Why doesn't the U.S. follow the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic?

"cuts_off_prius" (cutsoffprius)
12/09/2016 at 04:03 • Filed to: None

You know how in other countries the signs look different from the ones in America and very similar or exactly the same as they do in Europe? And the yellow light before the light turns green? Yeah, that’s because of this:

The Convention on Road Traffic , commonly known as the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic , is an international !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! designed to facilitate international road traffic and to increase road safety by establishing !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! among the contracting parties. The convention was agreed upon at the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ’s Conference on Road Traffic (7 October – 8 November 1968) and concluded in Vienna on 8 November 1968. It came into force on 21 May 1977. The convention has been ratified by 74 countries, but those who have not ratified the convention may still be parties to the 1949 !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . This conference also produced the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Traffic

Look at all the countries that are signed on. The overwhelming majority of the developed world, except for most notably the USA, Canada, Australia, and China.

My guess is because driving in general caught on early in the US and was very popular and so there was a need for our own standards early on.

This would be a fascinating article idea for the Jalopnik writers.

DISCUSSION (23)

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > cuts_off_prius
12/09/2016 at 05:01

Because hooning.

duurtlang > cuts_off_prius
12/09/2016 at 05:12

I think it’s because of the “not invented here” mindset.

Cé hé sin > cuts_off_prius
12/09/2016 at 05:36

Because foreign, evil and quite possibly communist.

pip bip - choose Corrour > cuts_off_prius
12/09/2016 at 05:57

That would be sensible and mean using common sense

facw > cuts_off_prius
12/09/2016 at 06:11

We’ve been doing MUTCD for 81 years. I don’t know if there’s empirical evidence as to which sign designs are better, but even if there were any improvement from switching standards, it would likely be wiped out by confusion over having to learn the new signs.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > cuts_off_prius
12/09/2016 at 06:45

Because we’re here and Austria is over there.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > cuts_off_prius
12/09/2016 at 07:12

Realistically, US signs display the same information as above, often with similar drawings, just in a larger and bolder font. As for the yellow before green...why? We race off the line at a green light as it is, why encourage the behavior?

Tekamul > cuts_off_prius
12/09/2016 at 07:29

European drivers drive in different countries, because European countries are the size of US states. They need a standard.

American drivers rarely drive outside the US. We only need a US standard, and the basics to get by in Canada and Mexico.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Cé hé sin
12/09/2016 at 08:38

Definitely communistical.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > cuts_off_prius
12/09/2016 at 08:39

Why doesn’t the rest of the world follow the US on road traffic?

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
12/09/2016 at 08:47

Yellow before green probably has to do with the prevalence of manual transmissions. Gives the driver time to put it into gear without holding up traffic. Here we have the freedom to drive automatics, which I’m pretty sure were taken away from them when we beat Yurup during WW2.

Shane MacGowan's Teeth > pip bip - choose Corrour
12/09/2016 at 08:59

Yes, yes, I know, it’s easy to make a joke about “Murica” and how we’re all dumb- but think about it. We had our own standards well before these came out. There’s two other countries on this continent- one doesn’t follow the treaty either, and Mexico is, well, Mexico. We’d gain nothing, it would be extremely expensive to go out and replace every road sign in the country, and the period of confusion after the change would literally kill people.

Urambo Tauro > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
12/09/2016 at 10:41

I don’t see many green light launches any more. Too many people staring at their phones to even notice.

Satoshi "Zipang" Katsura > cuts_off_prius
12/09/2016 at 11:27

Because MUTCD. They’re basically the government equivalent to a business monopoly here. If a sign or a signal’s out of their compliance, they’ll just cut funding... Not that it matters to some states.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Shane MacGowan's Teeth
12/09/2016 at 16:44

very true on the cost side of things, i doubt they’re would be more deaths but i could be wrong.

Shane MacGowan's Teeth > pip bip - choose Corrour
12/09/2016 at 16:47

You have more faith in the adaptability of the average AARP member at the helm of a Winnebago than I do.

BJ > cuts_off_prius
12/09/2016 at 23:58

You know what’s nice about this system? Consistency.

I would appreciate not getting 75 versions of the same goddamn city when I travel across one single province (or state)... It drives me nuts how much variance there is in signage across North America, and even between municipalities it is often inconsistent.

190octane > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
12/12/2016 at 11:15

With all the people running red lights now, the lights shouldn’t turn green until the other one has been red for a second or two. Green light launches are dangerous unless you look both ways first.

jimz > cuts_off_prius
01/20/2017 at 04:57

Same reason we’re on 120V 60 Hz AC and not 230V 50 Hz. We built out our shit before they did (and didn’t have it bombed into smithereens between 1941-1945) and the cost of changing it would be stupidly prohibitive. And there’s really no reason to, just because Europe does things a different way doesn’t automatically make it better despite what a handful,of American tryhards say.

jimz > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
01/20/2017 at 05:01

Because the rest of the world always does things better than the US.

Always .

jimz > Cé hé sin
01/20/2017 at 05:03

No, because as has been said our signage standards go back 80 years, and expecting us to make a wholesale change just because some people on another continent did something differently in the late ‘60s is dumb. Especially with no justification aside from “it’s European, so it must be better.”

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > jimz
01/20/2017 at 08:01

April 1 isn’t for another 2 1/2 months.

For Sweden > cuts_off_prius
01/30/2017 at 11:33

Because Austria is dumb