Southern California Sign Blog

Why Your Property Should Comply With New Traffic Regulations

Did you know that new U.S. traffic regulations governing the design, size and reflectivity could affect you? The law affects all privately owned property that qualifies as a being open to public travel. Under this category, you will expect shopping centers, condominiums, hotels, restaurants and hospitals among others to be affected by the new regulatory requirements. If your property is found to have violated the new law and that an accident occurs as a result of non-compliance, you could be liable for all the damages.

The amendments on the US code (U.S.C) by the Federal Highway Administration requiring private property to install the right signs has been informed by the fact that property accidents have been on the rise and that fatalities from these accidents have had a serious impact on the lives of the affected persons.

Retroreflective signs that are properly sized and well installed have been found to improve road safety and reduce highway departure crashes. Since the color, and hence retroreflectivity, of the roadway signs fade with time, property owners are now required by law to ensure that their signs are clearly visible, especially during the night.

A recent report by the FHWA reveals that fatalities at night are three times than during the day. The FHWA estimates that there are about 1,200 fatalities annually occurring on property open to public travel and that 20 percent of traffic accidents occur on private property while 21 percent of all accident claims are those that relate to accidents that occur on private property.

What should Private Property Owners do to comply with the new regulations?

Property owners need to conduct a comprehensive inspection to determine if their property complies with the new regulations. Where the color of the signs have faded, do not have the right color, size or design, owners should replace them. Signs with the wrong height or angle should be corrected as well. They should also replace missing, unclear or hidden signs.

The laws shall be applied in their entirety by 2015, meaning that low-grade reflectivity shall still be accepted until then. By complying with the new regulations now, property owners will have spread over the cost of installing the signs. Property owners need to evaluate their signs, identify those that are non-compliant, replace them with compliant signs.

Who can help you comply with the new traffic regulation?

The Sign Studio has experienced staff to help bring all your property signs up to speed with the new traffic regulation. They can inspect your property to ensure that everything is checked, corrected or updated to meet the current standards. Whether your signs have wrong installation height, color or size, the experts will make necessary changes.

After the installation of signs on your private property, they can also help facilitate the inspection by the local authorities for subsequent issuance of citations and certification. Since your property is the largest investment that you may have, you do not want to expose it to irrecoverable risks, and as such, you want to comply fully to ensure you access full limit claims in the event of a loss. If you are all property owners, you will want to minimize your liability as much as possible, and compliance with the new traffic regulation on retroreflectivity is a great way of cushioning yourself from excess liability. If you are not quite sure if your property complies with the regulation, contact, the Sign Studio, a licensed sign company with the knowledge on the new amendments to assess the property and recommend what should be taken, including performing a complete overhaul of the property signs.

For further informaiton on "Why Your Property Should Comply With New Traffic Regulations" please send us an e-mail at info@signstudiola.com or give us a call at (818) 843-9200. 

Looking for MUTCD Signs? All Reflective and Approved Signs In Stock

The Sign Studio is the place to visit for all sorts of signs that meet the standards set out by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). They have highway signs, traffic signs, warning signs, regulatory signs, standard signs and all sorts of other signage. See MUTCD Poster of all graphics.

The MUTCD sets out a number of regulations for these types of signs. That is why it is so important for them to meet these qualifications. For instance, regulatory signs must be illuminated or retroreflective so that they show their shape and the color that they give off during the day at night. The illumination from a streetlight or some other road lighting is not enough to satisfy these requirements. 

Every one of these signs needs to be the right size and have the same dimensions as other signs of the similar type. This is to ensure that these signs are easily recognizable to drivers who may be moving at a very fast rate of speed and trying to stay safe while driving alongside other vehicles. These regulations are very important to the safety of everyone on the road. It is so important to purchase these signs from a shop that pays close attention to the regulations set out by the MUTCD.

Every aspect of the appearances of these signs is so important. One slight mistake can be found to be illegal. However, the visual aspect of the ways in which these signs are produced are not the only thing that users and installers need to keep in mind. They also need to be sure to place these signs in the right locations. They need to secure them properly. They need to mount them at the right angles. There are numerous regulations for how these signs need to be positioned to stay within the regulations upon which everyone has agreed. Anyone who is using these signs needs to be sure that they follow every rule set forth in the MUTCD.

The Sign Studio pays close attention to every one of the regulations outlined in the MUTCD. They take pride in making sure that every sign they sell meets all requirements exactly. Anyone who is involved in posting highway signs, reflective signs, traffic signs, regulatory signs or warning signs needs to visit the Sign Studio and see what they have to offer them. They are sure to be very impressed by what they find there.  If The Sign Studio does not have them in stock, they will make them within a 24hr turnaround. 

If you have any questions or need further information, please do not hesitate to call The Sign Studio at (818) 843-9200 or send an e-mail to info@signstudiola.com.

TRAFFIC SIGNS AND PARKING SIGNS - For Your Safety and Direction.  Custom or Standard.

Traffic signs provide proper safety messaging and direction throughout your roadways and parking lots. Parking Signs maintain an organized and regulated parking lot. Parking Signs make it easy to provide specific directions and eliminate confusion. Traffic signs and Parking signs improve safety, prevent accidents and post your policies. Depending on what your needs are, you may want to consider reflective, high-intensity or engineer-grade made out of aluminum, steel or polyethylene.   

HOW TO MAKE YOUR TRAFFIC SIGN LAST LONGER -

All traffic and parking signs from all manufacturers are basically made from the same materials - steel, aluminum or plastic.  These materials are susceptible to:

  - Fading from sun damage
  - Rust from rain and mist
  - Cracking from the cold winds
  - Graffiti from vandals

This can be prevented with a special, unique topcoat called Duroshield.  Duroshield is a tedlar laminate on top of the vinyl sign face which is adhered to the sign's raw material.  This special laminate is so tough that it is able to stand up to the harshest weather conditions and chemicals.  The topcoat is graffiti-resistant blocking solvents and chemicals, allowing graffiti to clean right off and never damage the sign face. 

For more information or questions, please e-mail thesignstudio@sbcglobal.net or give us a call at (818) 843-9200.

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