GB 5768.8-2018Road traffic signs and markings - Part 8: School zone (English PDF)

Foreword

The whole technical content of this part of GB 5768 is mandatory.

GB 5768 Road traffic signs and markings is divided into eight parts: Part 1 General principles; Part 2 Road traffic signs; Part 3 Road traffic markings; Part 4 Work zones; Part 5 Speed limits; Part 6 Railway level crossings; Part 7 Non-motor vehicles and pedestrians; Part 8 School zone.

This part is Part 8 of GB 5768.

From the date of implementation of this part, all newly installed or altered traffic signs and markings shall be implemented in accordance with the new provisions.

This part was proposed by the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China.

This part is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China.

The drafting organization of this part is the Research Institute of Highway of the Ministry of Transport.

1 Scope

The part of China's road sign code that deals with the stretch of road outside a school gate. Children do not use a road the way adults do: they arrive in a crowd at two fixed moments of the day, they cross where the gate is rather than where the crossing is, and they are short enough to disappear behind a parked car. The engineering answer is not one sign but a coordinated set - a defined zone, a lowered speed limit announced before the zone begins, warning signs on a fluorescent yellow-green ground that the eye picks out from the ordinary yellow of other warnings, brighter retroreflective sheeting than a normal sign would carry, and a parking regime that keeps the kerb outside the gate clear so that sight lines survive the school run. This part of GB 5768 sets the principles and requirements for placing road traffic signs and markings in school zones, and applies to all such installations. It defines the school zone itself as the road within a stated radius upstream and downstream of the gate of a kindergarten, a primary school or a middle school, and covers general provisions, speed limiting - by section limit or by area limit - and parking management, including school bus bays, no-stopping zones and time-limited parking. The whole technical content of the part is mandatory, and from its implementation date any newly installed or altered signs and markings must follow it. It is used by highway and municipal road authorities, traffic police and the designers who lay out school approaches.

This part specifies the setting principles and the requirements for road traffic signs and markings in school zones.

This part applies to the setting of road traffic signs and markings in school zones.

2 Normative references

The following documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

GB 5768.2 Road traffic signs and markings - Part 2: Road traffic signs.

GB 5768.3 Road traffic signs and markings - Part 3: Road traffic markings.

GB/T 18833-2012 Retroreflective sheeting for traffic control.

3 Terms and definitions

The following terms and definitions apply to this document.

3.1 school zone: the road within a radius of one hundred and fifty metres upstream and downstream of the gate of a kindergarten, a primary school or a middle school.

4 General provisions

4.1 The road traffic signs and markings of a school zone shall be coordinated with the other traffic safety and management facilities.

4.2 The dimensions of the speed limit signs and warning signs of a school zone should be enlarged with respect to the sizes required by GB 5768.2.

4.3 The retroreflective sheeting used for the traffic signs of a school zone should be sheeting of the two highest classes specified in GB/T 18833-2012.

4.4 The background colour of the warning signs of a school zone should be fluorescent yellow-green. The background colour of the supplementary signs of a school zone may be fluorescent yellow-green.

4.5 The speed limit value of a school zone should not exceed the ceiling fixed by this clause.

4.6 Warning signs for children and for pedestrians shall be set before the start of the school zone, before the places where children frequently enter and leave, and before the intersections leading directly to the school gate.

4.7 A no-horn sign may be set in a school zone. The time and the extent of the horn prohibition may be explained by a supplementary sign.

5 Speed limit

5.1 There are two ways of setting the speed limit signs of a school zone.

a) A speed limit sign is set on the road entering the school zone, as illustrated in Figure 1. A supplementary sign may be used to state the times during which the speed limit applies.

Figure 1 is the example layout for the first method. It shows a two-way road past a primary school gate, with the pedestrian crossing at the gate, the reduced speed limit sign and the children warning sign placed in advance of the zone on each approach, and the new speed limit sign that restores the ordinary limit after the zone has been passed.

b) Area speed limit signs are set at all the entrances to the school zone. According to the road and traffic conditions, they may be set on both sides of the road at the same time, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 is the example layout for the second method. It shows the block of streets around a school gate, the school zone reaching the stated radius along each street, and the paired area speed limit and end-of-area-speed-limit signs placed at every entry to and exit from the zone.

5.2 A children warning sign or a pedestrian warning sign should be set at a suitable position in advance of the speed limit sign.

5.3 Where required, measures such as speed humps or a narrowing of the carriageway width may be used before entering the speed limited section or the speed limited area, and the corresponding warning signs and markings shall be set at the same time.

6 Parking management

6.1 Where a dedicated school bus parking space or a school bus stop has been provided, a school bus parking space sign or a school bus stop sign shall be set, together with the school bus parking space markings, as illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 3 gives the road traffic signs and markings for school bus parking spaces and stops in two layouts: a) the kerbside type, with the bay marked out along the carriageway edge; and b) the lay-by type, with the bay recessed into the footway. In both layouts the parking sign with its supplementary plate is shown above the bay, the bay itself is bounded by the school bus parking space markings and lettered for school buses, and the approach and departure are protected by zigzag markings.

6.2 In the area in front of the school gate, at intersections and at accesses where temporary parking easily causes congestion, the yellow box junction markings specified in GB 5768.3 should be set.

6.3 Within a certain range in front of the school gate, a no-parking sign or a time-limited parking sign should be set, as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5.

Figure 4 is the example of no-parking in front of the school gate. It shows the extent of the no-stopping restriction on both sides of the gate, the no-stopping signs with the supplementary plates that state the distance covered, and the speed limit and children warning signs on each approach.

Figure 5 is the example of time-limited parking in front of the school gate. It shows the same approach layout with time-limited parking signs replacing the no-stopping signs on the gate frontage, the yellow box junction marking laid over the area in front of the gate, and a note that the parking time shown on the plate is only an example.