Traffic sign

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Traffic safety sign in the shape of an armband

The traffic safety sign for the physically handicapped consists of three black dots on a yellow background, usually worn as an armband .

Among the disabled in the First World War there were many whose hearing was destroyed or severely impaired. It turned out that they were particularly at risk in traffic because they could not hear acoustic signals. The Berlin writer and librarian Konrad Plath (* August 24, 1865 - April 16, 1927) therefore suggested in his memorandum The introduction of a badge for the hard of hearing in 1919, a symbol that the hard of hearing could wear in public. This was intended to make it clear to other road users that the wearer could not or only partially react to noises and that special consideration and caution was required.

Traffic sign prohibiting motor vehicles and motorcycles from 1910

Plath suggested three black dots on a yellow background, arranged in the shape of a triangle standing on top, as a distinguishing mark. He had not redesigned this symbol, but borrowed it from the German traffic signs of the time : The sign introduced on February 3, 1910, with which vehicles and motorcycles were prohibited from entering, seemed suitable to him.

This proposal was quickly accepted. The introduction of the badge for the hard of hearing was announced by a circular issued by the Reich Ministry of the Interior on July 10, 1920. The restriction to the deaf was subsequently lifted and the group of authorized carriers was generally expanded to include the physically disabled. The mark was particularly adopted by the blind , who became the most common carriers. As a result, designations such as the blind for the blind have become established for the sign, which actually does not indicate any particular form of physical disability.

In the Third Reich , the wearing of the badge was strictly regulated by a joint circular from the Reich and Prussian Ministers of the Interior, the Reich Minister of Labor and the Reich Minister of Transport dated November 16, 1934: from then on, the wearers had to have their armbands stamped by the police. For this, it was necessary to provide recognized evidence of physical disability. A medical examination could be ordered.

By order of the High Command of the Wehrmacht on December 13, 1941, a special version of the armband with a black iron cross between the two upper points was introduced as a “protective badge in road traffic for physically disabled soldiers and former soldiers with military service (service) damage”.

With the end of the Third Reich, the approval requirements and restrictions for wearing the protective badge also ceased. The legal recognition took place in the Federal Republic of Germany via the provisions of §2 of the StVZO . In the 1988 version, for example, these provisions read: “The physically handicapped can indicate their suffering with yellow armbands on both arms or other suitable, clearly visible, yellow badges with three black dots. The yellow area must be at least 125 mm × 125 mm, the diameter of the black dots, which are to be placed in triangular form on the bandages or other badges, must be at least 50 mm. The badges may not be attached to vehicles. "

Since 1998, the relevant provisions have been part of the Driving License Ordinance , where it now says in §2: “Physically disabled people can indicate their disability by means of yellow armbands on both arms or other suitable, clearly visible, yellow badges with three black dots. The badges may not be attached to vehicles. Significantly visually impaired pedestrians can indicate their disability by means of a white cane, being accompanied by a guide dog in a white harness and yellow badges according to sentence 1. "

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