Traffic code
Encyclopedia
Traffic code refers to the collection of local statutes, regulations, ordinances and rules that have been officially adopted in the United States
to govern the orderly operation and interaction of motor vehicle
s, bicycle
s, pedestrian
s and others upon the public (and sometimes private
) ways
.
The traffic code generally includes provisions relating to the establishment of authority
and enforcement procedures, statement of the rules of the road, and other safety provisions. Administrative regulations for driver licensing, vehicle ownership and registration, insurance
, vehicle safety inspection
s and parking violation
s may also be included, though not always directly related to driving safety. Violations of traffic code (i.e., a "moving violation
") are often dealt with by forfeiting a fine in response to receiving a valid citation ("getting a ticket"). Other violations, such as drunk driving or vehicular homicide
are handled through the criminal
courts, although there may also be civil
and administrative cases that arise from the same violation (including payment of damages
and loss of driving privileges). In some jurisdictions there is a separate code-enforcement
branch of government that handles illegal parking and other non-moving violations (e.g., noise and other emissions, illegal equipment). Elsewhere, there may be multiple overlapping police
agencies patrolling for violations of state or federal driving regulations.
In the United States
each state has its own traffic code, although most of the rules of the road are similar for the purpose of uniformity, given that all states grant reciprocal driving privileges (and penalties
) to each others' licensed drivers. There is also a "Uniform Vehicle Code
" which has been proposed by a private, non-profit group, based upon input by its members. As with many such offerings, some states adopt selected portions as written, or else with modifications, and others create their own versions. Similarly, most states have adopted relevant standards for signs and signals, based upon the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Many of the standard rules of the road involve consistent interpretation of the standard signs and signals, such as what to do when approaching a stop sign, or the driving requirements imposed by a double-yellow line on the street or highway. Many federal departments have also adopted their own traffic code for enforcement on their respective reservations (e.g., national parks, military bases).
List of some standard Rules of the Road:
Vienna Convention on Road Traffic
and Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals
have helped this harmonization effort.
Road, driving and traffic regulations are the subject to specific codification of the law in countries such as:
In Moroco, the law «loi n°52-05 portant code de la route» deals with a new traffic code, approved on 14 janvier 2009, and adopted on 11 février 2010 (26 safar 1431).
In Belgium this regulation is not a code althougth it is road traffic specific. It is defined by Arrêté royal portant règlement général sur la police de la circulation routière et de l'usage de la voie publique. [M.B. 09.12.1975].
In Switzerlan, this legislatio is not considered as code it is legislation number 741.01.
In United Kingdom there is no codification. Some piece of laws such as a Road Traffic Act and a Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions do exist; a book names Highway Code
is edited by public entity with guidelines based and/or compatible with local law.
In European Union federal level, legislation is more oriented on transport competition and not on sharing the road. There is some effort oriented to issues such as driving license and car control.
See also:
See also small-mini-drafts:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to govern the orderly operation and interaction of motor vehicle
Motor vehicle
A motor vehicle or road vehicle is a self-propelled wheeled vehicle that does not operate on rails, such as trains or trolleys. The vehicle propulsion is provided by an engine or motor, usually by an internal combustion engine, or an electric motor, or some combination of the two, such as hybrid...
s, bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
s, pedestrian
Pedestrian
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates or skateboards are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case...
s and others upon the public (and sometimes private
Private road
A private road is a road owned and maintained by a private individual, organization, or company rather than by a government.Consequently, unauthorized use of the road may be considered trespassing, and some of the usual rules of the road may not apply...
) ways
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
.
The traffic code generally includes provisions relating to the establishment of authority
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
and enforcement procedures, statement of the rules of the road, and other safety provisions. Administrative regulations for driver licensing, vehicle ownership and registration, insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
, vehicle safety inspection
Inspection
An inspection is, most generally, an organized examination or formal evaluation exercise. In engineering activities inspection involves the measurements, tests, and gauges applied to certain characteristics in regard to an object or activity...
s and parking violation
Parking violation
A parking violation is the act of parking a motor vehicle in a restricted place or for parking in an unauthorized manner. It is against the law virtually everywhere to park a vehicle in the middle of a highway or road; parking on one or both sides of a road, however, is commonly permitted....
s may also be included, though not always directly related to driving safety. Violations of traffic code (i.e., a "moving violation
Moving violation
A moving violation is any violation of the law committed by the driver of a vehicle while it is in motion. The term "motion" distinguishes it from other violations such as parking violations, equipment violations, or paperwork violations relating to insurance, registration, inspection, etc.-...
") are often dealt with by forfeiting a fine in response to receiving a valid citation ("getting a ticket"). Other violations, such as drunk driving or vehicular homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
are handled through the criminal
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
courts, although there may also be civil
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
and administrative cases that arise from the same violation (including payment of damages
Damages
In law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
and loss of driving privileges). In some jurisdictions there is a separate code-enforcement
Code Enforcement
Code enforcement, sometimes encompassing law enforcement, is the act of enforcing a set of rules, principles, or laws and insuring observance of a system of norms or customs. An authority usually enforces a civil code, a set of rules, or a body of laws and compel those subject to their authority...
branch of government that handles illegal parking and other non-moving violations (e.g., noise and other emissions, illegal equipment). Elsewhere, there may be multiple overlapping police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
agencies patrolling for violations of state or federal driving regulations.
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
each state has its own traffic code, although most of the rules of the road are similar for the purpose of uniformity, given that all states grant reciprocal driving privileges (and penalties
Traffic Violations Reciprocity
Under traffic violations reciprocity agreements, non-resident drivers are treated like residents when they are stopped for a traffic offense that occurs in another jurisdiction. They also ensure that punishments such as "points" on one's license and the ensuring increase in insurance premiums...
) to each others' licensed drivers. There is also a "Uniform Vehicle Code
Uniform Vehicle Code
The Uniform Vehicle Code is a privately prepared set of United States traffic laws prepared by the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances, a private non-profit organization. Most of the members are state governments, in addition to some related organizations. The extent to which...
" which has been proposed by a private, non-profit group, based upon input by its members. As with many such offerings, some states adopt selected portions as written, or else with modifications, and others create their own versions. Similarly, most states have adopted relevant standards for signs and signals, based upon the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices is a document issued by the Federal Highway Administration of the United States Department of Transportation to specify the standards by which traffic signs, road surface markings, and signals are designed, installed, and used...
from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Many of the standard rules of the road involve consistent interpretation of the standard signs and signals, such as what to do when approaching a stop sign, or the driving requirements imposed by a double-yellow line on the street or highway. Many federal departments have also adopted their own traffic code for enforcement on their respective reservations (e.g., national parks, military bases).
List of some standard Rules of the Road:
- Entering and leaving roadways.
- Right of way at marked and unmarked intersectionsIntersection (road)An intersection is a road junction where two or more roads either meet or cross at grade . An intersection may be 3-way - a T junction or fork, 4-way - a crossroads, or 5-way or more...
under various conditions. - Observing and interpreting traffic signTraffic signTraffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of roads to provide information to road users. With traffic volumes increasing over the last eight decades, many countries have adopted pictorial signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to facilitate international travel...
s (especially warning, priorityPriority signsPriority traffic signs indicate the order in which vehicles should pass intersection points. Common examples are the Give Way sign....
or prohibitory traffic signProhibitory traffic signProhibitory traffic signs are used to prohibit certain types of manoeuvres or some types of traffic.-No entry:No admittance to unauthorised personnel, usually shown as a red circle with a white rectangle across its face.-Speed limits:...
s) - Keeping to right side (or left side) except to pass others, where passing is allowed.
- Direction of travel and turning (one way, do not enter, no U-turnU-turn (maneuver)A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180 degree rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others it is treated as a more ordinary turn, merely extended...
, etc.) - Speed, height, width and weight limits.
- Bicycle and pedestrian priority.
- Yielding to special vehicles (emergency, funeral, school bus).
- Vehicle lightingLightingLighting or illumination is the deliberate application of light to achieve some practical or aesthetic effect. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight...
and signalling. - Stopping if there has been a collisionCollisionA collision is an isolated event which two or more moving bodies exert forces on each other for a relatively short time.Although the most common colloquial use of the word "collision" refers to accidents in which two or more objects collide, the scientific use of the word "collision" implies...
.
Outside US
Most countries define a national legislation relative to car driving and penalties. Most of those regulation have some common basis to help people driving from one country to one other.Vienna Convention on Road Traffic
Vienna Convention on Road Traffic
The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic is an international treaty designed to facilitate international road traffic and to increase road safety by standardising the uniform traffic rules among the contracting parties...
and Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals
Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals
The Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals is an international treaty designed to increase road safety and aid international road traffic by standardising the signing system for road traffic in use internationally.This convention was agreed upon by the United Nations Economic and Social...
have helped this harmonization effort.
Road, driving and traffic regulations are the subject to specific codification of the law in countries such as:
- Brasil: Código de Trânsito Brasileiro, basis is Vienna convention
- Canada and Québec: L.R.Q., chapitre C-24.2 Code de la sécurité routière
- Canada and Manitoba: the Codification Permanente des Lois du Manitoba contains a legislation named 'Highway Traffic Act translated as Code de la route in french (chaptre H 060).
- United states of america: Traffic code (each local to a state from United states of america)
- France: Code de la route
- Italia: Codice della strada
- Luxembourg: In Luxembourg, legislation's name is «Code de la route» and is considered as «codes-loi» (law-code) or recueil de Législation Routière.
- Portugal: Código de estrada
In Moroco, the law «loi n°52-05 portant code de la route» deals with a new traffic code, approved on 14 janvier 2009, and adopted on 11 février 2010 (26 safar 1431).
In Belgium this regulation is not a code althougth it is road traffic specific. It is defined by Arrêté royal portant règlement général sur la police de la circulation routière et de l'usage de la voie publique. [M.B. 09.12.1975].
In Switzerlan, this legislatio is not considered as code it is legislation number 741.01.
In United Kingdom there is no codification. Some piece of laws such as a Road Traffic Act and a Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions do exist; a book names Highway Code
Highway Code
The Highway Code is the official road user guide for Great Britain. In Northern Ireland the applies while the Republic of Ireland has its own Rules of the Road. It contains 306 numbered rules and 9 annexes covering pedestrians, animals, cyclists, motorcyclists and drivers...
is edited by public entity with guidelines based and/or compatible with local law.
In European Union federal level, legislation is more oriented on transport competition and not on sharing the road. There is some effort oriented to issues such as driving license and car control.
See also:
- Australian Road RulesAustralian Road RulesThe Australian Road Rules are a set of model road rules developed by the National Road Transport Commission which form the platform for State and Territory road rules across Australia...
about legislation and rules and their history in Australia
See also small-mini-drafts:
- New Zealand Road CodeNew Zealand Road CodeThe New Zealand Road Code is the official road safety manual for New Zealand. It is a guide to safe driving practices and traffic law in New Zealand, and is also the basis for theory and practical driving tests...
about the official and public learning book of New Zealand - Road rules in Hong KongRoad rules in Hong KongRoad rules in Hong Kong define the use and restrictions for drivers in Hong Kong.There is no single act governing rules of the road like other jursidictions, but licensing and road maintenance is under the Transport Department and the Highway Department respectively.There are several motoring laws...
(popular China) where there is no single act governing rules of the road like other jursidictions. - Rules of the Road (Ireland)Rules of the Road (Ireland)-External links:* is the official online home of the Irish Rules of the Road* on the official Irish Government website...
- Highway Traffic Act (Ontario)Highway Traffic Act (Ontario)The Highway Traffic Act is an Ontario Act which regulates the licensing of vehicles, classification of traffic offenses, administration of loads, classification of vehicles and other transport related issues...
(Canada)
See also
- TrafficTrafficTraffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
- Vehicle registration plateVehicle registration plateA vehicle registration plate is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies the vehicle within the issuing region's database...
- Vienna Convention on Road TrafficVienna Convention on Road TrafficThe Vienna Convention on Road Traffic is an international treaty designed to facilitate international road traffic and to increase road safety by standardising the uniform traffic rules among the contracting parties...
- Vienna Convention on Road Signs and SignalsVienna Convention on Road Signs and SignalsThe Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals is an international treaty designed to increase road safety and aid international road traffic by standardising the signing system for road traffic in use internationally.This convention was agreed upon by the United Nations Economic and Social...
- Highway CodeHighway CodeThe Highway Code is the official road user guide for Great Britain. In Northern Ireland the applies while the Republic of Ireland has its own Rules of the Road. It contains 306 numbered rules and 9 annexes covering pedestrians, animals, cyclists, motorcyclists and drivers...
, the equivalent document in the UKUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. - Highway Traffic Act (Ontario)Highway Traffic Act (Ontario)The Highway Traffic Act is an Ontario Act which regulates the licensing of vehicles, classification of traffic offenses, administration of loads, classification of vehicles and other transport related issues...