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Old 12-15-2016, 12:12 PM
 
Location: Sector 001
15,935 posts, read 12,216,775 times
Reputation: 16103

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I sometimes ponder whether our strict rules regarding stopping are somewhat outdated.. specifically having people come to a full complete stop at a stop-sign actually being safer. To me it seems like we should be able to treat stop signs like yield signs and coast through if we can clearly see there is no oncoming traffic and everything is safe, particularly when the car in front of is going.. treat it like a train.

Where I live we have this one factory being built and all the employees leave at once and all have to exit the same way.. this is a rural area with not much traffic.. if they all just kept on going when they saw it was clear the traffic would be out of there in a third the time instead of having it back up for a half mile down the road because each person has to come to a complete stop. Now some people have realized this and will just go when the person in front of them does, which greatly speeds things up.

Similarly at stop lights, why sit there when you know you can make a safe passage through the intersection? Wouldn't it be more efficient for traffic flow on side-streets for people to go when it is safe and then you won't trigger the sensor to make the light change, thus the main artery can stay green for traffic to pass? Often times lights are dumb and will just change color a specified number of seconds after you get there, regardless of whether a bunch of traffic is coming or not.

It would be nice if stoplights themselves were more intelligent and could sense when they need to keep the light green longer since it's more efficient to keep flowing traffic flowing until the congestion is gone versus prematurely changing the light back to red and having things back up more.

I've noticed a trend lately on 5 lane roads with the middle lane being a turn lane where people will pull into the middle lane and use that to merge into traffic when they need to turn left. I thought that was pretty clever and have started trialing it. Much, much faster than trying to wait for both lanes to clear before making a left.

I do realize, like most nanny state laws, that they are designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator, so it's not surprising they are as strict as they are. Still I'd like to tip the balance more towards efficiency and traffic flow rather than stop and go.

All opinions and discussion are welcome.. is anyone interested in talking about stoplights and stop signs? lol

Last edited by sholomar; 12-15-2016 at 12:20 PM..

 
Old 12-15-2016, 01:43 PM
 
17,186 posts, read 12,046,139 times
Reputation: 17120
Once all cars are autonomous they will become a thing of the past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7_lwq3BfkY
 
Old 12-15-2016, 01:48 PM
 
Location: North York
281 posts, read 325,446 times
Reputation: 464
Quote:
Originally Posted by stockwiz View Post
Where I live we have this one factory being built and all the employees leave at once and all have to exit the same way.. this is a rural area with not much traffic.. if they all just kept on going when they saw it was clear the traffic would be out of there in a third the time instead of having it back up for a half mile down the road because each person has to come to a complete stop. Now some people have realized this and will just go when the person in front of them does, which greatly speeds things up.

Sounds like a round-a-bout would be the best solution here. Near where I live there is a power plant that just had a round-a-bout installed at the highway interchange and it works great.
 
Old 12-15-2016, 02:09 PM
 
Location: MD's Eastern Shore
3,659 posts, read 4,796,480 times
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Then why have lights and stop signs. All that would accomplish is having everybody make a judgement call and everybodys judgement of distance/speed seems a bit different and that is where accidents come from.

Besides, following the rules of the road such as stopping completely at stop signs and waiting through the cycle on traffic lights at all hours of the day/night helps make those actions automatic, as they should be, so one doesn't get too comfortable rolling through a stop sign on a high speed road without looking or misjudging the actual distance of that car approaching the traffic light and you getting T-boned!

And no, just having a line of cars roll through an intersection without following the rules isn't going to do anything. Perhaps your local factory should hire someone to guide traffic upon closing time as schools and many factories do with similar situations.

One important aspect of driving is knowing that the others cars are going to follow the rules. That is what lets you cruise along a highway at 60 or so MPH when there are various cross streets.

Spend some time in third world country's such as much of Latin America and you'll see similar driving as you recommend as a large percentage do not have licenses and never learned the correct rules of driving, which believe it or not, are the same (or very similar) as here. Though they are not really enforced. I have seen countless accidents, close calls and bodies on those streets in the time I've spent in those country's and always welcome the organized driving we have here in comparison.

What you would like to see, it seems, is traffic accidents and fatalities climb to third world status all because you don't want to wait a couple quick moments for your turn. Bad idea all around!
 
Old 12-15-2016, 02:16 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,707 posts, read 79,502,588 times
Reputation: 39443
We have locations like this. One is a left turn lane where there is almost always 20 cars lined up waiting to turn. When traffic clears, everyone turns left in a steady stream. If each person were to come to a full stop before turning, the traffic jam would back up for a mile and a lot of people woudl get rear ended.

There are certain lights I will not sit at when they are red and no one is around. It is dumb. A few of them are extremely slow lights for some reason. Sitting there for several minutes when there is no one on the cross street, makes no sense. I just go.

The rolling stop thing is also pretty much the norm here, especially at 4 way stops. If no one is lined up at the cross street, people just pause.
 
Old 12-15-2016, 04:11 PM
 
4,307 posts, read 7,189,026 times
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A few 4-way intersections can be found in my city, where one intersecting street has only yield signs, and the other intersecting street has nothing. But I've only come across this situation in some residential areas where both streets have very low traffic volumes. I've also noticed over the years that a number of these such intersections have gotten their yield signs changed to stop signs.
 
Old 12-15-2016, 04:30 PM
 
Location: Log "cabin" west of Bangor
7,058 posts, read 9,035,551 times
Reputation: 15628
Quote:
To me it seems like we should be able to treat stop signs like yield signs and coast through if we can clearly see there is no oncoming traffic and everything is safe, particularly when the car in front of is going.. treat it like a train.
Because, if you start letting people make 'judgement calls' rather than having concrete rules that *must* be followed, you're going to have a lot more 'accidents'...especially with the current 'me first, what I'm doing is more important than what you are doing' attitudes that seem to be prevailing.

Want to see it in action? Watch some Russian car crash videos on you-tube.

I think that about 10 hours of Russian car crash videos should be a requirement for Driver's Ed...especially the ones that show what those nutballs do on ice and snow- how NOT to drive...
 
Old 12-15-2016, 05:19 PM
 
Location: Florida
3,394 posts, read 6,052,709 times
Reputation: 10282
I wish we had more traffic circles, or roundabouts depending on what you call them, but the awful truth is that it's too easy to get a license in the US. The consequence of everyone having a license is that the standard for testing is lower. It's a joke. People see driving as a right now and not as a privilege.

If you can pay the fee, pass the joke of a written test, put your seat belt on and get down the block and back without crashing the car, you get a license.
 
Old 12-15-2016, 05:47 PM
 
Location: not normal, IL
776 posts, read 576,798 times
Reputation: 917
It is the fact that most people aren't mature enough. If you have ever been through Cheyenne, WY or Laramie, WY (I think both do it if I remember correctly) at night, they change all their traffic lights to yellow. Both times I been there, the residences are mature enough and have enough common since to make this system work.

I think the problem is a lack of city planning and good infrastructure. If your plant was built in an industrial zone or industrial park on a higher volume road, this wouldn't be a problem. The stop lights would still be a problem if they aren't timed correctly. But that is just another problem with the US's primitive infrastructure.
 
Old 12-15-2016, 08:08 PM
 
Location: Crook County, Hellinois
5,820 posts, read 3,839,762 times
Reputation: 8123
Quote:
Originally Posted by stockwiz View Post
I sometimes ponder whether our strict rules regarding stopping are somewhat outdated.. specifically having people come to a full complete stop at a stop-sign actually being safer. To me it seems like we should be able to treat stop signs like yield signs and coast through if we can clearly see there is no oncoming traffic and everything is safe, particularly when the car in front of is going.. treat it like a train.
Stop signs provide an easy, cost-effective revenue source for police departments, and for individual cops to meet their "standards". If you think about it, they need no electricity and only minimal maintenance. Even small towns with only a church and a gas station can afford them. The return on investment into new stop signs is very high, with the ticket revenue they provide. So I wouldn't hold my breath for cities replacing them with yield signs or changing the stop sign laws.

Last edited by MillennialUrbanist; 12-15-2016 at 08:41 PM..
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