CITIES, TOWNS A default speed-limit of 60 km/h (37 mph) applies in town areas (built-up areas), unless otherwise indicated by speed control signage.
VILLAGE SPEED-LIMIT A default 40 km/h (25 mph) speed limit applies through all villages outside town centers.
RURAL AREAS A default 100 km/h speed-limit (62 mph) applies to highways and roads, unless otherwise indicated by speed control signage. [1]
A signposted speed-limit applies only to the specific length of road which it is installed; its stated speed restriction ending at - the end of the particular road itself (T-intersection or dead-end, the end of the road), or at another speed restriction sign.
INTERSECTIONS A 25km/h (15 mph) speed-limit applies on a public street at the approaches to, and on intersections. [2]
SCHOOL ZONES, PLAYGROUNDS A 25kmh (15 mph) speed-limit is applied to signposted school zones, or playgrounds. [3]
Speed restriction signage used in PNG is to the international system in design specification.
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads/sidewalks) for travel and transportation.
A dual carriageway (BrE) or a divided highway (AmE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are designed to higher standards with controlled access are generally classed as motorways, freeways, etc., rather than dual carriageways.
The road hierarchy categorizes roads according to their functions and capacities. While sources differ on the exact nomenclature, the basic hierarchy comprises freeways, arterials, collectors, and local roads. Generally, the functional hierarchy can more or less correspond to the hierarchy of roads by their owner or administrator.
A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, and partial controlled-access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a controlled-access highway, including limited or no access to adjacent property, some degree of separation of opposing traffic flow, use of grade separated interchanges to some extent, prohibition of slow modes of transport, such as bicycles, horse-drawn vehicles or ridden horses, or self-propelled agricultural machines; and very few or no intersecting cross-streets or level crossings. The degree of isolation from local traffic allowed varies between countries and regions. The precise definition of these terms varies by jurisdiction.
Road signs in the United Kingdom and in its associated Crown dependencies and overseas territories conform broadly to European design norms, though a number of signs are unique: direction signs omit European route numbers, and road signs generally use the imperial system of units, unlike the rest of Europe. Signs in Wales and parts of Scotland are bilingual.
Road speed limits in Ireland apply on all public roads in the state. These are signposted and legislated for in kilometres per hour. Speed limits are demarcated by regulatory road signs. These consist of white circular signs with a red outline. Speed limits are marked in black with "km/h" below the speed limit. Smaller "repeater" speed limit signs are used along stretches of road where there is no change in speed limit, in order to remind motorists currently on the road and to inform traffic merging from junctions that a certain speed limit applies.
Speed limits in Australia range from 5 km/h (3.1 mph) shared zones to 130 km/h (81 mph). Speed limit signage is in km/h since metrication on 1 July 1974. All speed limits are multiples of 10 km/h – the last digit in all speed signs is zero. Speed limits are set by state and territory legislation albeit with co-ordination and discussion between governments.
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.
A speed limit is the limit of speed allowed by law for road vehicles, usually the maximum speed allowed. Occasionally, there is a minimum speed limit. Advisory speed limits also exist, which are recommended but not mandatory speeds. Speed limits are commonly set by the legislative bodies of national or local governments.
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 speed limits in the United Kingdom are used to define the maximum legal speed for vehicles using public roads in the UK.
Sweden has speed limits ranging from 30 km/h to 120 km/h, where 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 km/h are used within towns and cities. Outside schools and hospitals the limit is often 30 km/h. 70, 80, 90 and 100 km/h are mainly used outside built-up areas where the speed limit depends on the standard and safety of the road. 90 and 100 km/h are used mainly on roads with separated lanes, however local exceptions may apply, mainly in northern Sweden, where 100 km/h (62 mph) is legal on roads with no separated lanes and where the standard of the road often is poor. The main reason for setting 100 km/h on these roads is because of their high importance to the region. Earlier it was permitted to drive 110 km/h (68 mph) on these roads but due to the poor standards the speed limit was lowered to 100 km/h in 2008.
Norway has two general speed limits:
Statutory speed limit in Japan defaults to 100 km/h (62 mph) for divided national expressways and 60 km/h (37 mph) for any other roads, unless otherwise posted. Urban two-way streets are usually zoned at 40 km/h (25 mph) or less.
General speed limits in New Zealand are set by the New Zealand government. The speed limit in each location is indicated on a nearby traffic sign or by the presence of street lighting. The limits have been posted in kilometres per hour (km/h) since 1974. Before then, when New Zealand used imperial units, maximum speeds were displayed in miles per hour (mph). Today, limits range from 10 km/h (6.2 mph) to 110 km/h (68 mph); in urban areas the default speed limit is 50 km/h (31 mph).
30 km/h zones and the similar 20 mph zones are forms of speed management used across areas of urban roads in some jurisdictions. The nominal maximum speed limits in these zones are 30 kilometres per hour (19 mph) and 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) respectively. Although these zones do have the nominal speed limit posted, speeds are generally ensured by the use of traffic calming measures, though limits with signs and lines only are increasingly used in the UK.
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.
Road signs in Canada may conform to the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Canada (MUTCDC) by the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) for use by Canadian jurisdictions. Although it serves a similar role to the MUTCD from the US Federal Highway Administration, it has been independently developed and has a number of key differences with its American counterpart, most notably the inclusion of bilingual (English/French) signage for jurisdictions such as New Brunswick with significant anglophone and francophone population, and a heavier reliance on symbols rather than text legends.
Speed limits in the United States vary depending on jurisdiction. Rural freeway speed limits of 70 to 80 mph are common in the Western United States, while such highways are typically posted at 65 or 70 mph in the Eastern United States. States may also set separate speed limits for trucks and night travel along with minimum speed limits. The highest speed limit in the country is 85 mph (137 km/h), which is posted on a single stretch of tollway in exurban areas outside Austin, Texas. The lowest maximum speed limit in the country is 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) in American Samoa.
Road signs in Australia are regulated by each state's government, but are standardised overall throughout the country. In 1999, the National Transport Commission, or NTC, created the first set of Rules of the Road for Australia. Official road signs by standard must use the AS1744 series fonts, based on the US' Highway Gothic typeface.