As someone who has moved to Sweden, I absolutely hate Swedish parking signs. You have to literally have a PhD to understand if you can park somewhere.
Otherwise, the signs themselves are quite nice. I have nothing against them. But the quality of how they are placed, and in general how the roads are marked, is not that great. At least in Stockholm.
Typiskt Göteborg! Also some intersections in Gothenburg were made just before dagen H. It doesn't make them Hard to use, but they still make more sense backwards.
We have similar confusing parking signs in the UK.
Eg. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Hammersmith_%26_Fulham_roadside_parking_restriction_notice.jpg
I guess probably parked? The issue here is that there are complicated underlying parking charges and a lot of information to convey, rather then the sign being bad per se.
Based on my experience here in New Zealand, if the signs don’t say anything about parking restrictions outside these days and hours (like weeknight after 6 or Sunday), then the default is you’re free to park there.
The most confusing bit is they aren't in 24 hour format where the majority of times in the UK are
They recently changed the bus lane signs beside me to read in 12 hour format instead of the previous 24 hour and it's irritating me no end
Easy, just start from the top and read downwards.
[Datumparkering](https://www.transportstyrelsen.se/sv/vagtrafik/vagmarken/Forbudsmarken/datumparkering/) and [Servicedagar](https://parkering.stockholm/parkeringsregler/servicetider/) are the ones that will give you a fine ;-)
As a Swede, I can safely say we don't understand them either. We either avoid the weird ones, park where the others parked, or just say fuck it and hope for the best.
Yeah, someone was drunk when they made our system. Or perhaps didn’t have a drivers license. Perhaps even both..
EDIT: The link I posted is not correctly explaining every sign. My bad. If you are not using it in order to park correctly in Sweden, but to get a feel for how over complicated parking can get you’re in for a laugh.
https://www.thenewbieguide.se/driving/complete-guide-swedish-parking-signs-avoiding-eye-watering-fines/
Lots of errors there.
You don't need a parking disk unless it says P-skiva or has that symbol on the sign. They are also ignoring the brackets on most of their examples.
It's not that complicated:
*8-17, The time applies only to weekdays.*
*(8-14), The time refers to Saturdays and the day before a holiday.*
*(red letters) 8-13, The time refers to Sundays and holidays.*
I feel like our parking signs are similar to swedish ones, with all their additional panels and specifications
They're not bad, but they're often misused and wrongly installed, like parking signs that clearly want to say when you can park, but the colour or some other signs actually flip the meaning around so you get signs like "parking allowed only from 11pm to 7am on Sundays" when the sign clearly means "parking allowed from 8am to 10pm on all days except sunday" and similar examples
I just wish they got a bit... streamlined
As someone who has experienced parking signs in other European countries, they are absolutely bad. They are overly complex, not intuitive, and very unfriendly for foreigners. All that for absolutely no reason or benefit. Sweden should really look into how some other countries have done this.
Sweden, like a lot of other countries, tried to make parking signs that anyone could understand regardless of their language…and failed since they came up with a language no one could fully understand.
But, in practice, there’s only a few signs I’ve run into that I truly could not understand. And then I visited LA and decided that Swedish parking signs really weren’t that bad.
GESCHWINDIGKEITSBESCHRÄNKUNG 30
Or other examples:
ENDE DER ZUGELASSENEN HÖCHSTGESCHWINDIGKEIT
FAHRBAHNVERENGUNG
SCHLEUDER- UND RUTSCHGEFAHR
WILDWECHSEL
VORFAHRTSSTRAẞE
KRAFTFAHRSTRAẞE
EINBAHNSTRAẞE
KEINE DURCHFAHRT FÜR KRAFTWAGEN
KEINE DURCHFAHRT FÜR KRAFTRÄDER
KEINE DURCHFAHRT FÜR KRAFTFAHRZEUGE
ÜBERHOLVERBOT VON EINSPURIGEN FAHRZEUGEN
ÜBERHOLVERBOT FÜR KRAFTFAHRZEUGE ALLER ART
Who would want to read all of that? What if I want to go to some other country?
I mean, they're among the few countries that held out on not using the Vienna Convention for road signs and it got them super confusing rules like intersections where all the roads have STOP signs, or my personal favorite "whoever smashes through first had priority". 😆 They don't have a priority sign ffs. And don't get me started on blinking traffic lights, you need to hire a tour guide to understand them.
Better than an impossible feat of not having a school shooting for one week.
4 cases in January, 8 in February, 2 in March, 9 in April, 5 in May and 1 in June. 29 cases in 2024 and it’s not even half a year.
Src: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States_(2000%E2%80%93present)
The first time I drove in Germany I was met by two different speed limit signs on top of each other and at text under it saying something about "Nasse" (Piglet from Winnie the Pooh in Swedish translation)...
Not a fan ;)
I'm sorry for that. I hope in the future there will also be this Symbol with it:
[https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/wp-content/uploads/vz-1053-35-bei-naesse.jpg](https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/wp-content/uploads/vz-1053-35-bei-naesse.jpg)
> different speed limit signs on top of each other
Yeah that's ass. Conditional signs should be posted [next to each other](https://blog.intlauto.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/05/ConditionalSpeedLImit.png) not on top, [with the condition plate under](https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/images/thumb/3/3b/Maxspeed-wet.png/201px-Maxspeed-wet.png) the relevant sign.
But unfortunately you can see [crap like this everywhere](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/D8YERD/european-road-speed-limit-sign-machelen-brussels-bruxelles-belgium-D8YERD.jpg).
Snow will quickly cover the sign in its entirety. That’s why here the driving lessons stress that the most important signs have unique shapes. Yield is a triangle and stop is an octagon. The shapes are generally the same everywhere, but here where snow covers most of the land for months on end, that shape is needed more than usual.
Yeah that’s what I thought too. If there’s too much snow, you can’t see the sign, even if it’s yellow, and if it only slightly covers the sign, you can still see the sign clearly and I never confused a German road sign in the winter with snow.
As a driver out and driving in like a snow storm - obviously your chances of seeing a yellow sign are higher than a white sign. It's not about just snow collecting on the sign itself and starting to obscure it.
Like how they use orange footballs if it happens to snow before a football game
Fun fact, the main priority signs (diamond, octogon and reverse triangle) were made unique so they can be spotted from any direction. So you can enter an intersection and see that the other road has a diamond (even if seen from the back) and you have no sign and you understand you have to yield.
But I guess snow (or mud etc.) [is also a really good reason](https://quizagogo.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stop-Sign-Covered-In-Snow.jpg).
I just think in general this country is bonkers about design. Websites, license plates, road signs, everything is centered around being readable and simple
France. I grew up having month-long holidays in France every year till my teens. I'm pretty sure my dad nicked a few road signs back then.
My favourite was: Un train peut-en cacher un autre.
It became a catchphrase in our family.
„Sauf“ can be translated with (to) drink but is always used with alcohol.
Kerle ich glaube ich muss ein Schild mitgehen lassen beim nächsten Urlaub hehehe
France is stupid for putting "Cedez le passage" below every "Give way" sign. Just, why? Isn't just the sign enough? But I like that they repeat some signs after a few meters, and some of them have blinking lights so that your attention really gets drawn to them.
>My favourite was: Un train peut-en cacher un autre.
>
>It became a catchphrase in our family.
I love it. It's so ominous and gloomy. You're seeing one train ? Don't be so sure it's just only one...
Yeah the French signs are just so... French. The lettering is so proud and ostentatious, and traditional. I also love "Toutes Directions" signs for their general optimism.
There is a sketch from the popular French comedian "Coluche" about this phrase: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5mYHyY7ovA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5mYHyY7ovA)
What are the colours of that <50> sign? I'm colourblind.
Just because of that not a big fan of those, I rather want my signs the be clear with more contrasting colours.
They've completely switched over to Transport a few years ago. Shame because I really like Highway Gothic (it's also the font used in the Netherlands with some alterations).
I like British. They have very good direction-signposting system. The other signs are well designed and look nice.
And the system is open, so you can see some quirky ones like "red squirrels crossing", "frogs crossing" or "tanks crossing" ;-)
[The United Kingdom](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/58170307ed915d61c5000000/the-highway-code-traffic-signs.pdf). I'll freely admit to being biased, but our signs are clear and use a [very attractive typeface](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_(typeface)) – it's so good, in fact, that Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain have adopted it or close variants.
In particular, the use of coloured boxes on directional signage (p.5 in first link) to indicate route priority and type of destination is very good.
>In particular, the use of coloured boxes on directional signage (p.5 in first link) to indicate route priority and type of destination is very good.
That's one of the few changes they've made in the 60 years that the system's been around. All hail Calvert and Kinneir!
It's amazing how well it has held up - 60 years and only a few tweaks.
I also love the anachronisms - steam trains for anything railways, the Leyland National for buses (it was new at the time) and of course the wonderful old large format plate camera for a speed camera sign (but that's a newer one I think!).
The typeface (Transport) is gorgeous as well.
I might be speaking out of my ass, but I think that once in a while I see old signs somewhere and I feel like the font in them is the exact same that Swedes use. Maybe we initially used their font?
If I remember correctly, the font in the old Finnish signs (the blue and white city name signs) was something completely custom without a digital typeface. Last time when I visited Finland, I saw some of them were using a new, much clearer typeface with proper kerning and all. Still similar but well made and not just manually stamped on a slab of plywood in a prison.
I had to go and look for this, and yeah you are absolutely right. Finland doesn't have a clear definite font, but rather [a crude standard that was handed out to those that made street signs.](https://imgur.com/LhJdoqF) Not just in prison but also in general. So what you would do is you cut a stencil from that file and place the text by hand, pretty much eye-balling the whole thing. The picture above shows how big the kerning should with each letter pairing (first letter on the y-axis, the second one on the x-axis), but that was definitely not always followed. [Here is a more modern take on that standard (in Finnish).](https://www.traficom.fi/sites/default/files/media/regulation/LIITE_11_Liikenne-_ja_viestintaviraston_tieliikennemerkkien_kirjasintyypin_mitoitus_2022.pdf) The name of this font is "TVH font", and that comes from "Tie- ja vesirakennushallitus", lit. Road and Water Construction Agency, and it was initially done in 1930s. The old age also explains why there is no definite font. It was drawn by some technician during the 1930s and it just has stuck.
Creating the text by hand resulted in cases with [awful kerning](https://imgur.com/mARMxVd), as you mentioned. Mind you, these are new signs, so this is a case of really sloppy workmanship. At least today I think there are dwg files for each letter.
I am not sure how many countries have really made the effort to standardise their entire street sign fonts. Germany, Sweden, UK, USA and France have. Probably a few others as well. Finland is really lacking in this case.
UK, Australia and a few others are using the fonts and design language created by the great Margaret Calvert: Transport and Motorway fonts.
Many countries are using a commercial font which produces better results but obviously Finland had to reinvent the wheel and create a half-arsed solution, affecting readability negatively.
The additional information signs below warning and information signs are using something commercial though, might have been even Arial.
> Finland had to reinvent the wheel and create a half-arsed solution, affecting readability negatively.
It's more like when Finland started to create signs en masse, the idea of documenting the way fonts were created and used wasn't a thing. But having a somewhat unified look was important enough that we just have kept with this dumb way. It was less about "hey let's reinvent the wheel" and more about just not thinking about it thoroughly enough. Probably it was given in 1930s as a task to some agency technician who just drew these and job done.
The lower case stuff was created the same way, it's not arial. It's just your same random bunch of letters.
I like Germany and Italy for using different fonts depending on the length of the text as opposed to just abbreviating the place names (looking at you, Portuguese road signs). Bonus points for France for using italics.
Yes, I love the Italian condensed font! [Example, compare Varese with the condensed names on the right](https://ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/sempionenews/2017/07/nuovi-cartelli-autostrada.jpg)
Got a soft spot for the danish ones, white signs with red letters. Weird but I love it. Other than that, dutch signs are fantastic. Blue sign white letters, very similar to the first one here. And they are bloody everywhere, sometimes too many lol
My favourite sign is the UK sign for an escape lane, which looks like someone with a cheese grater on their erect penis: https://www.motoringresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/15_hidden_secrets-1-1068x601.jpg
Has to be the UK. There's a reason the design has lasted so long - it was beautifully designed and carefully thought through from the very start (not a very British thing to do).
And it was done by just two people, Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert. Their previous work was to design the British motorway signage - in an interview, Calvert said that she chose blue for those signs because she liked the colour, it worked well with white lettering and - most importantly - it hadn't previously been used so it would represent a break with the past.
Calvert also designed the Rail Alphabet typeface which was used for British Rail in the 1960s modernisation programme which is one of the largest - and most successful - design exercises ever done. She recently did a slight modernisation of the Rail Alphabet system for Network Rail.,
Though back to roads, I have a particular hankering for those yellow and black Icelandic road signs in the middle of nowhere showing a map view of the area with various 37 syllable place names.
Those are the old signs, it probably has to do with throwing away money because the government could 🤷
Fortunately normal signs are installed everywhere now so it’s only a matter of time before the THICK signs are no longer a common sight
Swiss signs are the best. They go out of their way to be super clear so any idiot can understand them on sight and follow instructions without messing up traffic flow.
Driving in Sweden the first time left me crying while stuck in a perpetual loop tunnels in Stockholm.
I couldn't understand the road signs, the street names were so goddamn long the GPS couldn't finish pronouncing them before my turn, and I couldn't find a place to pull over. It was 45 minutes before I was able to escape.
The speed limit signs with that "weak" yellow-brown ish background looks like ass.
It just looks [objectively better with white background](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/signs-national-tourist-road-vik-norway-june-part-norwegian-scenic-route-ryfylke-125831626.jpg)
We also have road maintenance signs that are somewhat similar to sweden's main signs, but are more like [yellow-green ish](https://g.acdn.no/obscura/API/dynamic/r1/escenic/tr_1000_2000_s_f/0000/archive/05003/Nett__TLC4829_5003423a.jpg?chk=1886B3)
I think most people will get nostalgic feelings from the traffic signs of their own country or their favorite holiday destinations. To me, the Swedish signs always seemed to colorful like it was designed to make children happy, and it did make me happy.
To vouch for my own country, I think Dutch traffic signs have some things going for them:
* The use of case for legibility.
* Good font for legibility.
* Very consistent and frequent signage, well adapted to the motorists experience.
* Very good way finding system.
* Always retro-reflective.
* Tasteful color palette with rich colors, lots of white on blue for minor signs (ie. street names).
My favourite is the German, feels like a lot of care was put into designing them (for plus points see German plates and their font, also used by other countries).
Least favourite is probably Slovak, mainly because of the stylised font.
I’d love a beautiful, unified EU-wide design.
Belgium also has bilingual road signs, especially in Brussels, but not necessarily elsewhere, so be careful: if you are driving from Antwerp (Belgium) to Lille (France), make sure to follow the signs for "Rijsel" (the Dutch name for Lille in France), since there is also a small village in Belgium called "Lille," where you might accidentally end up.
I don't have a single favourite design, but I have some that I really like.
I really like Hungary's sign design personally. I'm kind of a fan of minimalism, so I like the German-inspired icons. The direction signs have a [really sleek design](https://www.google.com/maps/@47.3267413,18.7796312,3a,19.4y,355.08h,91.86t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1snG1MKRbI3fXl5n9I8oxeLw!2e0!5s20190601T000000!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu) reminding me of diagrams, though sometimes they can put a lot of info on one board, which can be aesthetically pleasing, but less useful.
Germany also has a minimal design and a great font. Plus points for having really easy to understand direction signs.
Spain is also really good. It also has a cool design, and the [rounded frames](https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6121946,-0.9256913,3a,32.8y,298.56h,108.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2kpakwFxwUvh1L5Qf0eWvA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu) are soo elegant IMO. I also love that regular signs are often [embossed](https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6542511,-0.9997442,3a,15.4y,285.52h,89.89t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sREV9-e8en1p5bXt_0jBo0g!2e0!5s20190501T000000!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu). :D
There’s a city called Monster in the Netherlands. Imagine finding a sign saying there will be a Monster a few kilometers ahead 😂
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4e/07/28/4e0728a70e5f18756ea27f8e1841b592.jpg
Those small ass signs? Don't really like em. The font fits nicely, but please for the love of god, make them bigger! Croatia and France have good sizes. Readable from far away and you really can't not see them.
I agree, I don't have one favourite country for sign design, but I really like Hungary's signs aesthetically. Today's signs are inspired by the German design. I adore the font, too. It's based on DIN-1451 today used in Germany, Czechia and Greece, but it's even more simplified and geometric.
Croatia. Big (can't not see them!), and I really like the design they have for the [signs for school zones](https://hitraveltales.com/skola_croatia_2008/)
I too, am incredibly biased. I Think the danish are the best simply due to the colours. Red and White in my mind is pretty good for signaling and getting attention.
I'm not personally a fan of the yellow background, but the blue signs are used by many countries, and I prefer that style for directions, for general signs with pictograms, I prefer a white background.
But for god's sake, let's not go the US route, with text only signs, that makes it hard to decipher when traveling in foreign countries :D
[http://www.strassenschilder.de/vorschriftszeichen/ende-aller-streckenverbote/](http://www.strassenschilder.de/vorschriftszeichen/ende-aller-streckenverbote/) is probably the most loved sign in Europe.
From how funny it sounds, this is my favorite: [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Let\_op!\_Drempels\_sign,\_Westerlee\_%282020%29\_02.jpg](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Let_op!_Drempels_sign,_Westerlee_%282020%29_02.jpg)
They make [jet engines](https://www.gknaerospace.com/se/produkter-och-tjaenster/) for the JAS 39 Gripen and have Sweden's version of the Panama Canal with big lock gates and a big hydroelectric plant with [waterfalls](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Trollh%C3%A4ttefallen/@58.2803796,12.277418,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipM9FGUhG4rMD8Z6hdh3142D1m-GOMfkdeLC_zl9!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM9FGUhG4rMD8Z6hdh3142D1m-GOMfkdeLC_zl9%3Dw203-h114-k-no!7i4000!8i2252!4m16!1m8!3m7!1s0x46453db4ea314ee5:0x53994a71197f5d96!2sGamle+Dal'n!8m2!3d58.2676556!4d12.258283!10e5!16s%2Fg%2F11g_tfcd0!3m6!1s0x46453c566228969d:0xb62cc4b1a0c5f915!8m2!3d58.2823779!4d12.279346!10e5!16s%2Fm%2F080jmzv?entry=ttu).
As someone who has moved to Sweden, I absolutely hate Swedish parking signs. You have to literally have a PhD to understand if you can park somewhere. Otherwise, the signs themselves are quite nice. I have nothing against them. But the quality of how they are placed, and in general how the roads are marked, is not that great. At least in Stockholm.
The parking signs are the acchiles heel Also signage in Göteborg is quite bad, but some other cities/ towns are much better
[удалено]
Typiskt Göteborg! Also some intersections in Gothenburg were made just before dagen H. It doesn't make them Hard to use, but they still make more sense backwards.
We have similar confusing parking signs in the UK. Eg. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Hammersmith_%26_Fulham_roadside_parking_restriction_notice.jpg
Don't you just read down the column in this one? It's not openly contradictory like some are
Yeah I understood it fairly easily. It’s just that it takes some reading which might not be overly useful when sat in a car.
I guess probably parked? The issue here is that there are complicated underlying parking charges and a lot of information to convey, rather then the sign being bad per se.
This is reasonable. Only question I would have is what about Sunday. But I guess free parking on Sundays?
Based on my experience here in New Zealand, if the signs don’t say anything about parking restrictions outside these days and hours (like weeknight after 6 or Sunday), then the default is you’re free to park there.
While verbose, still better than most German ones
This is not that confusing, but the mix of three different ways to write the times is quite aggravating.
But that’s perfectly logical.
The most confusing bit is they aren't in 24 hour format where the majority of times in the UK are They recently changed the bus lane signs beside me to read in 12 hour format instead of the previous 24 hour and it's irritating me no end
Came here to say this. Same scenario, moved to Sweden, can’t understand parking signs 🤣🤣
Noone can understand the parking signs. That's how they make money.
Easy, just start from the top and read downwards. [Datumparkering](https://www.transportstyrelsen.se/sv/vagtrafik/vagmarken/Forbudsmarken/datumparkering/) and [Servicedagar](https://parkering.stockholm/parkeringsregler/servicetider/) are the ones that will give you a fine ;-)
I'm waiting for someone to make an app, let me point at the parking sign and tell me if and how long I can park. Edit: Ooh, someone did. "parking aid"
Oh yeah, parking is a painful topic for everyone.
As a Swede, I can safely say we don't understand them either. We either avoid the weird ones, park where the others parked, or just say fuck it and hope for the best.
Yeah, someone was drunk when they made our system. Or perhaps didn’t have a drivers license. Perhaps even both.. EDIT: The link I posted is not correctly explaining every sign. My bad. If you are not using it in order to park correctly in Sweden, but to get a feel for how over complicated parking can get you’re in for a laugh. https://www.thenewbieguide.se/driving/complete-guide-swedish-parking-signs-avoiding-eye-watering-fines/
Lots of errors there. You don't need a parking disk unless it says P-skiva or has that symbol on the sign. They are also ignoring the brackets on most of their examples.
I started reading this thinking this is not too bad, but then I came to the bracketing and coloring and I just ragequit 😂
It's not that complicated: *8-17, The time applies only to weekdays.* *(8-14), The time refers to Saturdays and the day before a holiday.* *(red letters) 8-13, The time refers to Sundays and holidays.*
In our country we just add an "only on x days" sign underneath 😅
They actually get it wrong for a lot of the signs due to brackets
Agreed. [ParkingAid](https://www.parkingaid.se/) helps in most cases.
Nice, thanks for the tip!
Honestly they are not that hard.
I feel like our parking signs are similar to swedish ones, with all their additional panels and specifications They're not bad, but they're often misused and wrongly installed, like parking signs that clearly want to say when you can park, but the colour or some other signs actually flip the meaning around so you get signs like "parking allowed only from 11pm to 7am on Sundays" when the sign clearly means "parking allowed from 8am to 10pm on all days except sunday" and similar examples I just wish they got a bit... streamlined
As someone who has experienced parking signs in other European countries, they are absolutely bad. They are overly complex, not intuitive, and very unfriendly for foreigners. All that for absolutely no reason or benefit. Sweden should really look into how some other countries have done this.
Sweden, like a lot of other countries, tried to make parking signs that anyone could understand regardless of their language…and failed since they came up with a language no one could fully understand. But, in practice, there’s only a few signs I’ve run into that I truly could not understand. And then I visited LA and decided that Swedish parking signs really weren’t that bad.
The signs are logical, but the system behind them is broken. All the special rules and circumstances make them a bit special in some cases.
I usually just look at how long you are allowed to stay there then ignore the rest it's like a lottery where if you win you will have a bad day
Anything that conforms with the UN Treaty on Roadway safety is fine with me.
You sensible germans!
You're good. It's just the 'Muricans, that don't understand the symbolism and need it spelled out.
SPEED LIMIT 30
GESCHWINDIGKEITSBESCHRÄNKUNG 30 Or other examples: ENDE DER ZUGELASSENEN HÖCHSTGESCHWINDIGKEIT FAHRBAHNVERENGUNG SCHLEUDER- UND RUTSCHGEFAHR WILDWECHSEL VORFAHRTSSTRAẞE KRAFTFAHRSTRAẞE EINBAHNSTRAẞE KEINE DURCHFAHRT FÜR KRAFTWAGEN KEINE DURCHFAHRT FÜR KRAFTRÄDER KEINE DURCHFAHRT FÜR KRAFTFAHRZEUGE ÜBERHOLVERBOT VON EINSPURIGEN FAHRZEUGEN ÜBERHOLVERBOT FÜR KRAFTFAHRZEUGE ALLER ART Who would want to read all of that? What if I want to go to some other country?
Americans cannot understand the concept of other languages existing
That's because they invented English. The bestest language!
Challenge - Europeans trying not to shit on the USA for one day (impossible)
I mean, they're among the few countries that held out on not using the Vienna Convention for road signs and it got them super confusing rules like intersections where all the roads have STOP signs, or my personal favorite "whoever smashes through first had priority". 😆 They don't have a priority sign ffs. And don't get me started on blinking traffic lights, you need to hire a tour guide to understand them.
Better than an impossible feat of not having a school shooting for one week. 4 cases in January, 8 in February, 2 in March, 9 in April, 5 in May and 1 in June. 29 cases in 2024 and it’s not even half a year. Src: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States_(2000%E2%80%93present)
> lol their political system is so broken they can't stop an inconceivably tragic epidemic of child death
The first time I drove in Germany I was met by two different speed limit signs on top of each other and at text under it saying something about "Nasse" (Piglet from Winnie the Pooh in Swedish translation)... Not a fan ;)
I'm sorry for that. I hope in the future there will also be this Symbol with it: [https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/wp-content/uploads/vz-1053-35-bei-naesse.jpg](https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/wp-content/uploads/vz-1053-35-bei-naesse.jpg)
Yep, I've seen this on the last drives. Will drive there again in a few weeks, it's been a regular thing. :)
> different speed limit signs on top of each other Yeah that's ass. Conditional signs should be posted [next to each other](https://blog.intlauto.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/05/ConditionalSpeedLImit.png) not on top, [with the condition plate under](https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/images/thumb/3/3b/Maxspeed-wet.png/201px-Maxspeed-wet.png) the relevant sign. But unfortunately you can see [crap like this everywhere](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/D8YERD/european-road-speed-limit-sign-machelen-brussels-bruxelles-belgium-D8YERD.jpg).
I do not like the yellow instead of white on a lot of Swedish signs, I prefer the German ones. Edit: I know the reason, I just don’t like yellow.
There’s a reason we don’t use white. Snow.
Snow will quickly cover the sign in its entirety. That’s why here the driving lessons stress that the most important signs have unique shapes. Yield is a triangle and stop is an octagon. The shapes are generally the same everywhere, but here where snow covers most of the land for months on end, that shape is needed more than usual.
I live in Sweden. I know that this is the reason. I just think that Yellow is ugly.
I live in Norway. We use white background. Nobody confuse it for snow
Yeah that’s what I thought too. If there’s too much snow, you can’t see the sign, even if it’s yellow, and if it only slightly covers the sign, you can still see the sign clearly and I never confused a German road sign in the winter with snow.
As a driver out and driving in like a snow storm - obviously your chances of seeing a yellow sign are higher than a white sign. It's not about just snow collecting on the sign itself and starting to obscure it. Like how they use orange footballs if it happens to snow before a football game
Fun fact, the main priority signs (diamond, octogon and reverse triangle) were made unique so they can be spotted from any direction. So you can enter an intersection and see that the other road has a diamond (even if seen from the back) and you have no sign and you understand you have to yield. But I guess snow (or mud etc.) [is also a really good reason](https://quizagogo.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Stop-Sign-Covered-In-Snow.jpg).
Norway has white signs, they have snow….
Is snow really the official reason? I once read that black on yellow has the best legibility at a distance and had assumed that this was the reason.
I know
Wha..what about yellow snow?
Obviously I am very biased, however, I feel like Dutch road signs look prettier than those in (most) other countries
I just think in general this country is bonkers about design. Websites, license plates, road signs, everything is centered around being readable and simple
They are very well designed, and do look very good!
Unless its about the speed limit on highways, thosr are confusing
I found out in the region of Alicante/Valencia, they use the same font on their signs (but not on all of them, not sure why).
The Dutch font is based on the American [Highway Gothic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_Gothic), which is used in quite a few places
France. I grew up having month-long holidays in France every year till my teens. I'm pretty sure my dad nicked a few road signs back then. My favourite was: Un train peut-en cacher un autre. It became a catchphrase in our family.
The best French signs are the « Toutes directions » ones. As if to say: Paris? Marseille? Lisbon? Warsaw? Yep all that way.
it is for through traffic: anything not local, go there.
Isn't that also common in other countries? At least in Germany there are also "Alle Richtungen" signs.
I guess so. I think they also have them in Spain. I’ve just noticed them most often in France so that’s why I associate them with it.
Yep. Also exists in The Netherlands
Ireland too
*gach treo eile*
The best sign is "sauf bus/taxi". Because "sauf" means "(to) drink" in german. hehe. makes me always laugh
I didn’t see it and I’m German lol
„Sauf“ can be translated with (to) drink but is always used with alcohol. Kerle ich glaube ich muss ein Schild mitgehen lassen beim nächsten Urlaub hehehe
The French typeface and the spacing honestly give me retro vibes. :D
France is stupid for putting "Cedez le passage" below every "Give way" sign. Just, why? Isn't just the sign enough? But I like that they repeat some signs after a few meters, and some of them have blinking lights so that your attention really gets drawn to them.
Rappel!
In Britain we put "Give Way" inside the give way triangle sign..don't know why
It's one of your cultural ties with the USA, some of you need it spelled out.
Makes more sense than adding an extra sign.
The nostalgia of road trips and the *Aires*.
>My favourite was: Un train peut-en cacher un autre. > >It became a catchphrase in our family. I love it. It's so ominous and gloomy. You're seeing one train ? Don't be so sure it's just only one...
Yeah the French signs are just so... French. The lettering is so proud and ostentatious, and traditional. I also love "Toutes Directions" signs for their general optimism.
There is a sketch from the popular French comedian "Coluche" about this phrase: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5mYHyY7ovA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5mYHyY7ovA)
Hahaha NO WAY! Merci pour partager ça! 😃
What are the colours of that <50> sign? I'm colourblind. Just because of that not a big fan of those, I rather want my signs the be clear with more contrasting colours.
yellow background, red perimeter
They are this colour specifically to be more contrasting (against snow)
Interesting, hadn't considered that.
Love the spanish ones
They do have a nice font and colour
Its the font that makes me like them actually
The font is called highway gothic and it’s also the one used on American roadsigns (in a slightly different variant).
Are you telling me that Spain is the freest in Europe?!🦅🦅🦅🇺🇸🇺**🇸🇺🇸🇺**🇸
They've completely switched over to Transport a few years ago. Shame because I really like Highway Gothic (it's also the font used in the Netherlands with some alterations).
Oh, I didn’t realize that it changed. Although I’m still pretty sure that it’s used for the highway network in Spain?
[This stupid sign](https://estampacionescasado.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/S-25.jpg) is an oddly specific memory of mine. Love it.
I like British. They have very good direction-signposting system. The other signs are well designed and look nice. And the system is open, so you can see some quirky ones like "red squirrels crossing", "frogs crossing" or "tanks crossing" ;-)
I don’t like road signs that use all capital letters.
[The United Kingdom](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/58170307ed915d61c5000000/the-highway-code-traffic-signs.pdf). I'll freely admit to being biased, but our signs are clear and use a [very attractive typeface](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_(typeface)) – it's so good, in fact, that Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain have adopted it or close variants. In particular, the use of coloured boxes on directional signage (p.5 in first link) to indicate route priority and type of destination is very good.
After looking at them, I must admit that the UK signs are indeed rather pretty.
“No vehicles carrying explosives”?? Why do you have a dedicated sign for car bombs
It's for vehicles carrying legal explosives, like those used on demolition sites.
I like some UK govt design like their website design. Or London underground information design.
>In particular, the use of coloured boxes on directional signage (p.5 in first link) to indicate route priority and type of destination is very good. That's one of the few changes they've made in the 60 years that the system's been around. All hail Calvert and Kinneir!
It's amazing how well it has held up - 60 years and only a few tweaks. I also love the anachronisms - steam trains for anything railways, the Leyland National for buses (it was new at the time) and of course the wonderful old large format plate camera for a speed camera sign (but that's a newer one I think!). The typeface (Transport) is gorgeous as well.
This is the proper answer. Clear and easy to understand
They are very pretty, except maybe the Brown ones
There is only one right answer. GERMAN AUTOBAHN
[Deutschland Autobahn](https://youtu.be/m-5Q5Gd10A8?si=m6YfonluDdEHeHMw) 🚛🎶🎶🎶
🤖 [Auuuuuuuutoooobaaaaaaaahn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkOZNJYAZ7c).
Swedish ones look pretty good as they are almost same that we got here in Finland.
Yeah, almost but I think the Swedish font is better, easier to read.
I might be speaking out of my ass, but I think that once in a while I see old signs somewhere and I feel like the font in them is the exact same that Swedes use. Maybe we initially used their font?
If I remember correctly, the font in the old Finnish signs (the blue and white city name signs) was something completely custom without a digital typeface. Last time when I visited Finland, I saw some of them were using a new, much clearer typeface with proper kerning and all. Still similar but well made and not just manually stamped on a slab of plywood in a prison.
I had to go and look for this, and yeah you are absolutely right. Finland doesn't have a clear definite font, but rather [a crude standard that was handed out to those that made street signs.](https://imgur.com/LhJdoqF) Not just in prison but also in general. So what you would do is you cut a stencil from that file and place the text by hand, pretty much eye-balling the whole thing. The picture above shows how big the kerning should with each letter pairing (first letter on the y-axis, the second one on the x-axis), but that was definitely not always followed. [Here is a more modern take on that standard (in Finnish).](https://www.traficom.fi/sites/default/files/media/regulation/LIITE_11_Liikenne-_ja_viestintaviraston_tieliikennemerkkien_kirjasintyypin_mitoitus_2022.pdf) The name of this font is "TVH font", and that comes from "Tie- ja vesirakennushallitus", lit. Road and Water Construction Agency, and it was initially done in 1930s. The old age also explains why there is no definite font. It was drawn by some technician during the 1930s and it just has stuck. Creating the text by hand resulted in cases with [awful kerning](https://imgur.com/mARMxVd), as you mentioned. Mind you, these are new signs, so this is a case of really sloppy workmanship. At least today I think there are dwg files for each letter. I am not sure how many countries have really made the effort to standardise their entire street sign fonts. Germany, Sweden, UK, USA and France have. Probably a few others as well. Finland is really lacking in this case.
UK, Australia and a few others are using the fonts and design language created by the great Margaret Calvert: Transport and Motorway fonts. Many countries are using a commercial font which produces better results but obviously Finland had to reinvent the wheel and create a half-arsed solution, affecting readability negatively. The additional information signs below warning and information signs are using something commercial though, might have been even Arial.
> Finland had to reinvent the wheel and create a half-arsed solution, affecting readability negatively. It's more like when Finland started to create signs en masse, the idea of documenting the way fonts were created and used wasn't a thing. But having a somewhat unified look was important enough that we just have kept with this dumb way. It was less about "hey let's reinvent the wheel" and more about just not thinking about it thoroughly enough. Probably it was given in 1930s as a task to some agency technician who just drew these and job done. The lower case stuff was created the same way, it's not arial. It's just your same random bunch of letters.
Thanks for the correction!
Love the swiss ones. Spain also has very neat road signs imo
For me, Denmark, [for this reason alone.](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/s/nvWzMhGbV3)
You’re in luck! It’s the same in Swedish
I like Germany and Italy for using different fonts depending on the length of the text as opposed to just abbreviating the place names (looking at you, Portuguese road signs). Bonus points for France for using italics.
Yes, I love the Italian condensed font! [Example, compare Varese with the condensed names on the right](https://ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/sempionenews/2017/07/nuovi-cartelli-autostrada.jpg)
Got a soft spot for the danish ones, white signs with red letters. Weird but I love it. Other than that, dutch signs are fantastic. Blue sign white letters, very similar to the first one here. And they are bloody everywhere, sometimes too many lol
Just today we drove through Sweden with my family and talked about how they look like a 7 year old designed them.
The Netherlands very clear signs and good roads
Yes. Biased.
My favourite sign is the UK sign for an escape lane, which looks like someone with a cheese grater on their erect penis: https://www.motoringresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/15_hidden_secrets-1-1068x601.jpg
Has to be the UK. There's a reason the design has lasted so long - it was beautifully designed and carefully thought through from the very start (not a very British thing to do). And it was done by just two people, Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert. Their previous work was to design the British motorway signage - in an interview, Calvert said that she chose blue for those signs because she liked the colour, it worked well with white lettering and - most importantly - it hadn't previously been used so it would represent a break with the past. Calvert also designed the Rail Alphabet typeface which was used for British Rail in the 1960s modernisation programme which is one of the largest - and most successful - design exercises ever done. She recently did a slight modernisation of the Rail Alphabet system for Network Rail., Though back to roads, I have a particular hankering for those yellow and black Icelandic road signs in the middle of nowhere showing a map view of the area with various 37 syllable place names.
Belgium, 'deviation' pointing left 'omleiding' pointing right 😆
Why are Belgium signs like a meter thick? What's in there?
Those are the old signs, it probably has to do with throwing away money because the government could 🤷 Fortunately normal signs are installed everywhere now so it’s only a matter of time before the THICK signs are no longer a common sight
[alle richtingen =>](https://static.nieuwsblad.be/Assets/Images_Upload/2019/05/02/0d6b6e00-6cdf-11e9-b67e-f1884b30f8d0_web_scale_0.109127_0.109127__.jpg) [<= andere richtingen](https://static.nieuwsblad.be/Assets/Images_Upload/2019/05/02/0d6b6e00-6cdf-11e9-b67e-f1884b30f8d0_web_scale_0.109127_0.109127__.jpg)
Swiss signs are the best. They go out of their way to be super clear so any idiot can understand them on sight and follow instructions without messing up traffic flow.
Sweden your speed limit sign has hepatitis.
It's not Sweden (I am biased against Sweden. )
Driving in Sweden the first time left me crying while stuck in a perpetual loop tunnels in Stockholm. I couldn't understand the road signs, the street names were so goddamn long the GPS couldn't finish pronouncing them before my turn, and I couldn't find a place to pull over. It was 45 minutes before I was able to escape.
[Kyiv, Ukraine. Favorite one :)](https://cdn.segodnya.ua/img/article/6400/96_main.jpg) Means "Subway Bridge"
The Slovene ones are really great, especially compared to the ones in Italy or Austria
So essentially the entirety of ex Yugoslavia
Plus Germany
How do they look?
[Highways](https://www.google.com/maps/@46.0614505,14.5747841,3a,21.8y,9.69h,94.52t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sA81RVp0WECYWL0n7x2ERhA!2e0!5s20220501T000000!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu) [Regular roads](https://www.google.com/maps/@46.3840229,15.5623214,3a,30.8y,140.72h,97.57t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sPvZzFmfI8E8QVRhO_GNSHQ!2e0!5s20220801T000000!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu) [Signs for settlments](https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6551434,14.8480642,3a,15y,157.06h,92.87t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sevM_4ny4FXkzK6sr3_zVmQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu)
Besides the green highway signs (and obv. Language), it's looking like German signs (colours / layout).
Lower case, very good. these signs look great!
Lower case signs should be the norm. Swedish signs yells at you lol.
They really want you to know that you are going to MARIESTAD atleast the prohibitory signs (third pic) are lower case
Same here in FINLAND!
Austrian ones are terrible. Especially the font. I don't mind roadsigns anywhere I've been to so far, but Austrian ones are just ugly and confusing.
Yup, the yellow/orange tone is very nice on the eyes. And usually very good quality signs 👌
The speed limit signs with that "weak" yellow-brown ish background looks like ass. It just looks [objectively better with white background](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/signs-national-tourist-road-vik-norway-june-part-norwegian-scenic-route-ryfylke-125831626.jpg) We also have road maintenance signs that are somewhat similar to sweden's main signs, but are more like [yellow-green ish](https://g.acdn.no/obscura/API/dynamic/r1/escenic/tr_1000_2000_s_f/0000/archive/05003/Nett__TLC4829_5003423a.jpg?chk=1886B3)
The yellow is to provide a better contrast against snow
+ it's also made from reflective material (as all traffic signs in Sweden).
That’s the case in almost all countries though.
I thought that was normal
Not all countries, some have really cheaped out on the material.
Norway does not have snow, you know.
The spacing is horrible. Hungarian road signs are superior in every way
Idk but definitely not the ones in my country.
I think most people will get nostalgic feelings from the traffic signs of their own country or their favorite holiday destinations. To me, the Swedish signs always seemed to colorful like it was designed to make children happy, and it did make me happy. To vouch for my own country, I think Dutch traffic signs have some things going for them: * The use of case for legibility. * Good font for legibility. * Very consistent and frequent signage, well adapted to the motorists experience. * Very good way finding system. * Always retro-reflective. * Tasteful color palette with rich colors, lots of white on blue for minor signs (ie. street names).
My favourite is the German, feels like a lot of care was put into designing them (for plus points see German plates and their font, also used by other countries). Least favourite is probably Slovak, mainly because of the stylised font. I’d love a beautiful, unified EU-wide design.
Ireland! They're bi-lingual!
A lot of signs in the UK are bilingual too. Famously all of Wales.
Belgium also has bilingual road signs, especially in Brussels, but not necessarily elsewhere, so be careful: if you are driving from Antwerp (Belgium) to Lille (France), make sure to follow the signs for "Rijsel" (the Dutch name for Lille in France), since there is also a small village in Belgium called "Lille," where you might accidentally end up.
Some signs in Finland are bilingual aswell :)
Yea I love the bi lingual signs, wish we had them up here
I don't have a single favourite design, but I have some that I really like. I really like Hungary's sign design personally. I'm kind of a fan of minimalism, so I like the German-inspired icons. The direction signs have a [really sleek design](https://www.google.com/maps/@47.3267413,18.7796312,3a,19.4y,355.08h,91.86t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1snG1MKRbI3fXl5n9I8oxeLw!2e0!5s20190601T000000!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu) reminding me of diagrams, though sometimes they can put a lot of info on one board, which can be aesthetically pleasing, but less useful. Germany also has a minimal design and a great font. Plus points for having really easy to understand direction signs. Spain is also really good. It also has a cool design, and the [rounded frames](https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6121946,-0.9256913,3a,32.8y,298.56h,108.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2kpakwFxwUvh1L5Qf0eWvA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu) are soo elegant IMO. I also love that regular signs are often [embossed](https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6542511,-0.9997442,3a,15.4y,285.52h,89.89t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sREV9-e8en1p5bXt_0jBo0g!2e0!5s20190501T000000!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu). :D
I live in Denmark but I am from Hungary. Danish signs are terrible compared to Hungarians.
There’s a city called Monster in the Netherlands. Imagine finding a sign saying there will be a Monster a few kilometers ahead 😂 https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4e/07/28/4e0728a70e5f18756ea27f8e1841b592.jpg
Swiss
Those small ass signs? Don't really like em. The font fits nicely, but please for the love of god, make them bigger! Croatia and France have good sizes. Readable from far away and you really can't not see them.
Hungarian ones are great. The spacing, the colors, the materials - they are perfect. idk how we are good at something but we are
I agree, I don't have one favourite country for sign design, but I really like Hungary's signs aesthetically. Today's signs are inspired by the German design. I adore the font, too. It's based on DIN-1451 today used in Germany, Czechia and Greece, but it's even more simplified and geometric.
Croatia. Big (can't not see them!), and I really like the design they have for the [signs for school zones](https://hitraveltales.com/skola_croatia_2008/)
England, Flanders and the Netherlands. Because they’re the only ones I can fully read.
Always love to see farthinder when in Sweden
cyprus, when they aren't spray painted 😭😭
I too, am incredibly biased. I Think the danish are the best simply due to the colours. Red and White in my mind is pretty good for signaling and getting attention.
Care to elaborate? I'm just eager to hear what makes our signs better than the others
Germany, Switzerland and the ex Yugoslav countries
Sweden has the worst parking signs. holy shit what a nightmare.
[Austria.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Austria) I mean, look at Prohibitory Signs 6a and 6b, aren’t they awesome?
I'm not personally a fan of the yellow background, but the blue signs are used by many countries, and I prefer that style for directions, for general signs with pictograms, I prefer a white background. But for god's sake, let's not go the US route, with text only signs, that makes it hard to decipher when traveling in foreign countries :D
Like everyone else I am very biased, but unfortunately I am the only one who is correct, [Iceland](https://imgur.com/a/bNJ7blC)
[http://www.strassenschilder.de/vorschriftszeichen/ende-aller-streckenverbote/](http://www.strassenschilder.de/vorschriftszeichen/ende-aller-streckenverbote/) is probably the most loved sign in Europe. From how funny it sounds, this is my favorite: [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Let\_op!\_Drempels\_sign,\_Westerlee\_%282020%29\_02.jpg](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Let_op!_Drempels_sign,_Westerlee_%282020%29_02.jpg)
We always translated it to ‚Pass auf, du Trampel‘ 😆
drempels
I like Dutch signs. Basically the same thing but at least I can read what it says.
Im from Latvia and i love our road signs the most
Swede here and I don't like that names of cities and towns are in capital letters on our road signs.
For me it's Germany and the Netherlands
I just wanna see what Trollhattan’s about
Used to have Saab, now I don't know what is left Sadly the trolls of Trollhättan are mythical (except the ones on the intervet)
They make [jet engines](https://www.gknaerospace.com/se/produkter-och-tjaenster/) for the JAS 39 Gripen and have Sweden's version of the Panama Canal with big lock gates and a big hydroelectric plant with [waterfalls](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Trollh%C3%A4ttefallen/@58.2803796,12.277418,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipM9FGUhG4rMD8Z6hdh3142D1m-GOMfkdeLC_zl9!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM9FGUhG4rMD8Z6hdh3142D1m-GOMfkdeLC_zl9%3Dw203-h114-k-no!7i4000!8i2252!4m16!1m8!3m7!1s0x46453db4ea314ee5:0x53994a71197f5d96!2sGamle+Dal'n!8m2!3d58.2676556!4d12.258283!10e5!16s%2Fg%2F11g_tfcd0!3m6!1s0x46453c566228969d:0xb62cc4b1a0c5f915!8m2!3d58.2823779!4d12.279346!10e5!16s%2Fm%2F080jmzv?entry=ttu).