Road signs in Sweden

Road signs in Sweden are regulated in "Vägmärkesförordningen", VMF (1978:1001), and are to be placed 2 meters from the road with the base-sign at an altitude of 1.6 meters for motorized roads. Except for road numbers, there are a maximum of three signs on a pole, with the most important sign at the bottom. All signs have a reflective layer added on selective parts of the sign as is custom for European signs, most larger signs also have their own lumnination.

Most signs are based on pictograms, except signs like the prohibition-sign for stop at told and signal, the sign indicating taxi rink, low speed road and the sign for accident.If the sign included text, the text is written in Swedish, except the stop sign, which is written in English ("STOP").

Major differences between Swedish and general European signs

Whereas European signs usually have white background on warning and prohibition signs, the Swedish signs have a yellow/orange colour. This is for the purpose of enhancing the visibility of the sign during the winter, as white signs would be hard to see in the snow. The prohibition signs have a red line across them if it is a symbol on them, not if it is a numeric value. General European prohibition signs do usually not have such a red line. Swedish warning and prohibition signs also have a thicker border than their European counterparts. Traffic signs in Slovenia and Finland are quite similar.

Warning signs

Warning signs are triangular, but in contrast to those of most other states using triangular warning signs, Swedish signs have yellow backgrounds, rather than white. The signs warning for animals do not render the vehicle, as is usual of other states' signs, but only render the animal in question (for example the famous elk warning sign).

Private road direction sign

The reason there is a sign indicating private road, is because they are not strictly private. A private road is a road that is not maintained by the state or similar, but by a private person. As is custom in Sweden, if you own a private road or a land, you can prohibit cars (but not people) from using the road. But if there is support from the state for the maintenance, you can't prohibit cars from it. This is mostly the case if several families live along the road. Then they must form an association for the road. The Swedish word for this kind of road is "enskild", that can be both translated to "private" and "individual".

Prohibitory signs

Prohibitory signs are round with yellow backgrounds and red borders, except the international standard stop sign that is an octagon with red background and white border and the no parking and no standing signs that have a blue background instead of yellow.

Mandatory signs

Mandatory signs are always round blue signs with white border.

igns giving information

The only Swedish diamond shaped sign is the sign informing about priority road, which is a road to which intersection roads have to give way.

Other signs

Additional panels

Traffic light signals

Road markings

ignals by police officers

References

* [http://www.vv.se vv.se]