Centre Releases Guidelines For Safety Signages On Motorways, Highways

The ministry of road transport & highways (MoRTH) on Friday announced extensive standards for signs on motorways and national highways, making a significant step towards increasing road safety measures. 

The move comes as part of the government's commitment to enhancing road safety and ensuring a secure travel experience for drivers across the country.

The standards, which Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari endorsed, concentrate on adopting best practises and international standards to give drivers better visibility and understandable instructions. These new standards are aimed at maximising the efficacy of road signage, which plays a crucial role in providing drivers with essential information and directions.

As part of the review process, MoRTH evaluated existing provisions in line with relevant Indian Road Congress (IRC) codes & guidelines, international practices, and the functionality perspective.

A seamless and safe travel on the roads was to be made possible by streamlining traffic laws and creating signage that would provide drivers with clear and concise instructions, cautions, notices, and regulatory information.

The emphasis on improving visibility and legibility is one of the main strengths of the standards. Important information should be clearly visible and understandable even in inclement weather thanks to the positioning of signs at the right heights and distances, large font, symbols, and brief legends.

The recommendations call for the employment of both pictorial and textual representations in order to accommodate a wide range of road users, including those with low reading levels. This strategy tries to effectively communicate key messages, improving comprehension and upholding traffic restrictions.

Given the variety of languages spoken in India, MoRTH has also pushed for multilingual road signs. In order to improve communication with drivers from various linguistic origins and encourage better knowledge and adherence to traffic laws, both English and regional languages should be used.

The rules also emphasise the value of maintaining lane discipline. It is anticipated that drivers will be encouraged to stay in allocated lanes by the clear and logical direction provided by strategically placed signage, resulting in less traffic congestion and better traffic flow.

The regulations will be put into effect gradually on all upcoming motorways, motorways, and greenfield corridors. Additionally, priority will be given for the adoption of these standards on highways with large traffic volumes and more than 20,000 Passenger Car Units (PCUs).