GB 5768.9-2025Road traffic signs and markings - Part 9: Traffic accident management area (English PDF)

Foreword

GB 5768.9-2025 was issued on 30 June 2025 by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Standardization Administration of China, and has been in force since 1 January 2026. It carries no /T in its designation: it is a compulsory national standard.

This document was drafted in accordance with the rules given in GB/T 1.1-2020 Directives for standardization - Part 1: Rules for the structure and drafting of standardizing documents.

This document is Part 9 of GB 5768 Road traffic signs and markings. The following parts of GB 5768 have been published: Part 1: General; 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 areas; Part 9: Traffic accident management area.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. The issuing body of this document shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document was proposed jointly by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China, and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport.

Introduction

Road traffic signs and markings are facilities that guide road users to use the road in an orderly way, so as to promote road traffic safety and improve the efficiency of road operation. GB 5768 Road traffic signs and markings is the basic, general standard guiding the use of road traffic signs and markings in China, and is intended to consist of nine parts.

Part 1: General - to establish the principles and general provisions for road traffic signs and markings. Part 2: Road traffic signs - to establish the requirements for the classification, colour, shape, characters, dimensions, symbols, setting, use, maintenance and manufacture of road traffic signs. Part 3: Road traffic markings - to establish the requirements for the classification, colour, shape, characters, symbols, dimensions, design and setting of road traffic markings.

Part 4: Work zones - to establish the requirements for road traffic signs and markings relating to road works. Part 5: Speed limits - to establish the requirements for road traffic signs and markings relating to speed limits. Part 6: Railway level crossings - to establish the requirements for road traffic signs and markings relating to railway level crossings. Part 7: Non-motor vehicles and pedestrians - to establish the requirements for road traffic signs and markings relating to non-motor vehicles and pedestrians. Part 8: School areas - to establish the requirements for road traffic signs and markings on road sections around schools.

Part 9: Traffic accident management area - to establish the requirements for road traffic signs relating to traffic accident management areas.

1 Scope

China's compulsory national standard for the temporary traffic signs that are put up around the scene of a road traffic accident while the police and rescue services deal with it. An accident scene on a live road is dangerous twice over: the vehicles still arriving from upstream can run into the wreck or into the people working at it, and a second collision is often worse than the first. This part of GB 5768 fixes a single national layout for the protected zone, so that a driver meets the same sequence of warnings on every road in the country. It divides the traffic accident management area into a pre-warning area and a warning area, the latter made up of an upstream transition section, a buffer section, the on-site handling section and a downstream transition section, and it states which signs and cones go in each. It introduces a dedicated traffic accident management sign in fluorescent fiery red with black lettering, whose colour is defined in a normative annex, and it sets the requirements for the signs' retroreflection, size, portability and supports. It is used by traffic police, highway operators, road rescue teams and the makers of temporary sign equipment, and it applies to fatal accidents and to accidents on expressways, with other accident scenes free to follow it.

This document specifies the general provisions and the setting requirements for traffic signs in traffic accident management areas.

This document applies to the setting of traffic signs during the on-site handling of fatal road traffic accidents or of road traffic accidents on expressways; the on-site handling of other road traffic accidents may refer to it.

2 Normative references

The contents of the following documents constitute indispensable provisions of this document through normative references in the text. For dated references, only the edition corresponding to that date applies to this document. For undated references, the latest edition (including all amendments) applies to this document.

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

GB/T 18833-2012 Retro-reflective sheeting for traffic control.

GB/T 24720 Traffic cones.

GB/T 28651 Temporary traffic signs for highways.

3 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

3.1 traffic accident management area - the area in which temporary traffic management measures are taken to protect the safety of the on-site handling of a road traffic accident, to prevent secondary accidents and to maintain road traffic order.

3.2 pre-warning area - the area upstream of the road traffic accident scene, in the direction of approaching traffic, in which approaching vehicles are warned and their speed is limited.

3.3 warning area - the area delimited at the road traffic accident scene which unauthorized vehicles and persons are prohibited from entering.

4 General provisions

4.1 Traffic signs in traffic accident management areas (hereinafter referred to as traffic signs) are temporary traffic signs, including warning signs, prohibition signs and auxiliary signs. Warning signs include the traffic accident management sign, the chevron alignment sign and the two-way traffic sign; prohibition signs include the speed limit sign, the end of speed limit sign and the no entry sign.

4.2 The traffic accident management sign is used to warn that road traffic accident handling is in progress on the road section ahead, and that drivers shall slow down, stop and wait, or take a detour; it is as shown in Figure 1.

4.3 The chevron alignment sign is used to guide the direction of travel and to remind drivers to drive with care and to watch for changes in the use of the road ahead; it shall carry three arrows, as shown in Figure 2.

4.4 The traffic accident management sign shall have a fluorescent fiery red ground, black lettering and a black border. The chromaticity coordinates of the fluorescent fiery red shall be within the range specified in Annex A. The colours of other traffic signs shall comply with GB 5768.2.

4.5 The coefficient of retroreflection of fluorescent fiery red retro-reflective sheeting shall be not less than that required for Class IV fluorescent yellow retro-reflective sheeting in GB/T 18833-2012.

4.6 The clause sets minimum dimensions for the side length of the equilateral triangular warning sign, for the chevron alignment sign and for the outside diameter of the circular prohibition sign, with one set of minimum dimensions for accident management areas on expressways and urban expressways and a smaller set for other types of road. The shapes and dimensions of other traffic signs shall comply with GB 5768.2.

4.7 Traffic signs shall be easy to move and transport. Where a folding panel structure is used, the panel shall be flat when unfolded.

4.8 Traffic signs shall have a support structure. The support structure shall be firm and simple to operate, and its wind resistance and stability shall comply with GB/T 28651.

4.9 The height of the lower edge of a traffic sign above the supporting surface, and the angle of inclination of the traffic sign, shall comply with GB/T 28651.

Annex A (normative) - Chromaticity coordinates of fluorescent fiery red

The chromaticity coordinates of fluorescent fiery red shall be within the range specified in Table A.1, with the chromaticity diagram as in Figure A.1. Table A.1 gives the x and y coordinates of the five vertices that bound the permitted colour region. The notes state that the measurement uses CIE standard illuminant D65, 45a:0 geometry (as defined in GB/T 3978) and the 2 degree standard observer. Figure A.1 shows the colour region of all colours and, within it, the region of fluorescent fiery red.

Bibliography

[1] GB/T 3978 Standard illuminants and geometric conditions.

[2] GB 5768.4 Road traffic signs and markings - Part 4: Work zones.

[3] GA/T 1044 (all parts) Specification for safety protection at road traffic accident scenes.

[4] JTG/T 3381-02 Guidelines for design of speed limit signs on highways.

[5] Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.