Road signs in Mauritius

Road signs in Mauritius are standardised traffic signs used in Mauritius according to the Traffic Signs Regulations 1990 (French: Règlement sur la Signalisation Routière 1990). They are heavily modelled on road signs in the United Kingdom, since Mauritius is a former British colony, making Mauritius one of the few Southern African Development Community member states who have not adopted its system of road signing.

Signing system

The traffic signs are divided into three classes: circles give orders, triangles warn of possible dangers and rectangles give information. Different colours are used within these shapes; blue circles are mandatory signs, which give positive instructions, while red circles are prohibitory signs, which give negative instructions. Blue rectangles give general information while green rectangles are used for direction signs on main roads. However, there are three exceptions for these shapes and colour rules; these are the octagonal stop sign, the diamond priority road sign and the inverted red triangle give way sign.[1]

Warning signs

Warning signs indicate a hazard ahead on the road that may not be readily apparent to a driver.

Priority signs

Priority signs are intended to instruct road users on what they must or should do (or not do) under a given set of circumstances.

Prohibitiory signs

Prohibitory signs are used to prohibit certain types of manoeuvres or some types of traffic. The No symbol surrounding a pictogram is used to indicate something that is not permitted.

Mandatory signs

Mandatory signs are used to set the obligations of all traffic which use a specific area of road. Unlike prohibitory or restrictive signs, mandatory signs tell traffic what it must do, rather than must not do.

Information signs

Information signs informs people.

References

  1. ^ Road Safety Unit. "Understanding our traffic sign" (PDF). Government of Mauritius. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2013.