All road signs are divided into categories: prohibitory and warning, priority and prescriptive, as well as additional information. Each group carries out its functions. The person driving the vehicle must be able to read them and navigate correctly. After all, each participant in the movement knows that a car is a means of increased danger.
General characteristics of signs
What are warning traffic signs? These technical means of organizing traffic on the roadway, like any other, are aimed at ensuring safety and increasing the throughput of the traffic flow. From the name of the group of signs it is clear that they warn the driver about approaching dangerous areas on the road. Therefore, the person driving the vehicle must have time to take appropriate action. In traffic rules, each sign has its own name and comment on its installation and coverage. It is he who explains to the driver what precautions he should take.
Traffic regulations, warning signs: description
Listing the whole group is pointless. There are a lot of signs, their study and description will take a lot of time and place. The collection of traffic rules contains their drawings and names. And in this article we will consider only the most complex, which are most often confused by novice drivers.
So, the warning signs (photo below) look like a red triangle with a white background inside.
Signs 1.1-1.4.6 are installed near railway crossings. They report on the presence or absence of barriers, the number of paths crossing the roadway. 1.3.1 and 1.3.2 report the boundaries of the railway crossing. These signs are of great importance, because with their help the driver of the vehicle is warned that after their passage special rules of movement at nearby intersections begin to apply. They must be observed, since almost all traffic accidents involving a car and a train result in deaths. And due to the fact that the actual mass of the car is much lower than the mass of any railway transport, it is its passengers and driver who are in the greatest danger.
Having seen the sign “Intersection with a tram line”, a person driving a car must increase vigilance. Carefully evaluate the traffic situation. After all, the sign warned you that a tram would go nearby. Moreover, the mass of the latter is several times higher than the mass of any car. Therefore, in a collision, your vehicle will suffer the main damage. In any case, it is better to skip the tram, even if it violates the rules.
The sign “Crossing Equal Roads” warns the driver that in a few meters he will drive up to the intersection. There he has no advantages over other participants in the movement. At such intersections, the “interference on the right” rule applies. That is, at the intersection of equivalent roads, the driver must let everyone who moves to his right.
The roundabout indicates a stretch of road with a carriageway, on which the driveway is organized in a ring. It has certain rules. You should know how to enter / leave the ring without causing an accident.
The sign "Light regulation" warns the driver that he is approaching a section of the road where traffic lights are installed. Accordingly, they will need to be guided while driving. In reality, this sign is installed in order to attract the attention of the driver of the vehicle. For example, at a certain intersection or crossing for pedestrians there was no traffic light before, but they decided to install it now. In this regard, a corresponding warning sign is also established, which will allow the driver to prepare well in advance and correctly pass the intersection of carriageways. Also, this element will stand in front of a traffic light if it stands in an unexpected place and it is difficult to notice it in less than a hundred meters.
Oddly enough, but cars continue to fall into rivers and lakes, despite the warning signs "Drawbridge" and "Departure for the embankment." Drivers simply do not notice or ignore them.
“Dangerous turns” - warning signs of traffic (photo below), report on nearby bends of the roadway, on which you must be extremely careful.
After all, an incorrect assessment of the situation can lead to an exit from the strip in the best case, in the worst - to an accident. These elements of the road warn drivers that soon there will be one or more (indicated on the sign) dangerous turns. Overtaking in these sections of the carriageway is strictly prohibited. This maneuver can be performed before the start of the turn or immediately in front of it. Otherwise, the driver of the vehicle faces a penalty of deprivation of a driver’s license for up to six months.
Temporary Warning Signs
Technical means of traffic management may not operate continuously. Almost every warning sign may be temporary. That is, it will be distinguished by a yellow background and is installed in case of any repair work, events or for operational changes in the situation in order to ensure safety. Permanent signs, unlike temporary ones, have a white background.
There are certain signs that can be both temporary and permanent. And some will never be permanent.
- Slippy road.
- Ejection of rubble.
- Narrowing the road to the right / left / on both sides (can be either temporary or permanent).
- Men at work.
- Dangerous roadside.
- Rough road.
- Sleet.
- Two-way traffic (can be either temporary or permanent).
- Congestion on the road.
- Seasonal migration of amphibians.
Sometimes permanent and temporary signs are installed on the road at the same time, the driver must be guided by the latter, as they are priority in this situation.
Warning traffic signs for pedestrians
Ideally, road users should know traffic rules on a par with drivers. However, this can only be dreamed of. After all, pedestrians receive minimal knowledge about traffic rules at school. After her, it is unlikely that someone will independently study the rules.
Pedestrians must know some traffic signs warning. After all, not only drivers of the traffic police can be fined. For pedestrians, the following signs are important:
- Crosswalk. Often people get confused, believing that it means that in this place you can cross the roadway. It's a delusion. The sign only warns the driver of an imminent approach to a pedestrian crossing. Also, a person, having seen this technical means of organizing traffic, must understand that there is a designated pedestrian crossing nearby, along which he is obliged to cross the roadway.
- Children. Each child should explain from an early age that this sign does not allow them to cross the road at the place of its installation. It is intended to warn the driver about the possible sudden appearance of children on the roadway, but does not allow them to go on the road.
- Men at work. Often such places where work is carried out are not fenced, but only indicated by signs. Therefore, both the driver and the pedestrian can easily fall into a dangerous place, it is especially worthwhile to be careful in the dark.
- Railroad crossings. It does not matter, with or without a barrier, passing through this intersection, a pedestrian must necessarily adequately assess the situation and his abilities.
Installation of warning signs
Every driver should know where this or that technical means of traffic management is located. So, warning road signs are located from a hazardous area inside the village at a distance of 50-100 meters, outside the city - 150-300 m. In some cases, they are supplemented with signs. These information signs can have two types. The first indicates the extent of the hazardous area. The plate has the appearance of a white rectangle with a black border, on the sides are two up arrows, between which a number is indicated. This figure indicates the duration of the hazardous area. The second plate indicates the distance through which the place the sign warns about will begin. It looks the same as the previous one, but without arrows at the edges.
Repeating signs
There are several pieces in the warning sign group that are duplicated. That is, the first is installed at a distance outside the village of 150-300 m and is repeated twenty to fifty meters before the start of the dangerous section.
- Railroad crossing with a barrier.
- Drawbridge.
- Railway crossing without a barrier.
- Departure to the embankment.
- Children.
- Road works (repeated in the city, but already immediately in front of the dangerous site).
Action area
Warning traffic signs apply exclusively to a hazardous area. There is no strict footage for this group. After all, their main goal is to warn the driver about approaching something.
An exception is the case when the sign is installed with a sign. And it indicates the duration of the hazardous area.
Difficult situations with warning signs
Even for a novice driver, this group of means of organizing traffic on the road does not cause problems. After all, these signs do not forbid anything, but warn in advance about dangerous sections on the roadway. Therefore, the driver, having seen any of them, must take appropriate measures, that is, increase vigilance and reduce speed, which will subsequently allow, if necessary, to brake freely.
Nuances
Warning signs do not prohibit anything, therefore, they cannot be violated in any case. That is, you do not have the right to write out a fine.
However, do not be vigilant. After all, it is these signs that warn us of upcoming dangerous sections on the road. And here it is very easy to violate traffic rules and get a hated fine.
Warning signs of traffic of the Republic of Belarus are depicted, installed and have the same meaning as in the Russian Federation. Therefore, drivers of neighboring states use almost the same traffic rules.