Adjusting and adding signs: Urgent task on every road
Through the review, the General Department of Roads of Vietnam has requested the Departments of Transport (GTVT) and Road Management Areas to urgently adjust the content, size of drawings, letters, and numbers on signs according to regulations; review the locations of signs on national highway sections designed with 4 lanes or more to promptly help road users recognize easily and conveniently. This is an urgent task that needs to be maintained and become a criterion to ensure traffic safety on national highways of localities.
Wrong sign
According to the review of the General Department of Roads of Vietnam, the current situation of unreasonable, incorrect, missing or redundant road signs on many national highways not only causes waste for the State, but also causes frustration and confusion for road users in complying with the Road Traffic Law. In particular, the current situation of the system of signs, signals, and traffic lights on national highways running through localities is managed by the local Department of Transport, while the direct regulation of traffic activities belongs to the traffic police force, so if there is no synchronous coordination in planning, management, and punishment, the frustration will belong to the road users.
For example, on Thang Long Avenue (Hanoi), there are many new signs "planted" making it difficult for road users to recognize and comply with which speed in which lane, because there are signs indicating the prescribed speed, but there are no signs indicating the maximum or minimum speed allowed; in some sections, there are many signs that are difficult to distinguish; in some places there are signs indicating exits, but looking around, one cannot find the exit anywhere... Along National Highway 1A, the situation of "covered" signs, broken signposts, crooked and rusty prohibition signs is not difficult to find. At km 148 of National Highway 1A (the section running through the gate of Quang An 1 Industrial Park, Tien Du District, Bac Ninh), there is a sign prohibiting stopping and parking for motor vehicles, which is rusted and covered with torn blankets and old mats. So right here, large and small cars can freely stop and park to eat and drink at roadside stalls, causing disorder in traffic safety. Not to mention the makeshift signs that have been exposed to the sun and rain, broken and fallen down and have not been replaced, "hiding" behind advertising billboards... still "standing out in the open for years" every day, making many passersby struggle to guess the content. This reality exists in many localities.
National Highway 1A is currently lacking many signs. Photo: Huy Hung – VNA
According to the reflection of long-distance drivers, the most miserable situation today is the situation where drivers are "whistled" by the traffic police without knowing how to explain their violations, just because of the lack of prescribed signs. For example, speed information boards according to the standards of the transport industry are only placed in necessary locations with a distance between the boards of 30-50 km; signs regulating the maximum allowed speed are only placed in really dangerous places such as: Continuous curves, steep passes, "black spots" of traffic accidents that require continuous speed restrictions 24/24 hours...
However, many drivers said that the current distance between the signs is not suitable, not enough for vehicles to be able to adjust their speed according to the regulations of the sign. In addition, after the speed limit requirement is over, it is necessary to post signs "end of maximum and minimum speed limit" or add signs "slow down", "danger" or appropriate warning signs... but on the National Highway there is currently a serious lack. Therefore, many drivers violate the regulations on the allowed speed. There are many cases where drivers have to brake suddenly, stop suddenly to look back at the signs on the road, to avoid the situation of "accidentally" violating, then the only way is to pay the fine according to the regulations. So, many places have signs as well as not, prohibiting but still cannot prohibit, creating a "mess" in traffic, directly causing insecurity for other vehicles and road users.
Urgent
The General Department of Roads of Vietnam has currently reviewed nearly 104,000 road signs, collected from 95 routes and sections, including prohibition signs, danger signs, command signs, instructions, auxiliary signs and other types of information signs. Of these, according to the General Department of Roads of Vietnam, the number of signs that need to be supplemented is more than 7,600; the total number of signs of all types that need to have their positions adjusted is nearly 250; the total number of signs that need to have their content adjusted is about 500 and nearly 500 signs that need to be removed.
Chaos of signs. Photo: Contributor
According to traffic experts, in reality, the system of traffic signs, signals and traffic lights on national highways in localities is being neglected. Many traffic signs are placed in the wrong position, lack information or are newly placed with lengthy additional instructions... not only causing frustration and confusion for road users, but also being ineffective, causing waste for the State. Many experts even believe that many traffic signs on national highways today are not suitable for the trend of international integration.
Faced with this reality, the General Department of Roads of Vietnam has requested the Department of Road Construction Management, Traffic Project Management Boards, Road Engineering Centers, and Departments of Transport to urgently review and check technical documents for construction of new construction projects, road upgrading and expansion projects, focusing on items adjusting and supplementing the road sign system and road traffic safety assurance system in the projects. In particular, the system of kilometer posts on the median strip, road signs, road markings, corrugated iron guardrails, hard and soft median strips must be invested in accordance with current technical standards; at the same time, detailed statistics of signs that need to adjust the content and size of drawings, size and spacing of letters and numbers; statistics of the list of signs that need to be supplemented and adjusted; review the locations of signs installed on the roadside on sections designed with 4 or more lanes that are difficult for traffic participants to recognize; Determine the level and type of road to use reflective film in accordance with the requirements of national standards...
Accordingly, the time to complete the adjustment, replacement and addition of road signs and the road traffic safety system on national highways is divided into two phases. Phase I, before March 20, 2013, the work will be implemented to complete at least 50% of the plan, with priority given to adjustments, additions and replacements on national highways with high traffic volume, routes participating in the International Cooperation Agreement to facilitate the transport of people and goods across borders between countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (AH signs). Phase II, before March 20, 2014, will complete 50% of the total remaining adjustments, additions and replacements on national highways and sections. After adjusting and replacing 100% of the total number of signs that need to be replaced, a general synthesis, analysis and assessment will be carried out on each route and section.
Adjustments and additions to signs must be made regularly.
Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Road Administration Pham Quang Vinh said: According to the development strategy of the transport sector, the work of inspecting, reviewing, adjusting, replacing and supplementing the road signal system is a key and essential task and must be carried out regularly in the management and maintenance of roads. In the coming time, the Vietnam Road Administration will only receive and hand over the management and operation of road traffic construction projects when there is full content on the design of the traffic safety system, especially the road sign system in accordance with technical standards.
Traffic signs must comply with standards.
Lieutenant Colonel Tran Ngoc Anh, Hanoi Traffic Police Department said: When installing directional signs, the Transport sector must comply with the standards issued by the Ministry of Transport on sign size, height, location, number of necessary signs... Besides, any directional sign must comply with the rules of pre-command and active command, that is, it must be placed in a position to warn traffic participants in advance and have enough time for them to handle the situation. Besides, the installation of signs is a task that needs to be considered and coordinated between functional agencies to thoroughly handle violations. On the part of traffic participants, it is also necessary to raise awareness of compliance with the Road Traffic Law. Particularly for traffic signs that have expired, the competent authority needs to dismantle them to avoid becoming "traps" for people and vehicles participating in traffic. Only then will traffic signs truly be effective.
Signs on National Highway 18 and 1A have too many shortcomings.
Deputy General Director of Road Management Area II (General Department of Roads of Vietnam) Nguyen Ngoc Son said: The current system of signs and traffic lights on National Highway 18 and National Highway 1A has too many shortcomings in terms of traffic infrastructure, causing many "black spots" of traffic accidents. In particular, the lack of signs reminding the speed limit for vehicles traveling on the road at lane separation and merging points makes it difficult for vehicles from other routes to enter the national highway, not knowing how fast to go, which lane to use... which is very dangerous and makes it difficult for the traffic police to handle violations. Road Management Area II is currently urgently preparing a project to immediately add these signs.
According to News - H
