Road signs in Switzerland and Liechtenstein generally conform to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.[1]
Although Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, the road signs largely follow the general European conventions concerning the use of shape and color to indicate their function.
Switzerland signed the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals on November 8, 1968 and ratified it on December 11, 1991.[2] On March 2, 2020 Liechtenstein acceded to the Convention.
The Swiss road signs are defined in the Road Signs Act, which is based on several laws and ordinances. Liechtenstein largely follows the legislation of Switzerland. The principal law for road signs in Switzerland is the Road Signs Act (German: Signalisationsverordnung (SSV), French: Ordonnance du sur la signalisation routière (OSR), Italian: Ordinanza sulla segnaletica stradale (OSStr)).[3] In Liechtenstein, it is the Road Signalling Ordinance (German: Strassensignalisationsverordnung (SSV)).[4]
Each canton is responsible for the management and placement of its road signs and complementary panels and uses one of the four official languages of Switzerland accordingly.
Distances and other measurements are displayed in metric units.
Starting in 2003, the ASTRA-Frutiger font replaced the previous SNV font, which is still used in Liechtenstein.[5] [6]
Road signs are divided into warning signs, regulatory signs, priority signs, indication signs, supplementary panels, road markings, traffic lights and police instruction signs.
All signs and supplementary panels can be combined with supplementary panels for particular kinds of transport means. If accompanied with the words German: ausgenommen / French: excepté / Italian: eccettuato (excluding) or German: gestattet / French: autorisé / Italian: permesso (permitted), it means that the indicated kind of transport means are excluded from the regulation of the main sign.
Sign 5.31 also applies to mopeds with a designed maximal speed of 20km/h.
General Remarks:
When parking in a Blue Zone, you should set and display a blue parking disc with the time of arrival according to the Blue Zone Rules. Parking in a blue zone space is limited to 1 hour unless otherwise indicated. When parking, make sure the whole vehicle, including bumpers, are within the marked parking space.
Blue disks are available in various places, such as the police station, hotels, tourist offices, newsstands, the local Gemeinde/Town hall, garages and gas stations.
Set the disc to the exact time or the next half-hour mark if the exact time is not printed on the disc.
| Between | Parking Allowed | |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00-11:30 | For 1 hour after set time | |
| 13:30-18:00 | For 1 hour after set time | |
| 11:00-13:30 | Until 14:30 | |
| 18:00-19:00 | Until 09:00 the next morning | |
| 19:00-07:59 | Blue disc is not needed if you leave by 08:00 |
From Saturday 18:00 until Monday 09:00 blue-zone parking is free. No need to set blue disc.
For Blue Zones marked with a 4 digit area code and you do not have the corresponding parking permit just follow regular Blue Zone parking rules. If you have a valid parking permit for the specific area code, parking is unlimited in these zones.
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