Stop signs are NOT optional!

[Kogarashi]

Newsflash to the (apparent) teenage girl in the huge SUV: the stop line on the side street you were exiting is back there, not in the middle of my driving lane.

Driving home from dropping Oldest off at preschool, I nearly had my front end taken off. I was on the main drag at this intersection, where a one-way side street crosses a two-way main road. Side street has a stop sign, main road does not. So I'm driving along when suddenly this SUV comes blasting out of the side street with no warning, stopping just short of removing half the front end of my jeep. I look into the other car to see what appear to be two high-school-age girls glaring at me for daring to be in their way. (Could have been as much as mid-20's; I'm an awful judge of ages, especially through two windshields.) I simply glared back and kept going. Unfortunately, hitting the horn didn't even occur to me until after I'd passed them.

Protip: if you're so late for school you have to run stop signs and risk accidents, maybe you should get up earlier. Because if you're entering that intersection at that speed, you're clearly not bothering with the stop sign at all.

And then twice on the way home, I crossed intersections where I had the green light only to see cars come roaring up on the cross street and only stop after their rear wheels were ahead of the stop line. Luckily a lot of the intersections around here have a car-length gap between stop line and crosswalk, due to buses needing the extra space for turning. Whatever happened to stopping completely at the stop line, then proceeding slowly until you could see cross traffic?

[Sapphire Silk]

My neighborhood had an intersection like you describe when I was growing up. There were so many accidents there, that the county finally put a set of stop signs in at each corner so EVERYONE has to stop.

People still blow through it though. One direction is a hill, making it hard to see oncoming cars.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Saw an example of this just last night-- IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD! Twice!

Both cases I was taking our puppy out so she can do her business outside instead of inside.

First incident: some doucherocket in some speedy little car comes up to the intersection of our street and the road into the neighborhood, and-- without stopping at the 4-way stop-- comes rocketing around the corner at speed and heads off down my street. (Which has a cul-de-sac.) I glared at him as he passed, since it was about quarter to 11pm, way past when anyone should be racing in a quiet neighborhood.

Second incident, some 45 mins later: white van cruises right through the 4-way stop intersection and keeps going up the road into the neighborhood, slowing only long enough to toss out newspapers or something.

If it hadn't have been so cold out, I'd have waited for them to come down my street so I could get their company name (on the side of the van) and license plate so I could report them. But between the temperature and my being damn tired, I wasn't in the mood to wait.

[LillFilly]

I hate that. You're never quite sure if they're coming to a stop either.

I also don't understand people that stop at a red light, then S L O W L Y inch forward until they're pretty much in the intersection, just to gain an extra foot or so when the light finally turns.

[ADoyle90815]

I hate that. You're never quite sure if they're coming to a stop either.

I also don't understand people that stop at a red light, then S L O W L Y inch forward until they're pretty much in the intersection, just to gain an extra foot or so when the light finally turns.

I saw that type of person as I was on my way home from work, and if we were at an intersection with a red light camera, they would have seen the flash of the camera go off, as they're that sensitive.

[eltf177]

I look into the other car to see what appear to be two high-school-age girls glaring at me for daring to be in their way.

And this is what really burns me, _THEY_ screw up but act like it's _YOUR_ fault!

[Kogarashi]

I hate that. You're never quite sure if they're coming to a stop either.

Seriously! And then I end up slowing in the intersection because I'm getting ready to brake if they don't stop, so the person behind me gets mad and honks. Can't win.

[Frantic Freddie]

I miss my truck sometimes ('92 Dodge Ram 2500,extended cab 4WD,friend of mine named it "The Bismarck").

One day I was headed into our little town & I see 3 cars stopped on the left waiting for me to pass so they can turn left onto that road.Apparently Dumb Teenage Kid thought they were stopped for him,so he pulls out....right in front of my 3 ton truck goin' 55 mph (did I mention it had the Cummins diesel,that weighs 2x as much as a big V8?).

I locked up the front brakes & leaned on the horn,missed him by a coupla feet,if I'd been 1/2 second faster I'da hit him.I looked at him & gave the one-finger salute & the look on his face was sheer terror.Betcha he looks both ways from now on!

[Reyneth]

A request from someone who is now dealing with these kinds of disputes on a daily basis - if you happen to witness an accident due to someone running a stop sign, running a red light, anything along those lines - please, if at all possible stay and be a witness or if there are no police, get the insurance info and give a statement to the companies of the drivers involved. (If you have somewhere critical to be or are worried for your safety, *please* take care of yourself first though!)

Having witnesses at what would otherwise be a word vs word dispute saves a lot of time and steps in the process to get the claims resolved. This saves insurance companies money which can mean lower premiums. Helps everyone out!

/soapbox

[Andara Bledin]

Having witnesses at what would otherwise be a word vs word dispute saves a lot of time and steps in the process to get the claims resolved. This saves insurance companies money which can mean lower premiums. Helps everyone out!

And if you can't stick around, at least give your contact info to the person not at fault. Give it to both, if you're feeling generous.

^-.-^

[Pagan]

I hate that. You're never quite sure if they're coming to a stop either.

I also don't understand people that stop at a red light, then S L O W L Y inch forward until they're pretty much in the intersection, just to gain an extra foot or so when the light finally turns.

I hate creepers. Seriously, it's not going to make the damn light change any faster. Not to mention that when the light does turn green, they have a tendency to sit there and stare at it for a couple of seconds. If you were in that much of a hurry to creep, why the hell are you sitting there now? Moron.