History of British Traffic SignsWord下载.docx

History of British Traffic SignsWord下载.docx

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MostoftheinformationherehascomefromtheDepartmentofTransport'

sbrochureentitledTheHistoryofTrafficSigns,whichyoucangetfromthemfree.

Someinformationon1908roadsignserectedbytheAA,RACandlocalauthoritiesinanAdobePDFfile（41KB）.ManythankstoDavidD.Millerforprovidingthis.

1:

Beforethe1920s

Perhapsit'

sbesttostartwithasummaryofthefunctionsoftrafficsigns.

oWarningofhazardsontheroadahead

oGivingdirectionstotowns/cities

oInstructingtraffictodo（ornotdo）something

It'

sworthrememberingthatnoneofthesefunctionsisspecifictomotortraffic,althoughthisiswhatwemostassociatetrafficsignswithnowadays.

TheRomansuseddirectionalsignsofasortwhentheyinstalledmilestonesalongthenewstraightroadstheyhadbuiltinBritain,givingdistancestothenexttown/militarybase.Whentheyleft,however,theimprovedinfrastructuretheyhadbuiltwaslefttodeteriorate,andthetechnologicaladvanceslearntwereforgotten.Sotheroadsandsigningfellintoneglect.Somefingerposts,givingdirectionsanddistances,wereerectedbyprivateindividuals,andtherewasnostandardisedsystem.Thereliabilitywouldhavebeendubioustoo.

Thingschangedinthe18thcenturywhentheGeneralTurnpikeActof1773waspassed.Underthis,TurnpikeTrustswereresponsibleformaintainingtheroadsusingmoneycollectedviatolls.Fingerpostshadtobeerectedalongtheroute,andmilestoneswerealsoinstalledforthepurposeofcalculatingthetollspayable.Therearestillafewofthesemilestonesaroundonthetrunkroads-madeoutofcastiron,andgivingthedistancestothenexttownineachdirection.I'

lltryandgetapictureofonesometime.

Untilthemid-19thcentury,roadswereonlyusedbypedestrians,andpeopletravellingonhorseback（orbeingpulledalonginacarriagebyahorse）,sotheyweresedateaffairs.Nothingwouldbetravellingatmorethan10milesperhour.However,thecomingofthebicyclechangedallthat:

bicycleswerefastanddangerous,bothtotheirridersandtootherroadusers.Thiswasespeciallytruewiththeroadsinsuchabadstateofrepair.Anorganisationcalledthe`BicycleUnion'

whichrepresentedcyclists,tookituponitselftoinstalldangersignsatsharpbendsandsteephills（withaskullandcrossbonesfortheworsthills!

）.

Somethingelsethathappenedinthemid-19thcenturywastheadventofrailwaysandcanalsasalternativemodesoftransport.Roadswerenotunaffected,astheyhadtocrossrailwaysandcanalsbymeansofbridges,builtofstoneoriron.Thesefrequentlyhadweightrestrictions,andsotherailwaycompanywoulderectweightrestrictionsigns.

Thecombinationofsignsforcyclists,weightrestrictionsigns,anddirectionsignserectedbylocalauthoritiesmeantthattherewereabout4,000signsonBritishroadsattheendofthe19thcentury.Theywerenotofstandarddesign,therewerenoregulationstorestricttheiruse,andtheywerebecomingsocommonthattheywereignoredbyroadusers!

Thearrivalofthemotorcar,andtheabolitionofthe`redflag'

lawin1896,meantthattherewasanewkidontheblock.Motoristswouldneedmorewarningsigns,astheycouldtravelmuchfasterthancyclistsandhorses.Withmoreroadusers,roadswouldbecomemoredangerousanyway.

In1903,theMotorCarActmadelegislativeprovisionforlocalauthoritiestoerecttheirownwarningsigns.Thedesign,specifiedinasubsequentCircular（1904）,wasstandard-ahollowredtrianglemeaningahazard,asolidreddiscmeaningaprohibition,orahollowwhiteringmeaningaspeedlimit,aboveanexplanatoryplate.Youcanseesomeofthesesigns,aswellassomelaterdesigns,onthefollowingpage.

Thenumberofsignsappearingonthevergecontinuedtoincrease:

themotorists'

organisationstheAAandRACerectedtheirownsigns,givingdirectionsandwarningofhazards.Theofficialsignswerealsospreadingaroundthecountry.

2:

ClassificationandRegulation

ThelargenumberofsignsonBritishroadswasbecomingaproblem:

thereweresomanythattheywereindangerofbeingignored.Inresponse,acommitteewasappointedin1919toconsiderandreportontrafficsigns.Thecommittee'

sreport,whichwasusedtoissueanotherCirculartolocalauthoritiesin1921,suggestedtheextensionofthesigningsystemspecifiedin1904,withmorewarningandregulatorysignsspecified.

Inadditiontothewarningandregulatorysignsystem,thedirectionalsigningwasgivenagoodgoingovertoo.Theroadswerebeingclassifiedandnumberedatthistime,anditwasdecidedtomakethepublicawareofthesenumbers,ratherthankeepingthemforofficaluseonly.Thusitwasnecessarytoincorporatetheroadnumbersondirectionalsigns.Tothisend,fingerpostswerestandardisedwithplacenamesin3-inchhighblackblockcapitalsonawhitebackground.`ClassI'

roadswereindicatedbyablack`A'

andanumberonawhitebackground,and`ClassII'

roadswereindicatedbyawhite`B'

andnumberonablackbackground.

Hereisanexampleofafingerpost,withroadnumbersoneach`arm'

.ThispicturewastakenfromtheDoT'

sHistoryofTrafficSignsbrochure.Notethatthiswasnotanactualsign:

theA749isnowherenearGloucestershire!

Thiswasallfineanddandy,buthighwayauthoritieswerestillnotobligedtousethesesigns,onlystronglyrecommended.Variantswerestillbeingproduced,andsupplementedbytheAA'

sandRAC'

ssigns.

YetanotherCircularwasissuedin1930,stillnotobligatory.Thisintroducedadvancedirectionsigns:

carswerecapableoftravellingsofastastoneedtobrakesharplywhenthedriverrealisedhehadreachedajunction,andneededtomakeadecision.Thesenewsigns（whichhadwordedlegends,eg`TURNRIGHT'

andarrows）helpedgivedriversadvancewarningofajunction.Morewarningsignswereintroduced（forexamplethe`steamengine'

levelcrossingsigninthetablebelow）andthedistinctiveSTOPsignmadeitsfirstappearance,althoughwithamorewordyexplanationofwhatthedriverwasrequiredtodo!

Yetanothercommitteewassetuptoreviewthesigningsystemin1931;

thisreportedbackin1933,andfinallyspecifiedsomerecommendationswhichwerelegallyenforceable.Therewerenomajorchangestotheexistingwarningsigns-thetablebelowshowsaselectionoftheplates（whichweremountedbeneathhollowredtriangles）.

Commonwarningplatedesignsbefore1963

Signmeaning

Design

Levelcrossing（nogates）

Levelcrossing（gates）

Crossroads

Doublebend

Steephill

Humpbridgeahead

Lowbridgeahead

Roadnarrows

School

Sideroad

'

T'

junction

Trafficsignals

Giveway

Halt/Stop

However,directionalsigningwasoverhauledyetagain.Theexistingsystem,whichconsistedlargelyoffingerpostsandwordyadvancedirectionsigns（suchas`TURNLEFTFORLONDON'

）,wasnolongerappropriateforfastertrafficonthe`A'

and`B'

roads.Thesignswerestillblackandwhite,with`A'

roadsblack-on-whiteand`B'

roadswhite-on-black,buttherewereafewchanges:

oAnewstandardfont（theLlewellyn-Smithalphabet）wasintroducedforuseonsigns.Thishadcapitallettersonly,wasasansseriffont,andalltheletterswere4½

incheshigh.

oRoadnumbersweregivenmuchmoreprominence（theirusefornavigationhadprobablybeenunderestimatedbytheMinistrysofar）,with6-inchhightype;

o`Map'

signswereintroduced,withroutenumber/destinationsshownonseparatepanelsaffixedtothesign;

oRoadnumbersreachedviathemainroutewereindicatedbychequersabovetheroutenumber.

Examplesof1933RegulationsSigns

Thisisanexampleofarouteconfirmationsign,placedjustafterajunctiontoreassuredriversoftheroutetheyareon.ThiswouldhavebeeninSouthEastLondon,andmeansthatbyfollowingthis（unclassified）road,driverscouldreachtheA2,A20andA21.

Thisisa`map'

-typeadvancedirectionsign,erectedjustbeforeajunction.Noticethatthenumbersnowhavemoreemphasisthanthedestinations.

Surprisingly,despitethesenewregulations,theAAandRACwerestillallowedtoputuptheirownsigns.Thesewereofthesameformatasthe1933Regulationssigns,butwiththeadditionofanAAorRACbadge.

3:

FromWartoWorboys

ThesigningsystemtookaknockduringtheSecondWorldWar,whenmanydirectionsignswereremovedorpointedinthewrongdirection,forfearthattheywouldassistGermaninvaders.PerhapstheMinistryregrettedreplacingthemorewordysigns（`FORKLEFTFORPORTSMOUTH'

）,hardertounderstandfornon-nativeEnglishspeakers,withclearermap-typesignsnow!

!

Anothercommitteewassetupin1944whenthetideofthewarhadbeguntoturn,anditwasrealisedthatlifehadtogoon:

thesigningsystemwouldneedfurthermodificationsandadditions.

oOptionalreflectinglensesonthered`danger'

triangles,andsignificantpartsofthewarningplatebeneath;

oLocaladvancedirectionsigns-whitepanels（withblacklettering）onablackbackgroundsign

Thetriangle-above-platewarningsignsystemhadchangedlittlesince1904,andtheGovernmentwascomingunderpressuretoadoptmoresymbolicsigns,similartoEuropeanpractice.Threesymbolicsignswereintroducedinthe1957Regulations（children,schoolsandcattle）butthiswasaratherhalf-he