You have all seen this, at least in the U.S. The red paint on signs of all kinds, such as traffic signs, no smoking signs, etc. fades after a year or two, while the other colors last for a decade or more. Why can't the sign industry invent and use a red paint that lasts as long as the other colors, mainly black? I think probably someone invented such a paint long ago but for some reason the sign industry doesn't use it. Maybe because it's too expensive. Among other things, this is a safety issue. For example, when you are driving and see a graphic "no left turn" sign in which the red paint (slash) has faded, you have to take a few more tenths of a second to figure out what the sign means, and when you are driving, you often must make decisions in one second or less. This is also increases the risk you will be ticketed for, for example, unintentionally smoking in a no-smoking area. You then get into an argument with the police officer and with the court about whether someone with normal intelligence and vision should be able to read the faulty sign. Over the years I have learned how to interpret signs in which the red paint has faded. For example, a "P" in which part of the letter is missing means "no parking" and a cigarette that has a blank spot in the middle means "no smoking". But some people have a hard time doing this kind of pattern recognition, and we shouldn't have to.
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Lucky for you that you're not color blind. I don't think too many people have as much trouble reading signs as you do. Red pigment has always faded, come up with a cure, not a complaint.
Just so you know, it takes years for the red sign ink to fade totally away. If the sign is facing South it might last as little as seven or so, if it's facing North it might last twice as long.
The fading has to do with UV resistance. Red is the least resistant. The 3-M company has been working on this for over 30 years.
There are some transparent materials that block UV light such as glass. I don't know if it's practical to use a glass cover for red signs but some fused on enamels are red and the glass pigment carrier might block UV.
Traffic signs require a facing that can be more or less destroyed and still be easily recognizable. The facings currently used are far more resistant to fading than the ones available just ten or fifteen years ago.
If you see a sign that does not meet your expectations of what a sign should be don't just drive by it complaining to yourself. Call whoever is responsible for the sign and voice your concerns. Chances are that the governing body didn't know the sign was deficient and will quickly dispatch someone to replace the sign.
You could be saving a life . . .
There is a red pigment that never fades that has been in use for literally thousands of years. It's iron (III) oxide, commonly known as rust. It's cheap, abundant and chemically stable. The only problem with it is that the color is a rather drab brownish red. You can change its hue by mixing it with other metal oxides, but you can't get a really bright red. Still, if you don't mind a rather dull red, it will never fade, ever.