Jonatan Hasiewicz

The paper is devoted to the issue of signal traffic control in the context of proper design, opinion, and approval of traffic organization, focusing on the safety principles and practices of road users. Formal and legal aspects derived from the basic provisions of the Act on Road Traffic and its executive acts are explained in depth. Both designers and traffic management authorities have a major dilemma about the interpretation of many signal phase systems. This is confirmed by the results of a study - as many as 71% of the analyzed intersections contained errors in the application of the signal allowing turning in the direction indicated by the “green arrow”. In the paper the possibilities of using individual traffic signals on roads and intersections, and the problems associated with the so-called “green arrow” in particular are explained. Interpretative shortcomings regarding the traffic control of public transport means, traffic control at pedestrian crossings and in the “intersection areas”, including the entrance of a non-public road are thoroughly characterized. The paper is divided into three parts. The first one is devoted to the legal basis of signal traffic control in Poland, and description of the rules of traffic participants’ movement in the conditions of traffic controlled by traffic lights. The three-part paper, as a whole, will be crowned by the authors' conclusions in the final part, along with recommendations for amendments to the Act on Road Traffic and executive acts.

In this part of the article, the authors focus their attention on the formal and legal issues related to the design of traffic signals on roads and intersections in Poland. A synthesis of the characteristics of the necessary content of the design of traffic organization with traffic lights, approved by the competent authority managing traffic on the road is given. A historical outline of the guidelines for the implementation of the signal allowing turning in the direction indicated by the green arrow is provided. The most important aspect of this part of the article is a commentary on the current legal provisions regarding the permissibility and inadmissibility of allowing simultaneous movement of individual collision streams – with particular emphasis on vehicle streams controlled by the S-2 traffic signal. The commentary includes separate references to the legal status from the original version of the requirements made in 2004 and from the 2008 and 2015 amendments to the regulations. In the authors’ opinion, these descriptions provide key points explaining the complexity of the problem for designers, reviewers, and approvers of signals controlled traffic organization. An effort has been made to explain comprehensively all possible situations since there is currently a non-uniform application of signal phases at intersections and different opinions on the questions of interpreting the correct application of the "green arrow" signal. The results of the study in this regard are included in part III of the article.