Priority signs
Signs indicating vehicle passage order
Priority traffic signs indicate the order in which vehicles shall pass intersection points. Vehicles often come into conflict with other vehicles and pedestrians because their intended courses of travel intersect, and thus interfere with each other's routes. The general principle that establishes who has the right to pass first is called "right of way" or "priority". It establishes who has the right to use the conflicting part of the road and who has to wait until the other does so. The vehicle that does not need to wait is said to "have the right of way" or to "have priority."
01Types of sign
A give way sign, also known as a yield sign in some countries, informs the driver that they must give way to vehicles on the major road. Under the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, the standard sign shall be a white or yellow inverted triangle with a red border. This originates in Denmark, with the red and white coming from the Danish flag. In some countries, the words give way or equivalent may be included with the sign. These signs are usually accompanied by a give way marking, normally one or multiple dashed lines or shark teeth across the carriageway.
| Priority signs according to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Give way | Inverted equilateral triangle | White or yellow | Red | 0.9 m (large), 0.6 m (small) | None | |
| Stop | Octagon | Red | White | 0.9 m (large), 0.6 m (small) | "STOP" written in white | |
| Circular | White or yellow | Red | 0.9 m (large), 0.6 m (small) | "STOP" written in black or dark blue inside red inverted triangle | ||
| Priority road | Diamond | White | Black | 0.5 m (large), 0.35 m (small) | Yellow or orange square | |
| End of priority road | Diamond | White | Black | 0.5 m (large), 0.35 m (small) | Yellow or orange square with black or grey diagonal lines crossing the sign | |
| Priority for oncoming traffic | Circular | White or yellow | Red | Unspecified | Black arrow indicating direction with priority, red arrow indicating direction without | |
| Priority over oncoming traffic | Rectangle | Blue | None | Unspecified | White arrow indicating direction with priority, red arrow indicating direction without | |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Priority signs”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- HK traffic sign 102.svg by Government of Hong Kong, Public domain
- Vienna-convention-sign-B6.svg by United Nations, Public domain
- Vienna-convention-sign-B5.svg by United Nations, Public domain
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