2023-08-11 11:31:30
In 1998, a study by the Ministry of Public Works stated that conditioning signage reduced the risk of mortality by 39%, and that the cost was amortized in two years. Improving security and adapting to the new mobility are precisely the objectives of the DGTwhich through the new General Traffic Regulations brings with it new signs, which we will soon see on the streets and highways.
This signage ‘update’ serves several purposes. The first, and “this is a substantial change -explains Ana Blanco, deputy deputy director of Circulation in the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT)- because it reflects the change in mobility today”. In fact, she tries to “adapt aspects of signage, especially some older ones, to changes in the field of mobility, especially
in relation to modifications in terms of vehicle technology and other aspects so that it continues to maintain the highest level as a semiotic system, guaranteeing adequate understanding by all users to guarantee Road Safety and efficient travel, “explains the project .
The second reason is to respond to requests from city councils and Parliament on the adaptation of traffic signaling to new technological, mobility and gender equality aspects and to establish a homogeneous base for new regulations such as Low Emission Zones (ZBE) .
The third objective is to achieve a more agile procedure to be able to update the catalogs of vertical signaling and road markings “for their adaptation to future technological needs, traffic regulation, road safety or other aspects”, specifies the project.
From the moment the Traffic Regulations are approved, the replacement of the affected traffic signs will be gradual. “They will be incorporated when new sections of track are built -explains Ana Blanco (DGT)- or when there is a need to replace the existing ones”.
For the moment we can get used to the new signs and their meaning.
1 P-1e Section with direct accesses
Danger due to the proximity of a section in which there are several direct accesses to the track, users of said direct accesses having to give way. (It is similar to the already existing P-1 from aa) to d), which indicate an intersection with priority over possible additions from the right or from the left).
2 P-20c Crossing for pedestrians and cyclists
Danger due to the proximity of a pedestrian crossing attached to or shared with a cycling crossing. (It should be remembered that at a pedestrian crossing (P-20a) cyclists must get off their bicycles and walk, while at bicycle crossings they can ride on them).
3 P-24a Passage of animals in the wild (wild boars)
Danger due to the proximity of a place where the road can frequently be crossed by animals in the wild, a very significant proportion of which are wild boars. (Indicates the same thing as P-24 – free passage of animals – but warns of the possibility of wild boars).
4 P-33 Reduced visibility
Danger due to the proximity of a section in which circulation is frequently hampered by a notable loss of visibility due to fog, rain, snow, smoke, etc. (Changed to avoid possible confusion with, for example, possible falling objects or stones.)
5 P-35 Braided
Danger due to the proximity of a section between a confluence and a fork where different lane change movements are produced by vehicles, crossing their trajectories and thereby increasing the risk of collisions.
6 R-2 Mandatory stop or stop
Obligation for all drivers to stop their vehicle at the next stop line or, if it does not exist, immediately before the intersection, and yield right-of-way to vehicles traveling on the road they are approaching. If, due to exceptional circumstances, there is insufficient visibility from the place where the stop was made, the driver must stop again in the place from where they have visibility, without endangering any road user.
7 R-118 Entry prohibited to personal mobility vehicles
Prohibition of access to personal mobility vehicles. (This is a new signal and affects all VMPs and not just scooters.)
8 R-120 Entry prohibited to vehicles based on environmental distinctive or other environmental criteria
Prohibition of access to vehicles based on their environmental badge or other environmental criteria that are established. The conditions will be specified on a supplementary panel S-860 or on a sign that includes the signal, referring, where appropriate, to the classification of each vehicle based on its environmental distinctive, as established by regulation.
9 S-1c Road 2+1
Indicates the beginning of a 2+1 road, that is, one that consists of three traffic lanes and allows traffic in both directions. The central lane is intended to facilitate the overtaking manoeuvre, being alternately reserved for both directions of movement. This signal can also indicate the branch of a junction that leads to a 2+1 road.
10 S-14 (af) Underpass or overpass for pedestrians, with or without ramp and with or without ramp for cycles
Indicates the situation of an overpass or underpass for pedestrians equipped with a ramp, with a rail or with a ramp for cycles.
11 S-47 Coexistence zone
Indicates a circulation zone that is intended primarily for pedestrians and in which the following special traffic regulations apply: the maximum speed of vehicles will be 20 km/h; the circulation is shared between vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians; pedestrians have priority, they can use the entire circulation area and therefore there are no marked pedestrian crossings; the cycles and, where appropriate, the VMP can circulate in both directions, unless the competent authority establishes otherwise; vehicles can only be parked in places designated by signs or markings; games and sports are not allowed.
12 S-51 b Lane reserved for vehicles with high occupancy
Indicates one or several lanes intended exclusively for the circulation of vehicles with high occupancy. The image will show the number of people from which high occupancy is considered, which will be determined by the competent management body in each case. If the lane or lanes is reserved not only for HOVs but also for another or other specific types of vehicles, the corresponding images may be combined in the same way as in sign S-51a.
13 S-63b Fork in three-lane roadways
Indicates, on a road with three lanes of traffic in the same direction, that there will be a fork in the central lane with a change of direction of the four resulting lanes, two to the left and two to the right. (It is similar to a whole series of signs –from S-60 to S-63– that try to provide better information about the forks of the road on which you are traveling so that drivers can locate themselves in the most appropriate lane in advance to his destiny).
14 S-70 One lane junction
Indicates, on a road with one lane (S-70), two (S-71) or more lanes (S-72), that there will be a confluence of one or more lanes on the left or right side.
15 S-105 (af) Refueling area
Indicates the location of a fuel pump or service station, including LPG (S-105 c), electric recharge (S-105e) or several of them (S-105b, S-105d or S-105f). .
16 S-892 Surveillance by automatic means
Indicates the surveillance by means of automatic capture and reporting, of compliance with the provisions of the vertical sign it accompanies.
17 S-940 Speed limits in Spain
Indicates the generic speed limits in the different classes of roads and in urban areas in Spain.
18 S-991g Airborne speed control
Indicates the possible existence in the section of speed controls by air means, such as helicopter or drone. In the event that said controls have a specific type of vehicle as their object, the sign may only include the pictogram corresponding to said vehicle.
19 S-992 Informative sign of the minimum distance between vehicles
Indicates, on a section of conventional road or a multilane road (S-992a) or inside a tunnel (S-992b) or on a motorway or dual carriageway (S-992c) where rear-end collisions frequently occur and the number of road markings of gallon that a vehicle must leave between it and the one that precedes it.
20 S-992e Informative sign of the minimum distance between vehicles by means of light beacons
Indicates, in a section where loss of visibility due to fog is frequent, the number of light beacons that a vehicle must leave between itself and the one that precedes it.
Up to 59 signs that already existed in the previous Catalog suffer some type of modification in their design.
In many cases the pictogram is simply updated. This is the case, for example, of “Barrier-free level crossing” (P-8), “Airport” (P-12), “Entry prohibited to mopeds” (R-105), “Entry prohibited to vehicles of transport” (R-106), “Entry prohibited to agricultural motor vehicles” (R-111), “Entry prohibited to cycles” (R-114) or “Reserved and compulsory road for cycles (R-407a) and for mopeds » (R-407b), where the icons representing the train, plane, bicycle, tractor or moped have been modernized, making them more similar to the current versions of these vehicles.
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