MADRID – The Spanish traffic service DGT has announced a new series of traffic signs and a modernization of existing ones. The aim is to adapt the signals to current mobility. InSpain.news provides an overview of the novelties.
After 18 years of validity of the current catalogue, it was necessary to evaluate whether the road signs still adequately conveyed the necessary information to road users. Consequently, it has been decided to review and improve the boards to respond to new needs.
The traffic service also wants to put an end to the signs that have not been legalised with the proposal. There are more than 125 road signs on Spanish roads that are not recognised by any official guide. This was reported this summer by Afasemetra, an association for the defence of road safety and mobility.
The new road sign catalogue will be phased in from 2023 as current signs need to be replaced. New signs added regarding current mobility are about personal mobility vehicles such as e-scooters or low emission zones. Others have opted for a more modern icon or have been adjusted for gender reasons. We take a look at the most prominent changes.
Crossed trajectories: P-35 signal
This traffic sign warns of crossed paths. It shows two cars about to cross each other and warns of a zone or fork where there will be switching movements between different lanes. Like with an exit that is also an insertion lane. The lane changes cause vehicles to cross each other’s lanes, which increases the risk of collisions.
Wildlife: Sign P24a
This sign indicates potential danger due to the fact that the road can be regularly crossed by wildlife, a very significant proportion of which are wild boar. The number of accidents caused by these animals has increased in recent years. It joins the one using a deer (signal P24) for the same purpose.
Related post: What to do in case of a crossing animal when you are driving in Spain?
Reduced visibility: Sign P33
This signal warns of the danger of significant obstruction of visibility due to fog, rain, snow, smoke, etc. The new sign is an adaptation of the current one, which shows a car and some flakes around it. Those can be confused with another new low emission zone sign.
Prohibited for scooters: Sign R-118
This new sign specifically refers to the prohibition of access to a certain area or road for personal mobility vehicles, such as electric scooters.
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Elderly: Sign P21b
With this sign, road users are alerted to danger due to the proximity of a place frequented by the elderly, such as a retirement home. Not everyone agrees with the choice of image in this case as you can read at the end of this article.
Children: P-21 Sign
Until now, this road sign near places where children go (such as schools or playgrounds) showed a boy holding the hand of a smaller girl. Now the roles are reversed and the older sister is the one accompanying the younger child. A long-standing proposal that is now about to become a reality.
R-120: Vehicle access prohibited due to environmental criteria
This traffic sign indicates a prohibition of entry for vehicles based on their environmental sticker or other established environmental criteria. The conditions will be specified in a supplementary board. This image is new, although it is well known to many motorists because there were already cities using it, despite not being included in the current catalogue.
Indignation
The proverbial ink of the news about the new signs has not yet dried when some of them have already received indignation. The chosen image on the board that indicates danger due to the possible presence of the elderly has caused a stir among the elderly, writes La Razón. “It doesn’t represent all the elderly. It gives an image of the elderly woman who is almost disabled, super dependent, because she is supported by another, who moves in traffic and with whom you have to be careful because they are a danger,” said the chairman of Secot. The term age discrimination was used in this context. The association for the elderly is therefore asking for the sign to be withdrawn.
Click here to see all of the new traffic signs
