Road signs in the Philippines are regulated and standardized by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). [1] [2] Most of the signs reflect minor influences from American and Australian signs but keep a design closer to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, to which the Philippines is an original signatory. [3] [4] The Philippines signed the convention on November 8, 1968, and ratified it on December 27, 1973. [5]
Though the Philippines has signed the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, road signs "Priority Road", "End of priority road", "Give way to oncoming traffic" and "Priority over oncoming traffic", which are mainly found in European countries, are not used in this country as well as in the United States, Canada, and Latin American countries.
Part 2 of the Highway Safety Design Standards Manual mandates the use of the Standard alphabets, often referred to as Highway Gothic. It contains a reproduction of the former Australian implementation AS1744-1975 Standard Alphabets in the appendix pp A103-A146. [1] Clearview appears to have supplanted it, and other fonts are in use.
Regulatory signs indicate the application of legal or statutory requirements. Disregarding these signs may constitute the road user to an offense. [1]
Warning signs are used to warn road users to the potential hazard along, or adjacent to, the road. [1] They are triangular and red-bordered, similar to warning signs used in Europe. [6]
Guide or information signs are used to inform road users about the direction and distances of the route that they are following. [1]
Expressway signs are signs that are used on, or near, controlled-access roads. [1]
Traffic instruction signs are used to instruct a road user to follow a direction or perform an action. These are also used as a supplement for regulatory and warning signs. [1]
Hazard markers are signs that are usually used in places with obstructions and curves. These signs may be used with or after a warning sign. [1]
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 Malaysia are standardised road signs similar to those used in Europe but with certain distinctions. Until the early 1980s, Malaysia closely practice in road sign design, with diamond-shaped warning signs and circular restrictive signs to regulate traffic. Signs usually use the Transport Heavy font on non-tolled roads and highways. Tolled expressways signs use a font specially designed for the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) which is LLM Lettering. It has two type of typefaces, LLM Narrow and LLM Normal. Older road signs used the FHWA Series fonts typeface also used in the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Road signs in Singapore closely follow those laid down in the traffic sign regulations used in the United Kingdom, although a number of changes over the years have introduced some slight deviations that suit local road conditions. Road signs in Singapore conform to the local Highway Code under the authority of Singapore Traffic Police.
Road signs in Iceland are visual communication devices placed along roads and highways throughout the country to provide information, warnings, and guidance to motorists and pedestrians. Iceland never ratified the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, but road signs in Iceland conform to the general pattern of those used in most other European countries, with certain design elements borrowed from Danish and Swedish practice. Signs tend to be more sparsely employed than in other European countries, especially in rural areas.
Road signs in Italy conform to the general pattern of those used in most other European countries, with the notable exception that the background of motorway (autostrada) signs is green and those for 'normal' roads is blue. They are regulated by the Codice della Strada and by the Regolamento di Attuazione del Codice della Strada in conformity with the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.
Road signs in Thailand are standardized road signs similar to those used in other nations but much of it resembles road signage systems used in South American countries with certain differences, such as using a blue circle instead of a red-bordered white circle to indicate mandatory actions. Until the early 1980s, Thailand closely followed American, European, Australian, and Japanese practices in road sign design, with diamond-shaped warning signs and circular restrictive signs to regulate traffic. The Department of Railway maintains a standard on the typeface used in the sign, with custom made type for Thai text, unofficially named "Thang Luang" (อักษรทางหลวง) and a small derivation of FHWA Series fonts typeface, which is used on American road signage, for Latin text. In most Bangkok Metropolitan Area's routes, TS Lopburi is still used.
Road signs in India can vary in design, depending on the location. For the most part, they tend to closely follow European practices, usually identical to the United Kingdom or the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. However, yellow rectangular signs that do carry such messages like "Be gentle on my curves" and "Danger creeps when safety sleeps" are present nationwide. Road signs in India are metric.
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.
Road signs in South Korea are regulated by the Korean Road Traffic Authority.
Road signs in Greece are regulated by the Ministry of Transport and the Hellenic Traffic Police, according to the Greek Highway Code.
Road signs in the Czech Republic are regulated by the Ministry of Transport and the police. The signs are nearly the same as the European norm, but with small changes. The law governing the road signs is Decree number 30/2001 Sb., many times amended, and replaced by decree 294/2015 Sb., in force since 1 January 2016.
In Japan, road signs are standardized by the "Order on Road Sign, Road Line, and Road Surface Marking (道路標識、区画線及び道路標示に関する命令)" established in 1968 with origins from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's "Order on Standardization of Road Sign" of 1934 and the Home Ministry of Japan's "Order on Road Signs" of 1942. The previous designs have been used since 1986 after several amendments of order.
Road signs in New Zealand are similar to those set by the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. While New Zealand is not a signatory to the convention, its road signs are generally close in shape and function. New Zealand uses yellow diamond-shaped signs for warnings in common with Australia, the Americas, Ireland, Japan and Thailand. Speed limit signs are a red circle with a white background and the limitation in black, and are in kilometres per hour. There are also some signs unique to New Zealand. Road signs in New Zealand are controlled by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and are prescribed in the Land Transport Rule: Traffic Control Devices 2004 and set out in the Traffic Control Devices (TCD) Manual.
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.
Road signs in Cambodia are standardized road signs are similar to those used in Europe but much of it resembles road signage systems used in South American countries with certain differences. The designs of road signage match their neighbours of Thailand and Malaysia, both of which adopt a modified version of the South American road signage system. Until the early 1980s, Cambodia closely followed American, European, Australian, and Japanese practices in road sign design, with diamond-shaped warning signs and circular restrictive signs to regulate traffic. Unlike Thailand and Malaysia, Cambodia does not use the FHWA Series fonts typeface, favouring Helvetica instead.
Road signs in Laos generally follow those used in most European countries as set out in the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. Despite this, the country itself has never signed the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals. Inscriptions on traffic signs are in Lao, the national language of Laos. However, English is also used for stop and important public places such as tourist attractions, airports, railway stations, and immigration checkpoints. Both Lao and English are used on directional signage.
Road signs in Bangladesh are similar to those used in some parts of the United Kingdom, except that they are multilingual.
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.
The road signs, used on the Serbian road network, are regulated by the "Regulation of Traffic Signs", which was last time modified in 2017.