The existing methods of traffic sign detection and recognition based on low dynamic range (LDR) images can achieve ideal results in good exposure environment. But they are vulnerable to the limitation of lighting and weather conditions, leading to weak robustness. For this reason, we propose a recognition method based on the high dynamic range (HDR) technology. The captured LDR images under different exposure conditions are adaptively stretched in the luminance range by the improved inverse tone mapping algorithm, generating two sub-images separately. Then an HDR image produced by the multi-exposure fusion algorithm is used instead of the original LDR images for recognition. The experimental results show that the proposed method can greatly improve the accuracy of traffic sign detection and recognition.