Are 'new' traffic light rules too complicated? Chinese ...

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No one could have thought that a traffic light system that has been adopted nationwide for five years could suddenly take over every hot search bar on China's social media platforms and spark a huge controversy overnight.

On Monday morning, a group of eight images depicting different scenarios formed by a total of nine traffic lights placed together triggered heated discussions among the public, with some criticizing the "new design" as being overly complicated and confusing. However, the institute responsible for the system, the Traffic Management Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security, issued a statement late on Monday saying there was no new national standard for traffic lights to be implemented in .

The Global Times has found out, the "new" traffic lights were actually rolled out in , and have brought convenience rather than chaos to road traffic. Furthermore, such complex scenarios are only applicable in rare cases and would not affect normal road traffic.

The outcry began on Sunday, when "Sun Zhengliang," who claimed to be the designer of the latest national standard traffic lights, livestreamed the rules for the new lights but was forced to go offline 10 minutes later after being met with fierce criticism from viewers.

Late on Monday, the Traffic Management Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security confirmed that someone had used the name and pictures of Sun Zhengliang, a staff member who works at the institute, to do a live broadcast. The statement also said that Sun had not opened any social media accounts or done any live broadcast.

According to media reports detailing the changes for the new version, regions across China will use unified signs that are more specific, involving a total of eight scenarios of different combinations of nine lights.

While some hailed the move for addressing traffic chaos and reducing the risk of pedestrians getting hit by right-turning vehicles, others expressed dissatisfaction over the new rules, slamming them as an unnecessary adjustment that is not only hard to learn and remember, but also posing greater dangers, as drivers and pedestrians would need more time to react.

When the Global Times contacted a number of local traffic management bureaus on Monday including Beijing, Southwest China's Sichuan Province and South China's Guangdong Province, they said they have not received any notification to replace the current traffic lights.

As it turned out, the "new" rules are in line with the guidebook titled Specifications for Road Traffic Signal Setting and Installation issued in December , meaning that they were already adopted some five years ago.

In the guidebook, the combination of nine traffic lights is categorized under "special usage" rather than "common usage," specifying that such combinations would only be adopted under rare or extremely rare cases, while the current road signs are sufficient for day-to-day commuting.

Jiangning popo, a famous blogger and observer of social events on Sina Weibo with nearly 6 million fans, said such lights have already been used in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province for a couple of years. The reason why many claimed they have not seen it could be because the lights did not bring any confusion and thus escaped people's attention.

"For large intersections, these types of lights are actually rather useful as they boost the efficiency of traffic flow," the blogger said.

Shanghai has also been applying the latest national standard on road signals in recent years, The Paper reported on Monday. As for the special nine-light combination, Shanghai has not applied this type, a person in charge at the Shanghai traffic police said, according to the report.

The "new" rules have also sparked controversy over the "removal" of the widely popular countdown for signal changes. However, the version of the guidebook did not mention whether or not the countdowns should be used, and it was up to various regions to use it to provide convenience for residents.

Sun Zhang, a mass transit expert and professor at Shanghai Tongji University, told the Global Times on Monday that the countdown should not be canceled but promoted nationwide. "It allows drivers and pedestrians to make a pre-judgment and take the initiative beforehand, which is beneficial to road safety and efficiency," he said.

Huang Ziting contributed to this story

No one could have thought that a traffic light system that has been adopted nationwide for five years could suddenly take over every hot search bar on China's social media platforms and spark a huge controversy overnight.On Monday morning, a group of eight images depicting different scenarios formed by a total of nine traffic lights placed together triggered heated discussions among the public, with some criticizing the "new design" as being overly complicated and confusing. However, the institute responsible for the system, the Traffic Management Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security, issued a statement late on Monday saying there was no new national standard for traffic lights to be implemented in .The Global Times has found out, the "new" traffic lights were actually rolled out in , and have brought convenience rather than chaos to road traffic. Furthermore, such complex scenarios are only applicable in rare cases and would not affect normal road traffic.The outcry began on Sunday, when "Sun Zhengliang," who claimed to be the designer of the latest national standard traffic lights, livestreamed the rules for the new lights but was forced to go offline 10 minutes later after being met with fierce criticism from viewers.Late on Monday, the Traffic Management Research Institute of the Ministry of Public Security confirmed that someone had used the name and pictures of Sun Zhengliang, a staff member who works at the institute, to do a live broadcast. The statement also said that Sun had not opened any social media accounts or done any live broadcast.According to media reports detailing the changes for the new version, regions across China will use unified signs that are more specific, involving a total of eight scenarios of different combinations of nine lights.While some hailed the move for addressing traffic chaos and reducing the risk of pedestrians getting hit by right-turning vehicles, others expressed dissatisfaction over the new rules, slamming them as an unnecessary adjustment that is not only hard to learn and remember, but also posing greater dangers, as drivers and pedestrians would need more time to react.When the Global Times contacted a number of local traffic management bureaus on Monday including Beijing, Southwest China's Sichuan Province and South China's Guangdong Province, they said they have not received any notification to replace the current traffic lights.As it turned out, the "new" rules are in line with the guidebook titled Specifications for Road Traffic Signal Setting and Installation issued in December , meaning that they were already adopted some five years ago.In the guidebook, the combination of nine traffic lights is categorized under "special usage" rather than "common usage," specifying that such combinations would only be adopted under rare or extremely rare cases, while the current road signs are sufficient for day-to-day commuting.Jiangning popo, a famous blogger and observer of social events on Sina Weibo with nearly 6 million fans, said such lights have already been used in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province for a couple of years. The reason why many claimed they have not seen it could be because the lights did not bring any confusion and thus escaped people's attention."For large intersections, these types of lights are actually rather useful as they boost the efficiency of traffic flow," the blogger said.Shanghai has also been applying the latest national standard on road signals in recent years, The Paper reported on Monday. As for the special nine-light combination, Shanghai has not applied this type, a person in charge at the Shanghai traffic police said, according to the report.The "new" rules have also sparked controversy over the "removal" of the widely popular countdown for signal changes. However, the version of the guidebook did not mention whether or not the countdowns should be used, and it was up to various regions to use it to provide convenience for residents.Sun Zhang, a mass transit expert and professor at Shanghai Tongji University, told the Global Times on Monday that the countdown should not be canceled but promoted nationwide. "It allows drivers and pedestrians to make a pre-judgment and take the initiative beforehand, which is beneficial to road safety and efficiency," he said.Huang Ziting contributed to this story

Variety of road signs are displayed in the People's Republic of China

A wide variety of road signs are displayed in the People's Republic of China.

Road signs in Beijing

China's traffic signs also closely followed those used in Europe, the US, and Japan. China is not a signatory to the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.[1] Despite the fact that Chinese is one of the six official languages of the United Nations and China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China itself has never signed this convention, which was issued in all six official languages of the UN, including Chinese.

The signs are specified in the Guobiao standard GB -.

The road signs used in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau differ from those used in the rest of China.

Warning signs are triangular in shape, as in Europe, but unlike European countries, warning signs in China have a black border and a yellow background instead of a red border and a white or yellow background. This makes it one of the few countries in the world using this type of warning sign.

Gallery

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Warning signs

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• Warning signs

• Crossroads

• Offset road junctions from the left

• Offset road junctions from the right

• Fork road on left rear

• Fork road on right rear

• Fork road on left front

• Fork road on right front

• T-junction ahead

• Side road junction ahead on the left

• Side road junction ahead on the right

• Roundabout

• Curve to the left

• Curve to the right

• Double curve, with turn right first, then left

• Double curve, with turn left first, then right

• Multiple curves

• Multiple curves

• Steep ascent

• Steep descent

• Continued descent

• Road narrows on both sides

• Road narrows on right

• Road narrows on left

• Narrow bridge

• Two-way traffic ahead

• Pedestrian crossing ahead

• Children ahead

• Cattle area

• Deer area

• Panda area

• Falling rocks or debris on left

• Falling rocks or debris on right

• Dangerous crosswinds

• Slippery road surface

• Road near mountain on left

• Road near mountain on right

• Riverbank on right

• Riverbank on left

• Cross-village road

• Tunnel ahead

• Ferry

• Hump bridge

• Bumpy road

• Bump

• Dip

• Overflow road

• Railroad ahead (with safety barriers)

• Locomotive railroad crossing ahead (without safety barriers)

• Level crossing (multiple tracks)

• Cyclists

• Wheelchairs ahead

• Accident area

• Slow

• Turn left and/or right to detour

• Turn left to detour

• Turn right to detour

• Be careful

• Roadworks ahead

• Advisory speed

• Turn on lights for driving through tunnel

• Lane with tidal drive

• Keep a safe distance

• Crossroads with a dual carriageway

• T-junction with a dual carriageway

• Merging traffic on left

• Merging traffic on right

• Escape lane

• Escape lane

• 2km to escape lane

• 2km to escape lane

• 1km to escape lane

• 1km to escape lane

• 500m to escape lane

• 500m to escape lane

• Escape lane on right

• Escape lane on right

• Snow ahead

• Rain ahead

• Fog ahead

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• Thunderstorm ahead

• Traffic queues likely ahead

Prohibitory signs

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Indicative signs

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Informational signs

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Tourist signs

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• Tourist signs

• Sun

• City rock turns

• city rock keep

• Information

• Hiking

• Cable car

• Camp

• Fireplace or campsite

• Playground

• Equestrianism

• Fishing

• Golf

• Swimming

• Rowing

• Snow

• Skiing

• Ice-skating

Additional signs

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• Additional signs

• Event time

• Except for bus

• Cars

• Trucks

• Trucks and tractors

• Private property

• One way (straight)

• Two way

• One way (right)

• One way (left)

• keep (left)

• keep (right)

• Turn right

• Turn left

• ___ metres ahead (straight)

• ___ metres ahead (left)

• ___ metres ahead (both ways)

• ___ metres ahead (right)

• School

• Customs

• Accident

• Collapsing area

• Training route

• Assessment route

Vehicle-mounted signs

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• Vehicle-mounted signs

• No drink driving

• No littering

• Sharp bend, slow down

• Sharp bend, slow down

• Sharp bend and dip, slow down

• Sharp bend and dip, slow down

• Fasten your seatbelt

• Heavy vehicles keep right

• No hand-held while driving

• School bus stop

Retired Signs

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• Old triangular version of stop sign

References

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1. ^"Article 29". Convention on Road Signs and Signals

   (PDF)

   . United Nations Treaty Series (in English, French, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish). Vol. . Vienna. 8 November . p. 27 &#; via United Nations Treaty Collection.

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