These are all the new traffic signals that will arrive in 2023 on Spanish roads. Find out how you should respect them to avoid being fined for it.
Recently, the General Directorate of Traffic announced the new traffic signs that will arrive in 2023, an important change that introduces new features in the road signs that will come into force next year. In this article we are going to identify what these new features are and how you should respect them to avoid being fined for it.
It won’t be until mid-2023 when we start to see these new signs on our streets and highways. In the meantime, we still have a few months to get familiar with a change that, while it won’t be as deep as revamping and updating each traffic sign one by one, will implement some significant improvements.
Thus, the DGT adapts to changing times and takes into account the new mobility solutions that have been gradually implemented in recent years, such as Personal Mobility Vehicles (VMP), which include electric scooters, for example, or electric cars and all the infrastructure that this entails.
And it is that the General Traffic Regulations have been active for 18 years and, since then, there have been some updates of vital importance such as the new Traffic Law that has entered into force in 2022. The next big change that the Regulations will experience affects traffic signals and we will see it materialize in just over half a year.
These are the new traffic signs that we will find in 2023 and these are the ones that change or disappear
Both the DGT and the Ministry of Transport have worked to introduce some changes in Spanish road signs that allow their easy identification, reading and understanding. In this way, we will have a series of new vertical signals that did not exist until now, others that have been active for years will be eliminated and some will be updated in the current context.
Thus, the new signs will be prohibited, mandatory, warning of danger and priority.
The new arrivals on our roads will be the P-35 sign for cross trajectories, the P-24a sign for animals in the wild, the P-33 sign for reduced visibility, the R-118 sign prohibiting electric scooters and the R- sign 120 prohibition of access to polluting vehicles.
There will also be two signs for different pedestrian crossings (combined and for bicycles), others exclusively for cyclists, new signs for electric cars, new signs with information to indicate exclusive parking areas and the 2+1 road sign.
There are also other signs that are updated, especially since the DGT has decided to change some of the traffic signs for “gender issues”. Among them is the sign P-21 warning of a school zone, the sign P21b warning of an area frequented by the elderly, the STOP sign, the sign for pedestrians and the sign P-8 of proximity to a level crossing. without barriers.
Finally, the traffic signs that will disappear from 2023 will be the R-308a signal and the R-308b signal.
In addition, there will be another important update in traffic signs in 2023, specifically in those end of prohibition signs that until now were labeled in gray and that will become black on a white background, which will improve their visibility.
All new traffic signals arriving in 2023 will be installed in places where they are needed. However, those that have simply been updated will be changed as their renewal becomes mandatory due to deterioration, wear or damage suffered.
For its part, it will be the Administration that owns the road, that is, the Town Halls, Central State, Autonomies, Provincial Councils and Cabildos, which decide the moment in which the signs updated by the DGT are installed.
New traffic signs and their meaning
This is the meaning of all the new road signs arriving in 2023:
Signal P-35: it is the twisted lane signal that the DGT describes as “danger due to the proximity of a section between a confluence and a fork where different movements of lane changes are produced by vehicles, crossing their trajectories and increasing hence the risk of collisions.”
Signal P-24a: warning of danger due to the proximity to an area where animals in the wild can cross the road, highlighting a wild boar due to its high proportion.
Sign P-33: This alerts you to the proximity to a section where traffic is frequent with notable loss of visibility caused by fog, rain, snow, smoke, etc.
Signal R-118: prohibits access to a certain area or road for motorized personal mobility vehicles (VMP), such as electric scooters.
Sign R-120: it is the one that we will find at the accesses to Low Emission Zones (ZBE), which prohibits the entry of vehicles based on their environmental distinctive or other established environmental criteria. It will be accompanied by a complementary S860 panel with the specific specifications or a poster that includes the signage.
New crosswalk sign: Pedestrians will also have a new traffic sign to indicate the location of a combined crosswalk, ie one that includes a crosswalk and a crosswalk.
Cyclists: the same happens with the signs for cyclists, since from 2023 they will have new signs for exclusive bicycle passages, the signs that indicate that they have to dismount, the cycle lanes and the ramps for pedestrians.
Signage for electric cars: These signs were announced in April of this year and are exclusively for electric vehicles. We find signs at gas stations that indicate that it is a service station with availability of an electric recharging station (in blue if it also has an LPG pump and another that warns of the location of a recharging point.
In addition, the DGT has designed a new pictogram for electric cars that will be present in all those signs that are exclusive for this type of vehicle.
Exclusive parking: these signs indicate exclusive parking areas for certain users, such as pharmacy customers, for example.
Highway 2+1: indicate the location of two-way roads and three lanes, where the two on the right are used for traffic in the direction of the road and the middle one is reserved for overtaking. The central one is intended for overtaking and can be used by vehicles traveling in both directions, always respecting the priority of the signals.
Regarding the traffic signs that are updated from 2023, this is their meaning:
Sign P-21: this sign indicates the proximity to a school zone and will change the location of the boy and the girl, with the girl being in front and taking the boy by the hand, both to school. The measure is adopted for “gender issues” in which it seeks to promote equality between men and women also in road signs.
Sign P-21b: indicates proximity to an area frequented by the elderly. From 2023 we will be able to see an elderly woman being assisted by a man, instead of associating the image of assistance to the female gender as up to now.
Sign P-20a: indicates the proximity to one or several pedestrian crossings. This update will look for the figure of the person to have a neutral gender and not represent a man, as before.
Sign P-8: the warning signal for proximity to a level crossing without barriers or semi-barriers is updated, showing a modern locomotive, without a chimney from which smoke emanates. It also changes the angle from which the train is viewed, going to a frontal view.
STOP: the main change that the famous STOP sign will undergo can be seen from next year, as it will adopt a new typography with the aim of improving its visibility.
And there will be two signs that disappear next year:
Signs R-308a and R-308b: these signs indicate that parking is prohibited on even (R-308b) or odd (R-308a) days. It is common to find them on one-way streets with parking on one side, although parking is allowed on both sides depending on the day of the month.
new yellow road signs
There is also a new yellow road sign that is important to know about. It is a panel in a striking fluorescent yellow color that is available on some highways and motorways as a complement to another previous signal painted on the pavement, the famous “arrowheads”.
These road markings are used as a reference to define the minimum safety distance that we must maintain with the vehicle that precedes us on this type of high-speed road. In this way, in order to resolve any existing confusion with this type of road markings, the DGT has installed this new yellow traffic signal with a little more information.
In it we can see two cars and an arrowhead in the middle accompanied by the message “Danger”, and the same scene represented below, but with two arrowheads between the vehicles, next to the message “More security”.
In this way, the DGT informs us that keeping two arrowhead-shaped road markings away from the vehicle in front is safer than driving with only one difference.
The entire road signaling system of the General Traffic Regulations, which is already 18 years old
Published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) number 306 of December 23, 2003, Royal Decree 1428/2003, of November 21, was included, in which the General Traffic Regulations for the application and development of the articulated text were approved. of the Law on traffic, circulation of motor vehicles and road safety.
Its entry into force was dated January 23, 2004, which means that the current signaling system has been in force for almost 19 years and has not undergone changes until 2023, when the new traffic signals will be activated.
In the General Traffic Regulations of 2004, within Title IV referring to signaling, all aspects related to traffic signals in Spanish streets and highways are exposed.
The Government works to adapt new traffic signs painted on the ground to the new times
We work to improve road safety on the roads.🛣️🚘
Mitma has arranged an experimental section in the crossing of the N-122 Nava de Roa (#Burgos) with new road markings: ‘dragon’s teeth’ and ‘broken edge lines’ before a new zebra crossing.#DGRoads pic.twitter.com/74KPUnxWub
— Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban A. (@mitmagob) September 2, 2021
Little by little, new traffic signs painted on the ground are also being introduced in order to adapt to changing times. Some of the most recent that were introduced in May 2022 are called “Dragon’s Teeth” and “Broken Edge Lines”, which aim to reduce accidents in cities.
What the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda intends is to capture the attention of the driver in the proximity of a zebra crossing, an intersection or a crossing, thus making the vehicle reduce its speed before the new urban limits of 30 km/ h.
On the one hand, the “Dragon’s Teeth” sign is made up of triangle-shaped travel markers painted on both sides of the lane and are located before reaching a potential danger zone. What this mark painted on the ground achieves is to create the sensation that the lane is narrowing, so the driver’s tendency will be to slow down.
On the other hand, the signal “Broken border lines” are zigzag lines painted on both sides of the road that warn of the imminent presence of a pedestrian crossing. They are located about 30 meters before said pass.
