It is common knowledge that traffic signs make our roads safer and help to prevent thousands of traffic-related accidents every year. Properly installed, they can significantly contribute to our safety, effectively organize traffic flow, and even reduce our commute time. Whether these are speed limit signs, stop signs or any other type of traffic signage- each and every sign is virtually irreplaceable and worth every penny spent from a city budget.
The situation around us is constantly changing. New threats and sources of danger arise or become present in places which only recently could be considered fairly safe and secure. These changes have an immediate effect on traffic signs as well. Traffic signs are also evolving to ensure compliance with new, more demanding environmental and quality requirements.
Note: The United States Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration is the authority on Traffic Sign requirements. They publish the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), the most current version being December 2009.
Design and manufacturing of safety road signs is a delicate and constantly ongoing process. New challenges bring to life different methods of increasing sign visibility and quality standards. Innovative, durable and wear-resistant materials become readily available and more commonly utilized drastically expanding signage life cycle.
There are many companies on the US market that offer a variety of safety signs. Some of them would tend to sacrifice quality in order to make their products more affordable. Such signs may be serve as a temporary solution but more often than not would fail to deliver a ROI that you would expect and sometimes do not follow all safety requirements associated with traffic signs.
Quality and performance of traffic signs saves lives and hundreds of thousands of your hard-earned money and hence cannot be compromised or neglected. That is why it is important to research the market and select those that would satisfy your particular needs for material (example: heavy-duty reflective aluminum), would be in compliance with constantly changing OSHA and ANSI requirements, information delivery formats (such as enlarged, light-reflective content elements) and of course, would meet your organization's budget.
Whether you need to install some do not enter signs, pedestrian crossing, school zone signs, speed limit signs or such, your goal to determine a feasibility of their use (to find a balance between quality of a product and its final cost). Surprisingly, you no longer have to pay the top dollar in order to make your signs last and be visible. Most of the time, all it takes is 10-15 minute research (here we probably need to thank conveniently organized merchant websites that have detailed product descriptions and pro-rated pricing available to us).
Remember, at the end, it's all about safety and prevention. Do your research, find (or custom build) a sign that meets your quality and price expectations (don't hesitate to ask questions!) and put those signs to work. Traffic signs are the first and the most efficient barrier between us and a chaos on a road and you are the ones in charge of doing it.
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