Traffic regulation in Sokoku

WORK IN PROGRESS

Traffic regulation in Sokoku governs and regulates traffic on roads and designated public spaces to facilitate the orderly, timely and safe flow of traffic. In Sokoku this is a combination of federal traffic law, state level rules of the road and local additions in the form of decentralised regulation within the judiciary framework. This regulation has well-established priorities, right-of-way, and traffic control at intersections. These rules apply to all road users, though they are of special importance to motorists. Since Sokoku is one of the oldest post-colonial nations in the age of motorised traffic, it is serving as an example and even model for many post-colonial nations in the Restoration Coalition.

Legislation

Federal traffic laws in Sokoku are relatively simple and straightforward. Every participant in traffic should be aware of them and follow them, or should be accompanied by someone who does when it comes to pedestrians and non-motorised vehicles. Some of the more important rules are:

Every participant in traffic should avoid collisions and dangerous situations in general.
All vehicles from the left have a right of way at intersections.
There is a clear definition of pedestrians, vehicle traffic and motorised vehicle traffic. The latter category is divided into categories forming the basis for vehicle access in built-up areas.
Vehicle traffic occurs as left hand traffic, while vehicles must have central or right hand steering.
The general speed limit is 70 km/h, within built-up areas it is 30 km/h. Any deviation from the general speed limits requires a traffic regulation by the state or local authorities and should be communicated by speed signs.
Vehicle parking in the public realm is only allowed at designated places, in general it is prohibited to park on public roads and streets. Parking on privately maintained land is regulated by a separate law.

Signs

There are different categories of traffic signs, in Sokoku they are clearly divided by shape (round, square, triangle) and main color (red, yellow). Apart from the warning signs, other traffic signs will only be used if they oppose or elaborate on the general traffic rules. For example, the sign LA35 indicating "prohibited to park" will not be used on public access roads in built-up areas since there is a general ban on parking on these.

The signs indicating access for certain types of vehicles are the most difficult to understand. Apart from the categories pedestrians and non-motorised vehicles there are no less than 17 different categories of motorised vehicles that can be indicated by 10 different symbols allowing access, including 2 versus 3 or more wheels, but also based on vehicle width or average operating speed. All 17 can be used on prohibitive regulation signs, on their own, in combinations of 2 or 3 or even an "up to" and "from up" versions. On top of that, the descriptions used are in sokokana, for example せど90 indicating a heavy motorcycle. There are round versions in red for single streets as well as square yellow ones with the red, round symbol indicating an area with the same access regulation. Combinations of signs can be used, like a ban on heavy motorised traffic (MoSe and up) in an entire city, with exceptions on certain roads allowing cars (MoSe) or cars and trucks (Kebe15) to a certain length.

Priority

Unless stated else, all vehicles from the left have a right of way at intersection. This includes bicycles and horse driven vehicles as well, not only motorised traffic. In case the road surface at the intersection is different, there is a right of way on the continuous surface instead. Other priority arrangements need to be decided by the local level of government before they can be communicated by road signs. Most road signs regulating the right of way are triangular and yellow with black (and in some cases red) icons. Triangles pointing down indicate yield, while triangles pointing upwards indicate the right of way.

ME01: Give way to crossing vehicles.
ME03: Give way for pedestrian crossing.
ME06: Give way to oncoming traffic.
ME07: Priority over oncoming traffic.
ME29_2: Crossing with a road without priority ahead (comes in several variations).

Commanding regulatory

These so called mandatory traffic behaviour regulations are gathered in the chapter called dekrit. These are communicated by round road signs in yellow with black icons. Examples of commanding regulatory signs are:

DE01_L: Vehicles must turn left
DE02_L: Circumvent the obstacle on the left side.
DE04: Bicycle path or lane (includes SeDo25 and SeMo25 mopeds).
DE06: Shared bicycle and pedestrian path or road (includes SeDo25 and SeMo25 mopeds).
DE10: Exclusive collective transport lane or road.

Prohibitive regulatory

Traffic regulation falls within the larangan category of traffic law. Apart from the general codified rules, like the prohibition against motorised traffic on pedestrian sidewalks, all prohibitive regulation is indicated by round road signs in red with white symbols, sometimes accompanied by black. Examples of prohibitive regulatory signs include:

LA06: Prohibited for pedestrians, cyclists and mopeds SeDo25 and SeMo25.
LA18: Prohibited for trucks and buses over 15 m long.
LA25: No left turn.
LA30: Maximum speed 30 km/h.
LA35: No vehicle parking with three wheels or more (can be amended by supplement sign).

Instructional

Instructional signs are square and usually yellow with black. Parking instructions however are in blue and white to separate them from other instructional signs giving driving instructions. Instructions ending a regulatory sign are most often white with grey. But in order to match the cityscape in more historical districts, the yellow signs can be used in white or light orange (peach) as well, in order to blend in better in those areas. This means that there is a huge variation in this particular category.

PE10: Collective transport lane or road ending. Used after DE10.
PE48: Right lane ending.
PE33: Cycling road, other vehicles and pedestrians allowed.
PE34: Cycling path or road ends. Used after PE34 and DE04.
PE20: Zone or area prohibited for all traffic except pedestrians.
PE22_15B: Zone with access allowed for trucks and buses, no length limitation, in both directions
PE05_MOSE: Designated parking for MoSe vehicle category (passenger cars)

Warning

Warning signs can be placed by the road authority without any coded regulation, but there is a widely documented praxis of the application of these signs. They are usually triangular, pointing upward,in red with white icons and sometimes black additions.

TA01_L: Sharp left ahead (used only in case of danger at designated speed limit).
TA13: Pedestrian crossing ahead. Followed by ME03.
TA35: Level railroad crossing with barriers or gate.
TA42_L: Level crossing ahead when turning right at T-junction (several variations available)
TA48: Right lane ending ahead. Followed by PE48.

Directional

Directional signs pandan provide service to participants in traffic that don't require a warning sign. Route indicators are in black letters on a white background, often rectangular or with an arrow shape to the left or right. Informational signs are rectangular and white with black icons or text. Informative signs are used sparsely, for example indicating a direction towards a car park or important service facility like a public transport hub or medical facility.