VMS Harmonisation in Europe: The Case for Topological Road Signs

The harmonisation of road signs is particularly important for the European Union (EU), a small region in geographical terms, but densely populated (27 countries, 500 million people) and fully motorized (about one car every two people). The coexistence of 23 official languages, determined long ago the basic strategy to follow: better use pictogram than words. Such is the basic strategy followed by the Expert and Study Group 4-Mare Nostrum (ESG4), one of the six ESGs lying at the heart of the EasyWay programme. EasyWay is an international endeavour participated by 22 European Member States and co-funded by the European Commission (DGMOVE) aiming the betterment of road safety and mobility by means of an integrated, Europe-wide road telematics implementation. This paper presents empirical results from 12 European countries concerning topological pictograms, i.e. signs that mimic the spatial properties of certain road sections, including the specific road/traffic circumstances happening on real time.