Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions

The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (commonly abbreviated to TSRGD) is the law that sets out the design and conditions of use of official traffic signs that can be lawfully placed on or near roads in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and the Isle of Man. The regulations came into effect in 1965, and were the result of the review of British road signage carried out by the Worboys Committee.

The TSRGD came into force on 1 January 1965 to implement the re-signing recommendations of the Worboys Committee of 1963, with signage designs and typeface developed by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert. Since 1964, the TSRGD has been revised and re-issued several times to introduce new signage rules and features reflecting changes in road operations. The current edition of the regulations came into force on 22 April 2016, with minor amendments in England and Wales in 2017.

The Traffic Signs Manual is a companion guide to the TSRGD which provides guidance to highway engineers about how and where to use traffic signs, including the size of sign to use (which depends on the speed of vehicles passing the sign). It was first issued in 1965 in a loose-leaf binder and was continuously updated. Individual chapters were also published in book form and these became the only format from 1980 onwards.

• Highways Act 1980
• The Highway Code
• Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984
• Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals
• Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, a comparable system in the United States
• Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996, similar regulations for safety signs

• The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 (SI 2002/3113) (PDF version)
• The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 (SI 2016/362)
• The Traffic Signs (Amendment) (England and Wales) Regulations and General Directions 2017