Traffic Laws

The first known attempts to streamline the urban movement were made back in Ancient Rome by Guy Julius Caesar . By his decree in the 50s BC e. one-way traffic was introduced on some city streets. From sunrise to the end of the “working day” (approximately two hours before sunset), private carts, chariots and carriages were prohibited. Visitors were required to leave their vehicles outside the city and move around Rome on foot, or by hiring a palanquin . On the roads of the empire, a left-hand movement was adopted, allowing to leave the right (armed) hand free. At the same time, a special service for the supervision of compliance with these rules was established, mainly former firefighters from among freedmen were recruited into it. The main responsibilities of such regulators were to prevent conflicts and fights between vehicle owners. Many intersections remained unregulated. Noble nobles could ensure unhindered passage through the city - they sent in front of their crews walkers who cleared the streets for the owner to travel.

The modern history of traffic rules originates in London on December 10, 1868, in the square in front of the Parliament, a mechanical railway semaphore with a color disk was installed. Its inventor, John P. Knight, was a railroad semaphore specialist. The device was manually controlled and had two semaphore wings. Wings could occupy different positions: horizontal - a stop signal; and lowered at an angle of 45 degrees - you can move with caution. After dark, a rotating gas lamp was turned on, which gave signals in red and green light. A servant in a livery was assigned to the semaphore, whose duties were to raise and lower the arrow and turn the lantern. However, the technical implementation of the device was unsuccessful: the rattle of the chain of the lifting mechanism was so strong that the passing horses shied away and stood on their hind legs. Not having worked even a month, on January 2, 1869, the semaphore exploded, the policeman who was with him was wounded.

In 1865, a law was passed by the British Parliament, according to which the speed of transport was limited to 6 km / h, and a person had to go in front of the car, waving a red flag. The last paragraph was abolished in 1878 ^[1] . According to other sources, the “red flag” rule was canceled only in 1896, together with an increase in the speed limit to 23 km / h and the abolition of the requirement for a crew of three people (engineer, assistant and fireman) for light-weight (up to 3 tons of curb weight) horseless vehicles, that is, the difference between cars and locomotives was legally recognized, which gave impetus to the development of the British automotive industry. Once again, the speed limit was increased in 1903, and finally the laws of 1896 and 1903 were repealed in the UK only in 1930.

August 14, 1893 in France adopted the first traffic rules for cars.

Signs on which the direction of movement to the settlement and the distance to it can be considered prototypes of modern road signs. The decision to create common European rules of the road was made in 1909 at the world conference in Paris , due to the increase in the number of cars, the growth of speeds and traffic on city streets. On it were identified road signs that are close to modern - “Railway crossing with a barrier”, “Crossing equivalent roads”, “Uneven road” and “Dangerous turn”.

In 1914, the United States began to install the first electric traffic lights with two signals (green and red), to warn of a color change, a police officer with a whistle was put on them, which later - from 1918 - appeared on European roads.

In the 1920s, OSAGO appeared in the United States - a type of compulsory insurance related to civil liability risks of vehicle owners for obligations arising from their use and damage to property, health or life of victims.

The next important step was the adoption of the “Convention on the introduction of uniformity in road signaling” in Geneva in 1931 at the Conference on Road Traffic, in which, among other countries, the Soviet Union (USSR) also took part. It adopted a unified European system of road signs, based mainly on symbols, developed and approved 26 signs, classified into three groups: indicative, warning and prescriptive. Today, this system operates throughout the world, and until the end of World War II, a number of countries used the Anglo-American system based on inscriptions instead of symbols.

In 1953, the first road marking appeared to indicate a pedestrian crossing, now known to us as the “Zebra”.

The next major contribution to global road safety was the Convention on Road Traffic and the Protocol on Road Signs and Signals, adopted at an international conference in Geneva in 1949 , on the basis of which all countries began to develop their own traffic rules.

But the most important day in the history of traffic rules was November 8, 1968 , when the UN Convention on Road Traffic was adopted at the UN Conference on Road Traffic in Vienna, signed by representatives of 68 countries of the world, including the USSR, and with minor amendments and additions acting until now ^[2] .

In Europe, until the eighteenth century, formally, there were no rules on this issue. Depending on the country, vehicles had to move on a certain side of the road, left or right. This is probably the oldest rule of the road, since the first rules date back more than 200 years ago, long before the advent of cars.

The reasons why some countries chose the left side and others chose the right side for distribution are not exactly known and, of course, should come from practical rather than arbitrary considerations. In England, for example, the choice of this value can be explained by very old utilitarian reasons: during left-hand movement, swords in the scabbard did not collide. As a result, many former British colonies continue to use left-hand traffic. Opposing France to the British, Napoleon demanded a right-hand movement in the country, a measure that spread throughout continental Europe. In a more general sense, it was a matter of reducing accidents, most supporters of right-hand traffic on the roads were guided by holding the whip in his right hand, while sitting on his left horse.

In 2005, it was estimated that about one third of the world's population uses left-hand traffic, the remaining two-thirds use right-hand traffic.

The most common traffic violations are considered to be: speeding, erratic parking and aggressive driving (a sharp change in the lane, "undercutting"), etc.

• April 1, 1956 - in Moscow, a ban was imposed on the supply of car audio signals , without urgent need. Prior to this, cars were almost constantly honking on city streets.
• January 1, 1961 - in the USSR, uniform rules of the road begin to operate, based on a convention signed in Geneva in 1949 .
• November 29, 1967 - Decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR No. 1092 "On improving traffic safety in cities, other settlements and on highways" introduced the mandatory use of a helmet by motorcyclists. Prior to this, helmets were used mainly in motorcycling.
• April 1, 1975 - mandatory use in the USSR by drivers and passengers of safety belts , if such are provided for by the design of the vehicle.
• Until the late 1950s, the “red” section of traffic lights in the USSR was the lowest, and the “green”, on the contrary, the highest.

• The text of the rules: The rules of the road of the Russian Federation
• Vienna Convention on Road Traffic
• Driver's license
• Drunk driving
• the main road
• Road marking in Russia
• Traffic accident
• Road signs
• Contrarian preparation
• Koreisya and Shoshinsya / Wakaba
• Medical and psychological research
• Right turn to red light
• Bias towards saving time
• Give way

• Decree of the Council of Ministers - Government of the Russian Federation “On the rules of the road” (including the Rules of the road of the Russian Federation and the Basic Provisions for the admission of vehicles to use and the duties of officials to ensure road safety). Current version.
• SDA of Ukraine
• "From the history of traffic rules" - an article on the website of the traffic police of Bryansk
• SDA of Belarus in Russian, Belarusian and English, online testing