The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is the national standard for all traffic control devices used in the United States on roads open to public travel.[i] There are two groups of target road users: 1) vehicle operators, including cyclists, and 2) pedestrians. The MUTCD has been owned and administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) since 1971 with primary objectives to:[ii]

• Provide national uniformity in traffic control devices
• Serve as the key traffic/transportation engineering reference document
• Stand as the only transportation engineering document that is identified in federal code as the national standard
• Serve as the only document that requires compliance of federal and state law on all roads open to public travel regardless of classification or ownership.

Compliance with the MUTCD has multiple motivations, for example:[iii]

• Promotion of roadway safety
• Mobility (efficiency) of roadway users
• Meeting the needs of specific road user groups
• Achieving consistency with national and/or state traffic control device practices
• Reducing exposure to tort liability lawsuits
• Avoiding potential losses of federal transportation funding

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is the national standard for all traffic control devices used in the United States on roads open to public travel.[i] There are two groups of target road users: 1) vehicle operators, including cyclists, and 2) pedestrians. The MUTCD has been owned and administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) since 1971 with primary objectives to:[ii]

• Provide national uniformity in traffic control devices
• Serve as the key traffic/transportation engineering reference document
• Stand as the only transportation engineering document that is identified in federal code as the national standard
• Serve as the only document that requires compliance of federal and state law on all roads open to public travel regardless of classification or ownership.

Compliance with the MUTCD has multiple motivations, for example:[iii]

• Promotion of roadway safety
• Mobility (efficiency) of roadway users
• Meeting the needs of specific road user groups
• Achieving consistency with national and/or state traffic control device practices
• Reducing exposure to tort liability lawsuits
• Avoiding potential losses of federal transportation funding

The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is the national standard for all traffic control devices used in the United States on roads open to public travel.[i] There are two groups of target road users: 1) vehicle operators, including cyclists, and 2) pedestrians. The MUTCD has been owned and administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) since 1971 with primary objectives to:[ii]

• Provide national uniformity in traffic control devices
• Serve as the key traffic/transportation engineering reference document
• Stand as the only transportation engineering document that is identified in federal code as the national standard
• Serve as the only document that requires compliance of federal and state law on all roads open to public travel regardless of classification or ownership.

Compliance with the MUTCD has multiple motivations, for example:[iii]

• Promotion of roadway safety
• Mobility (efficiency) of roadway users
• Meeting the needs of specific road user groups
• Achieving consistency with national and/or state traffic control device practices
• Reducing exposure to tort liability lawsuits
• Avoiding potential losses of federal transportation funding