Almost every modern driver has experience of driving outside the boundaries of his "native" city. Obviously, in this case, completely different rules of behavior on the road begin to operate. It's not that separate rules of the road are used, but here are some of their sections that have been adjusted in connection with high-speed traffic conditions. In particular, every motorist knows that within the city limits it is allowed to drive at a speed of no higher than 60 km / h (and even then not in all areas), while outside it on the highway, this bar rises to 90. In order to distinguish between these two zones use the "Settlement Point" road sign, which sets behind the scenes speed limits. We will try to understand further about what they are, where they are installed, about the coverage area and the legal aspects of their application.
Form and general provisions
If we turn to the current Rules of the Road of the Russian Federation, then the signs mentioned above can be found in the category of information and guidance. Their main purpose is to inform drivers, pedestrians and other road users about the location of the following settlements and other infrastructure facilities. In addition, some of them are used to organize the direction of traffic (for example, at intersections, on broad lanes) or its modes (setting a priority speed).
A feature of the signs "Beginning of the settlement" is a combination of informational and indicative qualities, which automatically classifies them as an independent group of special instructions. In the new edition of the SDA, information and indication signs are divided into two categories - informational and special instructions. In this context, it turns out that they simultaneously perform two functions:
- Inform the driver about the approach to a certain city or village in the direction of the vehicle or its end.
- Separate high-speed modes of movement are put into effect on designated sections of the road.
The group includes three main signs, each of which is paired (one conditionally indicates the beginning of the settlement, and the second - its end):
- the sign Settlement on a white background in the Rules of the road is numbered as 5.23.1. On the surface of a rectangular white plate, you can find the letter name of the city / village itself. It is duplicated by the sign "End of the settlement" (5.24.1), visually repeating the basic 5.23.1, but it has a red line crossing the name diagonally;
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- sign "Image of a settlement" 5.23.2 and duplicate 5.24.2. It has the same white background and shape as the previous one, but instead of the name of a specific settlement, it contains the contours and outlines of several closely spaced buildings;
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- the sign "Settlement" on a blue background (serial number in traffic rules 5.25) and its duplicate version (5.26), indicating the end of the zone of special traffic regime, is in form and content a complete analogue of the first group. The main visual difference is that the plate is used in blue, while the contour border and the name of the settlement are white.
As for the sizes of these signs, they are fully regulated by the state standard of the Russian Federation GOST R 52290-2004. It normalizes, first of all, the height of the font with which the name of the settlement is applied. It is selected from the approved type range from 75 to 500 mm. This variation in size is due to the fact that in both the old and new editions of the standard there is a gradation of sizes from small (I) to very large (IV). Accordingly, each of the sizes is used in suitable road conditions. For example, smaller letters are applicable within the city limits or on its border, while large ones are forced to be used in conditions of high-speed highways, where it is necessary to assess the situation ahead of time.
In addition, during the manufacture, one should take into account the fact that the signs of the first and third groups belong to the category of objects of individual design. This is due to the fact that each settlement has a different number of letters in the name, which forces us to make a plate of different length (with conditionally the same height). At the same time, 5.23.2 and 5.24.2 do not belong to this category and their dimensions in height and length have the same ratio for all four categories.
Why so many signs?
Many people who are far from automobile affairs, and even drivers, often have a question: why use as many as six road signs to indicate the beginning and end of settlements instead of two? The question, of course, is logical on the one hand, but everything is not obvious in the legal field. The fact is that the concept of a settlement from the point of view of the Rules of the Road and the same geography, that is, common sense and logic, which guides the majority of the questioners, can be very different.
For example, in administrative-territorial terms, the boundaries of a city and a village are tied to geographical coordinates, a cadastral plan, etc. If we simplify this question completely, then, say, the village ends where the border of the last house, fence or garden.
At the same time, the Rules of the Road of the Russian Federation, as, indeed, of the rest of the world, the borders of cities are tied to the main, regional, local roads passing directly through the settlement or near it. It is the last statement that becomes the reason that in practice as many as three groups of signs are used instead of one, but more on that later.
Signs on white background
Consider the situation when a car, moving in a given direction, drives up to a city or village along a road that directly crosses it along from the beginning to the end, that is, formally crossing the city, the car enters a section of the road where, by definition, the Rules for the movement of vehicles come into force in populated areas.
This means the presence of intersections, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, etc. on the route. Here, of course, you will have to face a mass of markings that regulate traffic, but the main thing is why a road sign Settlement on a white background will be installed at the beginning of the city - this is the current limit on the maximum speed at 60 km/h. The area of action of such a sign does not extend, as in most cases, to the section of the road to the next intersection, but ends exactly where the duplicate sign (5.24.1) stands.
Signs on a blue background
If the route passes near a settlement, conditionally not through the center, but away from the main massif, then most often a blue sign of the settlement will be installed, and there is no point in limiting the speed from 90 (or 110 for highways) to 60 km/h. It can also be used if the road passes through a city or town. Then an indispensable condition for the operation of main speed limits should be the presence of chippers on the sides of the road and in the central part that separates the directions of movement of vehicles. Also worth mentioning is the fact that according to GOST R 52290-2004, if there is a need to install a similar sign on a motorway, then its background is changed to green instead of blue.
However, in 2013 a third pair of traffic signs on a white background was introduced, namely "Dense building" (5.23.2) and "End of dense building" (5.24.2). If the first of them is set after the road sign Settlement on a blue background, then it automatically sets the speed limit to 60 km / h, as in the city.
international experience
In addition to the fact that motorists have to travel along and across domestic roads, some of them have the opportunity or need to visit a personal or corporate car abroad. And here a logical question arises - “are there signs to limit speed limits in settlements, as in Russia?”. For example, we can take the experience of the closest EU country to the former USSR - Poland.
According to the Polish traffic rules, only the second group, identical to our dense buildings, affects the speed limit. The first group (green background) simply denotes a city or village located in the traffic zone, that is, it performs the same functions as our blue settlement sign.
Some Pole liked my felt works, so I went to look at his photos. I saw clean, neat roads in Poland, brushed away a tear. Well, see for yourself:
October, Bialystok. There is no earth, no dirt on Polish roads. In rural areas, walkways are laid along local roads for pedestrians. They are clean, smooth and without holes. Mystic huh? Even in the Moscow region we have a problem with paths for people, we are not talking about other regions at all.
Here you can see the road that runs through the suburbs. I really like this net that doesn't allow people deer to run across the road. These grids are vital on the avenues of Moscow. But for some reason I met them only in Krylatsky (this is a special area, there are purely their own rules for organizing life) and a little in the area of Vernadsky Ave., a scanty patch.
I also like the high curb that physically separates different traffic flows. But in Moscow, on the contrary, they are trying to get rid of flow separators. Are we not following the plan for cemeteries? I understand that there are 7 billion of us on Earth, that we multiply very quickly. But it is better to increase the education of people in the field of contraception than to increase their mortality in this way.
And pay attention to the bright markup. In Poland, they save on night lighting of the slopes, but this is more than compensated by the excellent markings made with reflective paint. Visibility is excellent, the signs are cleaned, washed, the reflectors on the fenders are restored in case of loss. At night, on the roads of Poland, white, red and blue colors help the driver, creating a cross between a disco and a runway.
This is what Polish roads look like at night.
This is a highway.
Perfectly smooth asphalt. Great bright markings. It is voluminous and makes noise when you cross it. Well wakes up a sleepy or absent-minded driver.
Here you can clearly see the quality of the reflective paint. Again, evaluate the road surface.
This paint is very visible.
Russia apparently has its own technology for creating roadside signs. Or road services simply do not clean or change them.
The signs are clearly visible in the distance.
Remember, this is a local rural road. Do you remember what the Russian federal highway "Kyiv" looks like, passing through the Pskov region? I hope you will not have a reason to collect potholes there. And the local roads of the Tver province? They prefer to drive on roadsides, not on asphalt.
In case of repair, a whole battery of striped posts is put up along the road. They are perfectly visible from afar. In Russia, unfortunately, this is not the case.
Do you want me to show you how the repair of the road is fenced off in Russia? Gorky highway, we are going towards Vladimir.
There are dirty red-grey plastic things along the track. At night they are not visible at all. For example, such plastic crap, without proper illumination, was simply crumpled and scattered by trucks along the Moscow-Peter highway. Imagine, it’s night, there are no markings on the road, there are no signs of repair and detour, and then a kicked-off piece of crumpled plastic flies into your car.
Funny columns between the streams of cars. The one who designed them and ordered them to be installed, probably naively believes that the column will be able to stop the rushing car. No, the columns are simply demolished. Drivers don't care.
Now look at how the problem of safe separation of car flows in Germany has been solved. The highway is being repaired. The yellow markings are temporary. The streams have a speed of 60 km/h. A high metal barrier is installed between the flows.
And this is a Russian road of local significance. From Polenovo (Tula region) we go to the highway. The asphalt surface leaves much to be desired, there are no markings, no fog posts, and the entire roadside is covered in mud (trucks pick it up very well in the form of dust).
Tver province. Local road towards Kalyazin. Or rather, direction. Nothing left of the road but traces of asphalt.
There are even trucks on the side of the road.
The concept of "Settlement" in the Rules of the Road is somewhat different from the administrative-territorial or geographical understanding of this term.
According to paragraph 1.2 of the SDA, a settlement is (we quote!) "a built-up area, the entrances to which and the exits from which are marked with signs 5.23.1 - 5.26."
Consequently, the criterion for classifying a particular section of the road as a settlement is the presence of paired signs of special prescriptions of three types installed on the road with the same name “Beginning of a settlement” and “End of a settlement”.
However, let's return to the topic of the commentary and try to consider only the sign "Beginning of the settlement."
If you look closely at the texture of the signs, you can distinguish two main types of signs indicating the beginning of the settlement: 1) black text or image - on a white background; 2) white text - on a blue background.
And all the same, the question is quite natural: “Why do the Rules provide for two types of signs with the same names?”. And the answer to this question is very simple.
Road signs 5.23.1 (name of the locality) and “black on white” are used to mark the beginning of the locality in which the Rules of the Road are in force, establishing a special traffic order. Namely - the movement in the village.
And if it’s simpler, then the signs “Settlements” - “black on white” - indicate that the driver enters the “REAL” settlement, where the traffic rules apply precisely in the settlement.
That is - all sections and paragraphs of the SDA, in which the phrase "in the village" occurs, refer to the section of the road marked with a black and white sign "Beginning of the village".
This can be most clearly demonstrated by the example of high-speed mode. Moving on the sign 5.23.1, the driver must reduce the speed to the permitted 60 km/h, because he drove into a "real" settlement.
In turn, the sign 5.25 "Beginning of the settlement" - "white on blue" - indicates that the driver enters the "FAKE" settlement and, according to the Rules, continues to drive along the road OUTSIDE the settlement.
A logically thinking person will doubt the expediency of this sign. Why is he needed at all? We will give the answer to this burning question in the corresponding commentary.
And - believe me! - we will be able to convince the suffering of its need. For the moment, we only need to understand that the white and blue "Beginning of a Settlement" sign indicates driving conditions OUTSIDE of a built-up area.
Consequently, the speed limit here must also be appropriate: for example, for cars of category “B” (both before the sign and after it), the speed is limited to 90 km / h.
Let's try to draw a conclusion on the topic of the comment - road sign 5.23.1 "Beginning of the settlement."
Thus, the sign “Beginning of the settlement” that interests us (the black name of the settlement on a white background) indicates to the driver that he is entering a section of the road on which the traffic rules apply in the settlement.
The road will keep this status until the installation of the corresponding sign "End of settlement" (5.24.1).
If this information was useful to you, please write about it in the comments. If you have any questions, write, I will definitely try to help you.
- locality sign
- settlement on a blue background
- locality sign on a blue background
- the name of the locality on a blue background
