neighboring post-Soviet Baltic countries Latvia and Estonia, which were also occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, have significantly modified their road sign designs, resulting road signs in these two countries being extremely different in design from road signs used in most other post-Soviet states.
The road signs, used on the Serbian road network, are regulated by the "Regulation of Traffic Signs", which was last time modified in 2017.
Road signs in Belgium are defined in the Royal Decree of 1 December 1975 on general regulations for the road traffic police and in the use of public highways. They generally conform to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. The official typeface on road signs in Belgium is SNV.
Road signs in Portugal are governed by the "Regulamento de Sinalização do Trânsito" of the Republic of Portugal.
Road signs in Croatia are regulated in Pravilnik o prometnim znakovima signalizaciji i opremi na cestama. The shape and design of the road signs largely follow the road signs used in most European countries, including European Union countries, to which Croatia joined in 2013. A similar design of road signs is used in the neighboring countries of the former Yugoslavia like Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and also North Macedonia.
Road signs in Cyprus are regulated in Law of Street. They follow the road signs used in most European countries, including European Union countries, to which Cyprus joined in 2004, as set out in the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. Cyprus acceded to the Convention on 16 August 2016.