Same European rules, different national signing.
The new section of motorway from the South to the mountain town of Hjørring.; The new highway stretching from Hjoerring South to Bjergby.
Although international rules are applied to the road signs in all Europe, not all E-road signs are equal throughout Europe. Europa has not yet succeeded in creating a uniform E-road identification.
The main rules concerning these signs have been imposed within Europe in a top-down perspective. The first UNECE conference discussed the main rules and traffic signs. 3
The E-road sign ought to be rectangular. It has a green colour with a white inscription. The inscription consists of the letter “E” and the sign may be fixed to other road signs.1
Implementation has always been different among the (participating) countries (bottom-up). It is a contrast with the (top-down) way the rules were created. The signs vary internationally in three different ways:
Most European countries use the E-road sign as an addition to the current highway identification. The highways in these countries are marked both nationally and with an E-road sign.
A few countries, such as Belgium and Denmark, replaced their national identification with the E-road identification. The object shows a road sign in Denmark which replaced their national signs with the E-road ones. 3
The United Kingdom uses no E-roads identification at all . Their highway’s identification can be found in their own “Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions”2
How to cite this page
'Same European rules, different national signing.', Inventing Europe, http://www.inventingeurope.eu/story/same-european-rules-different-national-signing
Sources
1. Economic commission for Europe, inland transport committee. “ECE/TRANS/SC.1/384 Annex III,” European Agreement on Main International Traffic Arteries (2008):57
This source tells the way the European roads are regulated in the rules of the UNECE. All the main roads are listed as well as the way the roads are identified and the rules regarding for example safety and speed. The source is an official united nations economica and social counsel document. Although it is written in a pro-Europe vision, it is used to describe the main rules of the E-roads.
2. Europe aaroads. “E-roads: Description and History,” accessed December, 2013, http://europe.aaroads.com/eroads/index.htm
This source is chosen as a brief introduction to the e-road network. It is based on the first source used and broadens the vision on the e-roads. The source is not very valuable to quote or use as reference. But it points out the use of E-roads in the UK.
3. Schipper, Frank. 2008. “Driving Europe Building Europe on roads in the twentieth century” (Foundation for the History of Technology & Aksant Academic Publishers Aksant Academic Publishers.)
This source is used to provide a background for the e-road network and the implementation. The source provides a timeline concerning the discussion in Europe of road signs throughout the years.
4. HENNING BAGGER, “MOTORWAY HJOeRRING mountain road signs” taken November 19, 1996, http://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/2023707/0940397861AD029CCE870E042BBAC41798D8F108.html?start=18&query=motorway+bagger&startPage=1&rows=24
This is the source to the object. The object is chosen as an example of the standardised European e-road sign.
