Worboys Committee
The Worboys Committee was formed by the British government in July 1963 to review signage on all British roads. This was in response to two articles published in 1961 by graphic designer Herbert Spencer, illustrating the shortcomings of non-motorway British road signs.
The committee was chaired by Sir Walter Worboys of ICI. T. G. Usborne of the Ministry of Transport had charge of proceedings, and Jock Kinneir and his assistant Margaret Calvert were commissioned as designers.
In 1963, the committee released Traffic signs: report of the committee on traffic signs for all-purpose roads, which completely revised road signs in Britain, with an emphases on symbols alone and adopting standard colour and shape practices used in mainland Europe, adoption of a new typeface, called Transport. On 1 January 1965, the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions, 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.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 tall and approximately 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, and three additional sizes:,, for higher-speed roads or special situations that warranted a larger sign. Regulatory signs were, and greatly simplified through use of symbols eliminating wordy signs.
"Traffic signs – 1963"
The report found existing road signs to be completely obsolete relative to increasing numbers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle speeds and made over a dozen key recommendations:- Letters sizes should be increased compared to existing signs and up to on high-speed roads. Letters should also 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 :File:Black Country Living Museum.jpg|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.
- 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. Non-priority roads should be black and white.
| Pre-Worboys sign | Type of sign | Meaning | Sign number | Worboys Committee sign |
Warning | Cross roads ahead | 504 | ||
Warning | Ford | 554 | ||
Warning | Road works ahead | 564 | ||
Regulatory | No Entry | 616 | ||
Regulatory | No right turn | 612 | ||
Regulatory | Turn left | 609 | ||
Regulatory | Keep to left | 610 | ||
Direction | Approach direction sign for a junction where two roads cross. | 704 | ||
Direction | A direction sign used at junctions, indicating route numbers and primary destinations. | 713 |
Anderson Report
The Worboys Committee was tasked with designing signs for 'all-purpose roads' which were open to any road user, including motor vehicles, animal-drawn vehicles and pedestrians. Signs for motorways, which were designed strictly for motor vehicles, were needed in 1958 upon the opening of the Preston By-pass, the first 'motorway'. A separate committee, known as the 'Anderson Committee', was assembled to design signage for future motorways, as the flaws of existing signs had already been observed with drivers at struggling to interpret them. The committee took inspiration from the United States and Germany who were designing their own motorways and signage to go with them. In 1962, they 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 report were not adopted for use, and the designs proposed in the Worboys report were used instead in future motorway projects.