Road signs under review

The Department for Transport is reviewing road signs.

The study will look at the effectiveness of the current signs in a bid to make roads safer, and will consider more widespread use of the latest traffic sign technology to ease congestion and aid traffic flow.

Minister for Transport Rosie Winterton wants road users, the highways authorities and road organisations to assist in the review, and believes that the way road signs are used needs to change

'Road conditions have changed dramatically over the years - and road signs need to keep pace with that change to provide the best information possible to all road users,' said Winterton.

The DfT will also look to tackle the problem of unnecessary and out-of-date signs that can cause confusion on the roads.

The review process should be set out by 2009, and the Department for Transport says it will be the most comprehensive review of road signs since the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.