Comment 11609

By Rusty (registered) - website | Posted September 11, 2007 at 12:20:12

Ryan,

In the UK there are no STOP signs (that I know of). Instead you have 'Give Way' signs and roundabouts. To me these are much more sensible traffic management approaches.

Let's face it - one reason non of us stops when the intersection is clear (cyclists and drivers alike) is because most intersections can be safely navigated by simply slowing down, looking around and moving on. This is true for most motor vehicles which now have pretty good sight lines and it's triple-ly true for cyclists.

You can't expect compliance with a rule which is unnecessary cautious. It's all fine and good to be careful, but the approach has to be reasonable otherwise nobody will ever abide by it.

We know that STOP signs can actually CAUSE accidents too. Recall the horrendous crash just outside of Hamilton a couple of weeks back. With the All Way STOP designation drivers are sometimes inclined to rely too readily on their right of way without keeping their eyes on the other driver (not that I am suggesting that this is what happened in the Hamilton accident...we may never know). But I have seen this happen - and done it myself. In the UK, with the Give Way approach, drivers tend to be wary of their counterparts even when they clearly have the right of way.

I'm all for enforcement but the current STOP sign approach is just asking to be abused and you'll never enforce it effectively unless you have cops on every corner.

I guess this discussion is creating more debate than solutions?...!

Ben

Ben Bull. Cap'n Bully has a new Blog! http://bullysmoviereviews.blogspot.ca/ or something like that.

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