European traffic control device manuals

[treichard]

I'm seeking the MUTCD-like documents of other countries, particularly for Europe, where they are available online.  While many countries in Europe use some internationally agreed standard for some parts, each has their own distinct manual explaining their own character, and some ministries of transportation place them online.  Sometimes they are difficult to find even with Google Translate powered up.

I've found only a handful myself or where I've seen them posted by others:

Free and online:
France: http://routes.wikia.com/wiki/Biblioth%C3%A8que:Signalisation_routi%C3%A8re
Greece: - I know it's online somewhere, but I lost the link.
Spain: http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2000/01/29/pdfs/A04049-04106.pdf
http://www.fomento.es/MFOM/LANG_CASTELLANO/DIRECCIONES_GENERALES/CARRETERAS/_INFORMACION/Nortec/EQUIVIAL/SENAVERTI/
Switzerland: http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c741_21.html
Turkey: http://www.kgm.gov.tr/SiteCollectionDocuments/KGMdocuments/Trafik/IsaretlerElKitabi/TrafikIsaretElKitabi.pdf
United Kingdom: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/tss/tsmanual/

Available online for a fee:
Hungary: https://www.mszt.hu/mszt/portal/user/anon/page/default.psml/js_pane/03;jsessionid=D616D858849DC552452DA89A88774946?tipus=S&icsid=93.080.30&icsview=termekList&page2display=3



I'd like to find those of Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy next, but I haven't had any luck so far.


Edit: Added signing manual links posted below.

[agentsteel53]

Here is a place where you can purchase the Hungarian manual.

https://www.mszt.hu/mszt/portal/user/anon/page/default.psml/js_pane/03;jsessionid=D616D858849DC552452DA89A88774946?tipus=S&icsid=93.080.30&icsview=termekList&page2display=3

that is the Hungarian Standards Institute - the very first link is "traffic control devices and vehicle detectors". 

You may have better luck finding something free with further searching.

Traffic control device in Hungarian is "forgalomirányító berendezés", and if you say "közúti forgalomirányító berendezés" that means it's for the public roads.  The word "kézikönyv" means "handbook" literally, but "manual" is its intended meaning in this context, so some combination of those search terms should do the job.

[J N Winkler]

European countries in general do not buy into the concept of a "manual of instructions" which conflates mandatory standards with optional guidance, so there is typically a set of traffic signs regulations (generally as a discrete piece of subordinate legislation) and multiple volumes of accompanying documentation which give standards for application and signface design.  The regulations are always published by the government and their online availability depends on whether the government makes other regulations available online--this is highly variable, especially in Eastern Europe.  The accompanying documentation is often published by separate entities and is often not free (in much the same way the AASHTO Green Book is not free).

Some typical examples:  Great Britain has both the TSRGD (law) and Traffic Signs Manual (guidance) online:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/SI/si2002/20023113.htm

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/tss/tsmanual/

Germany has the Strassenverkehrsordnung (StVO) online:

http://www.verkehrsportal.de/stvo/stvo.php

(This is one of many third-party compilations--another common feature in Europe; there is, I am sure, an "official" version available in PDF from a German government website, but I want to get this posted relatively soon and it would take too long to dig up an official version.)

On the other hand, the guidance on design and use of direction signs is not free.  For example, the guidance document for direction signing on Autobahnen is called Richtlinien für die wegweisende Beschilderung auf Autobahnen and I think my copy (which I ordered by mail several years ago) cost something like €15.

In the case of Italy, traffic signs are part of the Nuovo codice della strada, for which it is hard to find even an official PDF from an Italian central government website.  Moreover, the details for traffic signs themselves are buried in a linked regulation (regolamento di attuazione or "actuating regulation") which is even harder to find.  There is separate guidance on direction signing design, which has to be special-ordered also.  Third-party compilers put both the Codice and its regolamento di attuazione on CDs, but good luck finding a CD you can preview before you fork over €20 or so for it.

The position in Switzerland is somewhat similar to Germany, except the traffic signing ordinance is dead easy to download from the federal government website (you get your choice of French, German, and Italian--the link is for the French version):

http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/rs/c741_21.html

Design details and guidance for application are contained in standards (normes) published by the Schweizerischer Verband der Strassen- und Verkehrsfachleute (VSS):

http://www.vss.ch

(Yes, I know the German acronym doesn't match up with the name in German--I think this is because they used to be called "Verein für schweizerischer Strassenfachleute" but kept the old acronym when they changed their name.  The main difference between the old name and the current one is that Verkehr, which is generally used for "traffic" in German but also has the more general meaning of "transport," has more prominence and emphasis.  It is similar to adding a "T" for "Transportation" to change AASHO to AASHTO.)

The Nordic countries (DK, S, N, FIN) are typically very good about putting both kinds of traffic signing documentation online.  I have not seen anything for Hungary or Croatia.  I think I may have seen traffic signing regulations for Slovenia, and forgot about them because they looked like garbage (but, on the other hand, I couldn't swear the regulations I saw weren't actually for Slovakia).  The Czech regulations and sign drawings book are online, but I have forgotten where they are.

France follows the German model, except it is even harder to find documentation on direction sign design.  There is a set of regulations from 1983 for direction signs, but this is obsolete in comparison with current signing, which I think is controlled by guidance issued by SETRA and CERTU.

[aswnl]

Dutch design documents can be purchased from CROW:
http://www.crow.nl/nl/Publicaties.html (Dutch only)

http://www.crow.nl/english (a short list for publications in English and German)

[treichard]

Thanks for the help. The free manuals are helpful.   

I don't feel like paying money for the purchasable manuals, but at least I know to stop searching for free versions for some countries.  I'll look for other sources to answer a few questions currently on my to-do list.  The next one is:

What are the proper specs (relative dimensions/angles) of the autocesta hexagon shield used in Croatia and Slovenia?  It is different than the German/Swiss/Greek and Turkish versions.  I've done a lot of web image searching looking for a high-res pic showing the shield, but none have a res that's high enough, say 30+ px tall for just the shield without a digital zoom. There are plenty of low-res pics that are easy to find on the web, but because of the shallow angles in the shape (slightly above 90 deg, slightly below 180 deg), a high-res pic is necessary. I haven't found any signing plans from these countries.  I'm hoping to make a set of shield images for the motorways in these two countries for my web site.

I had the same trouble with Hungary's autopalya/fouz pentagon shields, but after not finding a traffic signs manual and  after sifting through many dozens of guide sign images, I finally found one (and only one) image that was of barely sufficient resolution.

[agentsteel53]

I had the same trouble with Hungary's autopalya/fouz pentagon shields, but after not finding a traffic signs manual and  after sifting through many dozens of guide sign images, I finally found one (and only one) image that was of barely sufficient resolution.

I've got some high-res Hungary shield photos.  What is your email?  I can send you one.

[Chris]

Unfortunately, this is about the biggest I got from a Croatian shield.

[J N Winkler]

Nice to see the VSS-Schriften hanging on.  They have been exiled from their homeland in favor of ASTRA-Frutiger.

[aswnl]

Belgium also uses SNV (VSS) - the faster this script will disappear in Europe the better it will be...

[agentsteel53]

Belgium also uses SNV (VSS) - the faster this script will disappear in Europe the better it will be...

what is so bad about VSS?  Looks fine to me.

[J N Winkler]

I was browsing the Internet earlier today on a shared (semipublic) computer which didn't have URL autocompletion enabled, so I entered the Ministerio de Fomento website through the top page, and discovered that the "Normativa técnica" (technical standards) section for highways has been radically beefed up.

Main portal page:

http://www.fomento.es/MFOM/LANG_CASTELLANO/DIRECCIONES_GENERALES/CARRETERAS/_INFORMACION/Nortec/

Page containing links to standards dealing with upright signing:

http://www.fomento.es/MFOM/LANG_CASTELLANO/DIRECCIONES_GENERALES/CARRETERAS/_INFORMACION/Nortec/EQUIVIAL/SENAVERTI/

Resources now available online include the perfect-bound (not gazetted) version of Norma 8.1-IC and both volumes of Señales verticales de circulación, which has been out of print for yonks.  (I picked up what was probably the last copy of the second volume, which is the sign catalogue, from the BOE bookshop in Madrid about 10 years ago, but the only copy of the first volume--which is a sign drawings book similar to Standard Highway Signs--I could find was in Fomento's reference library at the Nuevos Ministerios.)  There are also links to the two royal decrees dealing with bilingual signing.

[J N Winkler]

WikiSARA has a "library" section containing various official texts governing traffic signing in France:

http://routes.wikia.com/wiki/Biblioth%C3%A8que:Signalisation_routi%C3%A8re

It looks like a good place to find PDF scans of the older and harder-to-find orders and interministerial instructions.

[treichard]

Thanks.  Some of these manuals even include the fonts used on signs, which is a nice feature.

I've started putting some of the links in the first post for quick reference.

[conekicker]

Eire put it's Traffic Signs Manual on line a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.transport.ie/viewitem.asp?id=12971&lang=ENG&loc=2635