Worboys Committee

Cover of the report

The Worboys Committee was formed by the British government to review signage on all British roads. In its July 1963 report Traffic signs: report of the committee on traffic signs for all-purpose roads, it found existing road signs to be obsolete for the increasing numbers of motor vehicles and their increasing speeds, and made over a dozen key recommendations. The committee went on to completely revise road signs in Britain, with an emphasis on symbols alone, adopting standard colour and shape practices used in mainland Europe and a new typeface. Its principles were adopted and are still the basis of all road signs in the United Kingdom.

The Anderson Committee

The first moves to a new signage system were prompted by the first motorways. Flaws of existing signs had already been observed with drivers at speed struggling to interpret them. New signs were needed in 1958 for the opening of the Preston By-pass, the first motorway. A separate committee, known as the 'Anderson Committee', was assembled in 1957 to design signage. The committee took inspiration from the United States and Germany who were designing their own motorways and signage to go with them. Two graphic designers were commissioned to design the system of signage: Jock Kinneir and his assistant (and later business partner) Margaret Calvert.

The Worboys Committee and advisors

Two articles were published in 1961 by graphic designer Herbert Spencer, illustrating the shortcomings of non-motorway British road signs. The committee was created, chaired by Sir Walter Worboys of ICI. T. G. Usborne of the Ministry of Transport had charge of proceedings, and Kinneir and Calvert were again commissioned as designers.

In 1963 the committee released Traffic signs: report of the committee on traffic signs for all-purpose roads. This completely revised road signs in Britain with an emphasis on symbols alone. It adopted standard colour and shape practices used in mainland Europe and used a new typeface that had already been used on the motorway signs, called Transport. On 1 January 1965, the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD), the legal framework for road signs in Britain, was revised to adopt the proposed changes in the report.

Pre-Worboys sign flaws

The report found eight primary flaws in the United Kingdom's traffic signage.

(a) roadside signs are too small to be readily recognisable as such and to be easily read by drivers travelling at the normal speed of traffic;

(b) they do not have a simple, integrated appearance;
(c) the more important signs are not readily distinguishable from the less important at long range;
(d) they are often not effective at night;
(e) they are different from those used on the continent of Europe and only those who can read English can fully understand them;
(f) they are often mounted too high, particularly in rural areas;
(g) they are often badly sited in relation to junctions; and

(h) there is insufficient continuity of place names on directional signs.

— Worboys Committee, Traffic signs: report of the committee on traffic signs for all-purpose roads (1963)

Most pre-Worboys signs consisted of two signs: the top one was one of four designs, a red 'triangle', 'disk', 'ring' or 'triangle in ring' that identified the sign's type; the second lower sign identified the hazard or restriction. The lower sign was approximately 1 foot 9 inches (21 in; 530 mm) tall and approximately 1–2 feet (12–24 in; 300–610 mm) wide. The majority also lacked any larger dimensions for use on higher-speed roads. The new Worboys designs for warning signs had a minimum height of 24 inches (610 mm), and three additional sizes: 30 inches (2 ft 6 in; 760 mm), 48 inches (4 ft 0 in; 1,200 mm), 72 inches (6 ft 0 in; 1,800 mm) for higher-speed roads or special situations that warranted a larger sign. Regulatory signs were 24 inches (610 mm), and greatly simplified through use of symbols eliminating wordy signs.

"Traffic signs – 1963"

The Worboys Report

The report found existing road signs to be completely obsolete in view of increasing numbers of motor vehicles and their increasing speeds, and made over a dozen key recommendations:

• Letter sizes should be increased compared to existing signs and up to 10 inches (250 mm) on high-speed roads. Wording should be Sentence case, not in all capital letters.
• Signs should reflect the design of traffic signs used in the rest of Europe, with an emphasis on using symbols and the shape of sign to convey the message, not words. Further, doing away with the previous standard sign designs consisting of two separate signs to form a complete sign.
• Provision of give way and stop signs at junctions on minor roads when they meet primary routes.
• More usage of sign illumination, and improvements to existing standards and increased use of cat's eyes (roadway reflectors).
• Uniformity in the deployment and use of traffic signs.
• Clearer marking of primary routes, through use of colour-coded signs to aid drivers in identifying them if they are unfamiliar with an area.
• Direction signs should be colour-coded, with primary routes having green signs with white words and yellow route numbers; signs on-priority roads should be black and white.

The report suggested approximately 136 signs. The designs proposed in the report received further revisions before the 1964 TSRGD, as the proposed prohibited signs featured a 'slash' on signs like 'Bicycles prohibited', 'All motor vehicles prohibited'; a minimum speed limit sign that was not included; a rectangular 'Pass either side' sign; and the designs of symbols, like 'telephone' and 'road works ahead'.

Examples of Pre- and Post-Worboys Committee traffic signs

Pre-Worboys sign	Type of sign	Meaning	Sign number	Worboys Committee sign
	Warning	Cross roads	504
	Warning	Roundabout	510
	Warning	Bend to left	512
	Warning	Bend to right	512
	Warning	Two way traffic	521
	Warning	Level crossing with no gates	538
	Warning	Signals ahead	543
	Warning	Children	545
	Warning	School	545/546
	Warning	Cattle	548
	Warning	Ford (water crossing)	554
	Warning	No through road	816
	Warning	Road works ahead	564
	Regulatory	Major road ahead	501
	Regulatory	Stop	601
	Regulatory	Turn left	606
	Regulatory	Turn right	606
	Regulatory	Keep left	610
	Regulatory	No right turn	612
	Regulatory	No left turn	613
	Regulatory	No entry	616
	Regulatory	No motor vehicles	619
	Regulatory	No cycling	624
	Regulatory	No waiting	636
	Speed limit	Speed limit	630
	Speed limit	National speed limit applies	630
	Information	Parking	801
	Direction	Approach direction sign for a junction where two Class 1 (A-roads) roads cross.	704
	Direction	A direction sign used at junctions, indicating route numbers and primary destinations.	713

Consistency with motorway signs

In 1962, the Anderson Committee published Motorway Signs: Final Report of Advisory Committee for Traffic Signs on Motorways which laid out their designs for motorway signage.

Ultimately, motorway directional and informational signs were included in the 1964 TSRGD. The warning and most regulatory signs proposed in the final Anderson report were not adopted for use, and the designs proposed in the Worboys report were used instead in future motorway projects.

Later revisions

A major review of the direction signing system conducted in the late 1980s found effectively no problems with the Worboys system. This review could only recommend the introduction of white-on-brown tourist signing and a few other minor changes, later known as the Guildford Rules. "Worboys was a world leader in good signing practice".

See also

• Transport (typeface) – proposed by the report and still used in Britain for road signs
• Road signs in the United Kingdom

External links

• Media related to Diagrams of pre-Worboys road signs of the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons
• Traffic signs; report of the committee on traffic signs for all-purpose roads at Wikimedia Commons.
• The Worboys Report at Roads.org.uk
• Traffic signs: report of the committee on traffic signs for all-purpose roads – a copy of the 1963 report, at the Internet Archive
• Motorway Signs: Final Report of Advisory Committee for Traffic Signs on Motorways - a similar 1962 report for motorway signage, some of which was adopted by Traffic Signs report, at the Internet Archive