Traffic signs in the Republic of Ireland, like the country itself, have a very international flavour. Some signs conform to the Vienna Convention, some to signing practice in the UK, and some to the USA or Australia. Bilingual direction signing exists throughout the Republic, and there are numerous other regional variations that distinguish signing in the Republic from anywhere else in the world. In 1996 the Department of Transport produced the Traffic Signs Manual, a first attempt to standardise signing within the republic. However, demands change, shortcomings become apparent, and in 2004 the Roughan O'Donovan/ FaberMaunsell Alliance was commissioned to review the existing standards in comparison to good practice elsewhere in the world, prepare revised guidelines and draft a new document. This paper covers the collection and comparison of regulatory signing practice from around the world, discusses some specific technical issues relating to standardisation, and questions the need for international uniformity in traffic signing. For the covering abstract please see ITRD E135207.
Abstract