A traffic sign is a graphic symbol, an image inscribed in a geometric figure. Each pattern and color has its own meaning, indicates the direction to the road user, and brings to his attention useful information on this section of the road. Signs are made to specific standards and have the same meaning all over the world.
Traffic signs play a very important role in ensuring road safety. There are symbols warning the driver about a dangerous turn or narrowing of the road, prohibiting overtaking in some places, recommending to reduce speed, and informing which settlement the car has passed through. All this helps to navigate the terrain in unfamiliar cities and prevents chaos on the roads.
The latest changes to the standards for the appearance of road signs and markings came into force on January 1, 2006. They have been updated in accordance with UN requirements and European canons. Before we dwell in detail on the meaning of the “Recommended Speed” sign, let’s consider what road signs generally exist.
Types of signs
There are a total of eight types of graphic symbols, each performing its own important function:
- Warning signs alert the driver to dangerous situations on the road. The sign is inscribed in black in a white triangle with a red outline.
- Priority signs show the order of traffic on turns, on narrow roads, and on circular markings.
- Prohibitory symbols are placed on a white circle with a red outline; the design is black. The role of such symbols is to limit or completely prohibit traffic in a certain place.
- Information signs are a blue rectangle; they tell traffic participants about the characteristic features of road markings, the location of traffic lanes, and the availability of gas stations or vehicle servicing.
- Information and guidance symbols show the direction of travel.
- Additional plates (white rectangles, black border and inscription) are used only in conjunction with the main symbols.
- Signs of special regulations.
Special road signs
It is worth noting that the traffic rules in the road signs section contain a large number of signs.
They prohibit, inform, prescribe. There are signs giving priority to travel or warning the motorist about an obstacle to normal traffic ahead. The 2021 traffic rules contain the following types of signs:
Warning
This is a signal that there is a dangerous section of the road ahead where attention will be needed. Priority. The sign establishes the rules for crossing the roadway
Placed at intersections, road crossings, and narrow sections of the road. Prohibiting. These are signs that restrict movement or remove this restriction. Prescriptive. Determining the accuracy of movement on a given section of the roadway. Particularly prescriptive. Indicating the beginning of a special driving mode or canceling this mode. Informational. In this case, signs provide information about the location of a settlement or infrastructure facility. Service. On these signs you can always find out about the location of service points for people and vehicles in a given place. Additional. These signs may limit the effect of other signs or contain additional information necessary for other road users.
Recommended speed sign
This symbol stands apart from other road signs that drivers must follow strictly. It is a blue square with a white stripe along the edge. There are numbers written on it indicating the speed in kilometers per hour. For example, if the sign Recommended speed is 50, then the driver can reduce the speed to this level in this place. But this speed is not a prerequisite for a participant in the movement.
The decision to reduce the speed to this level must be made by the driver himself, at his own discretion. Hence the name: the “Recommended Speed” sign. Let's consider when such a sign is placed on the roadway.
after the blue sign the speed is 60 km/h
Changes to traffic rules in force since April 15, 2013 have brought confusion to the regulation of speed limits on country roads passing through populated areas
Many drivers who did not learn the Rules of the Road after driving school still consider the blue sign with the name of a settlement to be a sign after which the speed limit is set at 90 km/h.
In fact, sign 5.47 indicated, and still does, the beginning of a populated area in which the speed limits established by the traffic rules for traffic in a populated area are not in effect on this road.
This persistent misconception arose partly due to the driving schools themselves, whose instructors often taught students with the words “blue sign - 90, white - 60.” But neither students nor teachers often wondered where the number “90” came from in this phrase. And it came from the maximum speed limits on roads outside the city, which until May 5, 2009 was 90 km/h. The exceptions were highways (sign 5.1 - up to 130 km/h) and “roads for cars” (sign 5.3 - up to 110 km/h), marked with special signs, which, however, no one anywhere except the Boryspil highway, perhaps, saw.
Therefore, everyone knew that outside the city you can drive 90 km/h, and in the city – 60 km/h. With changes in traffic rules regarding the speed limit, when it was allowed to drive 110 km/h on roads with a dividing strip, the statement “blue sign - 90” on many roads has lost its relevance.
Because if between oncoming roadways outside a populated area there is a lawn, a barrier or a lane marked out with markings, the permitted speed on them is 110 km/h. And the presence of a blue 5.47 sign with the name of the locality does not limit this speed. All this is for passenger cars, of course.
But since April 15, 2013, a new participant has appeared in speed regulation - road sign 5.63.1. Which, if installed within the coverage area of the blue sign 5.47, limits the speed to 60 km/h.
So be careful, if after the blue sign 5.47 you see an unusual new white sign with medieval outlines of buildings drawn on it, reduce your speed to 60 km/h.
We also remind you that according to the latest changes in the traffic rules, namely clause 8.2.-1, road signs must meet the requirements of the national standard and be placed in such a way that they are clearly visible to road users, regardless of the time of day, at a distance of at least 100 m.
In this case, the signs must be placed no higher than 6 m above the level of the roadway, and must not be covered by any obstacles. Road signs must be placed in such a way that the information they convey can be perceived by exactly those road users for whom it is intended.
Alexey Khamelin
Use of the sign
Along many kilometers of roads around the world there are a huge number of road symbols. Drivers, gaining knowledge in driving courses, study their meaning in detail. Some occur quite often and people remember them well, others are rare, but thanks to the drawing on the plate, its meaning is clear. But the “Recommended speed” sign has only two numbers and not every driver remembers the meaning and use of such symbols.
Many people confuse this sign with a restrictive symbol, which obliges the driver to forcibly reduce the speed to the desired mark on the speedometer. It is actually quite simple to distinguish between symbols having such different meanings. The “Recommended speed” road sign has white numbers on a blue background, and the “speed limit” road sign has red numbers on a white background. The blue sign is square, the white sign is round.
Reasons for installing such a sign
This sign is used as good advice to drivers to protect them from erroneous actions. For example, before a steep descent there may be a “Recommended Speed” sign of 40. Usually an additional sign is placed at the top or bottom explaining the reason for setting such a number. In our case, it will be a sign with a drawn slope and the inscription 40 degrees. This means that the descent is steep, and it would be advisable for the driver to reduce speed.
Let's give another example. The number 50 is written on the blue square, and underneath there is an additional cloud with rain on a white background. This means that the road is wet after precipitation and it is advisable to drive at a speed of 50 km. Above the entrance to the highway there are numbers on top indicating which lanes the recommended speed is.
Square sign on a blue background speed limit. Information road signs
Traffic warning signs
Many motorists know that the speed of a car in a populated area and outside it are different. In particular, outside the city limits on the highway, driving at a speed of no more than 90 km per hour is allowed, and within a populated area no more than 60 km per hour. The peculiarity of these signs is that they do not correspond to geographical indicators
Their installation has an informative purpose, and knowledge of the symbols is mandatory for every driver. Important! The “settled area” sign is installed in order to delineate traffic rules and speed limits within the settlement and beyond it.
The meaning of the locality
According to traffic rules, a populated area is an area that is built up with residential buildings, the entry and exit to which is indicated by special signs: the “beginning of the populated area” sign and the “end of the populated area” sign.
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The main meaning of these signs is information
drivers, as well as pedestrians, about the location of populated areas that are found on the road. Also, the “settlement” sign is used at intersections to indicate the correct direction of movement.
According to traffic rules, there are signs: special instructions or informative. Thus, the sign “name of a locality”:
According to the traffic rules sign “the populated area is over,” the speed may increase, and the driver is warned that he is leaving the populated area.
The signs are paired and differ only in that the “end of settlement” signs are always crossed out with a red line.
Did you know?
In Europe (for example, in Poland) there are only two types of signs indicating a populated area. This is a sign of dense development and denotes a settlement and its end.
Locality, general rules
According to the traffic rules in the populated area and on all roads that pass through it, the speed limit for transport is as follows:
- buses that transport groups of children, cars with trailers and motorcycles - 80 km/h;
- vehicle with drivers with up to 2 years of driving experience - up to 70 km/h;
- trucks that carry passengers in the back - up to 60 km/h;
- buses (except minibuses) - up to 90 km per hour;
- other vehicles: on a road marked with a “populated area” sign - up to 60 km/h.
When towing, the permissible speed is 50 km/h.
Important! In order not to violate the speed limit of traffic rules in populated areas, you need to know what the settlement sign on a white background means, as well as the blue “settlement” sign. This will help you immediately determine whether a change in speed limit is necessary or not.
Traffic in a populated area with blue background
The “settled area” sign, blue 5.25, means that the rules adopted in populated areas regarding speed limits in this area do not apply. It is duplicated by the same sign 5.26, only crossed out with a red line. According to traffic rules, if a motorist passes the name of a settlement on a blue background, the speed does not need to be reduced, since the speed limit is 90 km per hour.
Be sure to pay attention to the signs that may appear after it - there may be a speed limit
Traffic in a populated area on a white background
The sign itself is quite easy to recognize: the white rectangular plate contains the letter name of the city or town. It is duplicated by the same sign, only crossed out diagonally with a red line - “end of a populated area” 05.24.1.
A town sign on a white background 5.23.1 warns that the speed limit is changing. Now the driver can drive no more than 60 km per hour. But if the city has a special permit sign, then the speed may vary.
Sign for the beginning of dense development
Sign “Image of a populated area” 5.23.2 and its duplicate 5.24.2.
has a white background and shape like sign 5.23.1. It differs in that instead of a letter name it depicts the outlines of buildings adjacent to each other. This sign is used to designate a section of the road with buildings that are not part of a populated area - a holiday village, enterprises, facilities under construction, etc. The city road sign on a white background is installed: at the beginning and at the border of residential development, at secondary entrances at a distance of more than 500 m.
Did you know?
All signs are made of galvanized metal with double flanging for rigidity, 1 mm thick.
Thus, the sign "populated"
Fines
On the Internet, people often describe cases where traffic police officers tried to file claims against a driver for failure to comply with traffic signs. People who did not know the rules and the meaning of the symbolism of road drawings were fined. Others, who understand the meaning of the graphic and color symbols along the road, filed complaints and were acquitted.
All drivers should remember that the speed recommended by the sign is not mandatory. If the driver believes that he can handle driving in a dangerous place, then he can continue driving the vehicle as usual. There is no penalty for failure to comply with the recommendations of this sign.
