Traffic signs in post-Soviet states
Overview of road signs in countries formed after the collapse of the USSR in 1991 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The road signs in the post-Soviet states Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan are largely similar to the Soviet road sign system, as these countries were part of the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. However, in some countries of the former USSR, some road signs may look different from the Soviet ones. The Soviet Union was a signatory to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.[1] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, most of the post-Soviet states adopted their own road sign standards. Many of them use road sign systems that inherited the road sign system used in the Soviet Union before 1991, but with some modifications, except for Estonia and Latvia that use completely different road sign systems. Estonia and Latvia have their own road sign systems, which are very different in design from the Soviet one. Modern road signs in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan comply with the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals as well as most European countries. Of the 15 former post-Soviet states, only Belarus, Russia and Ukraine have signed and ratified the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals on behalf of the Soviet socialist republics. These 3 countries have ratified this convention on June 18, 1974.[2]
The standard for road signs, ГОСТ 10807-78, was initially adopted in the Soviet Union on January 1, 1980, and remained in effect in several years in Russia and some post-Soviet states after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.[3][4] However, since January 1, 2006, this standard has become invalid in Russia and has been replaced by ГОСТ Р 52290-2004.[5][6][7] The font outlined in such laws is currently in digitization in Github and is in use in all former Soviet countries with the exceptions of Azerbaijan, Estonia (both using Arial), Latvia (using DIN 1451) and recently Ukraine (using a new font called Road UA). Again except for Ukraine, all cities destinations in former Soviet states are written with all-uppercase letters.
Also, a similar road sign system is used in Mongolia, despite the fact that it was never part of the Soviet Union. Road signs in Mongolia are regulated in the MNS 4597:2014 standard.[8][9]
All post-Soviet states drive on the right, as in the rest of Europe (except for Cyprus, Ireland, Malta, and the United Kingdom). Each of these countries also use metric system; thus speed limits are in kilometres per hour, and distances are in kilometres or metres.
Road signs in each of the 15 post-Soviet states are regulated by the following documents:
Country | Document |
---|---|
Armenia | Հայաստանի հանրապետության Ճանապարհային երթեվեկության կանոնները եվ տրանսպորտային միջոցների շահագործումն արգելող անսարքությունների եվ պայմանների ցանկը հաստատելու մասին (Hayastani hanrapetut’yan Chanaparhayin yert’evekut’yan kanonnery yev transportayin mijots’neri shahagortsumn argelogh ansark’ut’yunneri yev paymanneri ts’anky hastatelu masin)[10] |
Azerbaijan | Azərbaycan Respublikası Yol Hərəkəti haqqında qanun, Yol nişanları[11] |
Belarus | СТБ 1140-2013 «Технические средства организации дорожного движения. Знаки дорожные. Общие технические условия» (in Russian) / СТБ 1140-2013 «Тэхнічныя сродкі арганізацыі дарожнага руху. Знакі дарожныя. Агульныя тэхнічныя ўмовы» (in Belarusian)[12] |
Estonia | Liiklusmärkide ja teemärgiste tähendused ning nõuded fooridele[13] |
Georgia | საგზაო მოძრაობის შესახებ (Sagzao modzraobis shesakheb)[14] |
Kazakhstan | СТ РК 1412-2017 «Технические средства регулирования дорожного движения. Правила применения» (in Russian) / ҚР СТ 1412-2017 «Жол қозғалысын ұйымдастырудың техникалық құралдары. Қолданылу ережелері» (in Kazakh),[15] СТ РК 1125-2021 «Технические средства организации дорожного движения. Знаки дорожные. Общие технические требования» (in Russian) / ҚР СТ 1125-2021 «Жол қозғалысын ұйымдастырудың техникалық құралдары. Жол белгілері. Жалпы техникалық талаптар» (in Kazakh)[16][17] |
Kyrgyzstan | Правила дорожного движения (in Russian) / Жол кыймылынын эрежелери (in Kyrgyz),[18] ГОСТ Р 52289-2019 Технические средства организации дорожного движения. Правила применения дорожных знаков, разметки, светофоров, дорожных ограждений и направляющих устройств[19] |
Latvia | LVS 77-1:2016 "Ceļa zīmes. 1. daļa: Ceļa zīmes", LVS 77-2:2016 "Ceļa zīmes. 2. daļa: Uzstādīšanas noteikumi", LVS 77-3:2016 "Ceļa zīmes. 3. daļa: Tehniskās prasības"[20] |
Lithuania | Dėl Kelių eismo taisyklių patvirtinimo[21] |
Moldova | Cu privire la aprobarea modificărilor și completărilor ce se operează în Regulamentul circulației rutiere[22] |
Russia | О Правилах дорожного движения,[23] ГОСТ Р 52289-2019 Технические средства организации дорожного движения. Правила применения дорожных знаков, разметки, светофоров, дорожных ограждений и направляющих устройств[19] |
Tajikistan | Қоидаҳои ҳаракат дар роҳ[24][25] |
Turkmenistan | Ýol hereketi we howpsuzlygy[26] |
Ukraine | ДСТУ 4100:2021 Безпека дорожнього руху[27] |
Uzbekistan | Yo'l harakati qoidalarini tasdiqlash to'g'risida / Йўл ҳаракати қоидаларини тасдиқлаш тўғрисида[28] |