Road Markings and Signs in Road Safety

Sep 18, 2026

Uploaded by Gloria

Road safety remains a major global challenge because road crashes cause large numbers of deaths and injuries each year. Road markings and road signs are fundamental traffic control devices that communicate rules, warnings, obligations, and guidance between road authorities and users. This entry explains their main functions and characteristics, situating them within a multidisciplinary road-safety approach involving humans, vehicles, and the road environment. It also reviews practical issues and future trends for road markings and signs.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Role of Traffic Control Devices

Historical Development and International Conventions

Sign Shapes and Standardization

Entry Road Markings and Signs in Road Safety Darko Babi´c 1,*, Dario Babi´c 1, Mario Fiolic 1 and Marija Ferko 2 Citation: Babi´c, D.; Babi´c, D.; Fiolic, M.; Ferko, M. Road Markings and Signs in Road Safety. Encyclopedia 2022, 2, 1738–1752. [https://doi.org/](https://doi.org/)[ ](https://doi.org/)[10.3390/encyclopedia2040119](10.3390/encyclopedia2040119) Academic Editors: Raffaele Barretta, Ramesh Agarwal, Krzysztof Kamil Z˙ ur and Giuseppe Ruta Received: 9 September 2022 Accepted: 3 October 2022 Published: 12 October 2022 Publisher's Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional afﬁliations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . 1 Faculty of Transport and Trafﬁc Sciences, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia 2 Smart View Ltd., 10020 Zagreb, Croatia * Correspondence: [dbabic@fpz.unizg.hr](dbabic@fpz.unizg.hr) Deﬁnition: Due to the dynamic nature and complexity of road trafﬁc, road safety is one of the most demanding social challenges. Therefore, contemporary road safety strategies incorporate a multidisciplinary and comprehensive approaches to address this problem and improve the safety of each individual element, i.e., the human, vehicle, and road. Trafﬁc control devices are an important part of road infrastructure, among which road markings and road signs play a signiﬁcant role. In general, road markings and signs represent basic means of communication between the road authorities and road users and, as such, provide road users with necessary information about the rules, warnings, obligations, and other information related to the upcoming situations and road alignment. The aim of this entry is to brieﬂy present the main functions and characteristics of road markings and signs, and their role in road safety. In addition, practical issues and future trends and directions regarding road markings and signs are discussed. Keywords: road markings; road signs; road safety; trafﬁc control devices; road infrastructure 1. Introduction Road safety is still one of the major issues worldwide, given that annually approximately 1.3 million people die in road crashes, with an additional 20 to 50 million people injured [1] . In general, the state of road safety is considered to be the result of the interaction between three main factors: human, vehicle, and road. Given the propensity for error, humans have long been considered a major perpetrator of road crashes, although external factors typically contribute to human error. Roadway characteristics, as well as the vehicles themselves, can provoke human error and thus be primary causes of crashes. Accordingly, current road safety strategies (such as the Safe System Approach) clearly differentiate factors that cause road crashes—human, environmental, vehicle-related, etc. and focus on a more holistic approach for resolving the problem. This kind of approach is aimed at taking actions that improve the roads and their environments, vehicle safety systems, law enforcement, and the behavior of road users. There are many ways to inﬂuence road users and human behavior, such as safe driving training, public campaigns, and additional education in schools, i.e., road safety education [2] . Furthermore, the effects are improved when several preventive measures are combined [3] . As one of the elements of road safety, the road consists of its entire infrastructure and surrounding environment. Therefore, trafﬁc control devices, such as road markings, signs and signals, and other road safety elements, are an important part of road infrastructure. Trafﬁc control devices date back to the time of anci

FAQs

Why are road markings and road signs important for road safety?

They provide clear communication of rules, warnings, obligations, and information about upcoming situations and road alignment to road users.

What factors are used to explain road safety outcomes?

Road safety is described as resulting from the interaction of three main factors: human, vehicle, and road.

How did international conventions influence road sign design?

The 1909 Paris convention addressed road signs and lighting and defined basic shapes for danger, mandatory, and notice signs, later supplemented by additional conventions and agreements.

Sep 18, 2026

Uploaded by Gloria

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