Distracting Miss Daisy - Stop signs and speed limits endanger Americans A Traffic Free-for-All?

The Atlantic.com ^ | -- | John Staddon

[OnRightOnLeftCoast]

There is a stretch of North Glebe Road, in Arlington, Virginia, that epitomizes the American approach to road safety. It’s a sloping curve, beginning on a four-lane divided highway and running down to Chain Bridge, on the Potomac River. Most drivers, absent a speed limit, would probably take the curve at 30 or 35 mph in good weather. But it has a 25-mph speed limit, vigorously enforced. As you approach the curve, a sign with flashing lights suggests slowing further, to 15 mph. A little later, another sign makes the same suggestion. Great! the neighborhood’s more cautious residents might think. We’re being protected. But I believe policies like this in fact make us all less safe.

[OnRightOnLeftCoast]

A better solution for many drivers might be to get their head out of a very dark place while driving and get rid of all the distractons 'inside' the vehicle.

[Dixie Yooper]

I grew up in Great Britain, and over the past five years I’ve split my time between England and the United States. I’ve long found driving in the U.S. to be both annoying and boring. Annoying because of lots of unnecessary waits at stop signs and stoplights, and because of the need to obsess over speed when not waiting. Boring, scenery apart, because to avoid speeding tickets, I feel compelled to set the cruise control on long trips, driving at the same mind-numbing rate, regardless of road conditions.

This guy must be bored and annoyed the most with the cheap gas prices here compared to what he pays in his beloved homeland.

[pnh102]

I do not really see a problem with traffic enforcement on truly dangerous roads. I think any sort of enforcement should be done without any sort of police traps. Cops should be out in the open so that people see them and slow down. Anyone who gets a ticket in such a scenario only has themselves to blame.

[edcoil]

What I like most about driving in Britain are the round-abouts. We have very few here in Southern Cal.

[DManA]

That’s not what he’s describing. They build a road that’s saft to drive at 30 and then set the speed limit to 15. It’s an invitation to “speed”. And what’s worse it makes the road more dangerous.

[VeniVidiVici]

This guy is right on. We don’t always enforce traffic for safety, but also for revenue. We have stop signs that exist for no reason other than to regulate traffic flow which is BS. We have speed traps that nail people to to raise money rather than to preserve safety.

Look at all the stop signs in a parking lot next time you are in wal-mart or what not. And you *don’t* even have to stop at those.

[Cobra64]

Typically, I see yellow warning signs "35 MPH" and 100 yards before the turn: "State Speed Limit 70."

[QBFimi]

ping

[pnh102]

It’s an invitation to “speed”.

Even in such a situation, it is almost always the driver's fault if he or she speeds. I routinely drive fast on roads where the posted speed limit is 30mph but could easily allow for faster speeds. I haven't been ticketed, but if I am, it doesn't matter what the design speed of the road is.

The times when a cop does tail me, I just set the cruise control to 30mph and watch as the "parade" backs down behind me.

[Calvin Locke]

It's called a "rotatory" here in the US.

You guys in SoCal have those stop lights *on* the entrance ramps to highways, er, the freeways...

[Dixie Yooper]

I have driven that same stretch of road many times. The writer failed to mention how many blind driveways there are as you twist and turn your way down the hill. 30 mph would make it almost impossible for these people to pull out onto the North Glebe without causing an accident or getting killed. If he wants to drive fast down big hills, he should drive out to the Blue Ridge Mountains or go even further to West Virginia.

[DManA]

We are not discussing points of law. We are critiquing public policy - ie. the lack of wisdom in setting speed limits too low.

[BenLurkin]

From the article: "It turns out that the speed signs do perform an important safety function: in wet weather, many drivers had taken the curve too fast; traffic authorities have substantially reduced accidents on the curve by adding the 15-mph warning sign..."

[DManA]

Maybe he picked a bad example but I could point out 50 good ones within 20 miles of here.

[Dixie Yooper]

In MN,(where you’re from), too fast for conditions is defined as any speed that caused you to leave the road. In the winter, that could be less than 5 mph.

[BenLurkin]

You are correct that the number one cause of accidents is people driving while “HUA” (Head Up *$$) but the author's psycho-babbly premise is silly.

To say that we would be safer without stop signs is like saying we would be safer without seat-belts. It is demonstrably false.

[DManA]

That’s true.

[El Sordo]

I'd argue in favor traps.

If police make a point of always being in the open, then no visible police = no police. Choose your speed accordingly.

While the possibility of a trap creates uncertainty. There may or may not be police. Choose your speed accordingly.

I'd argue that the uncertainty of a police presence encourages greater compliance without needing a larger presence.

[BlazingArizona]

What I like most about driving in Britain are the round-abouts. We have very few here in Southern Cal.

My town, Sedona AZ, is experimenting with roundabouts in a major way. Nine of them are being built to replace major intersections that once had signals. One of the first to be completed, several months ago, is right outside my complex. The big advantage: the roundabout is much quieter than the old signalized intersection at night, when most traffic just glides right through. The big disadvantage: the roundabout is noisier by day, when there is a constant chorus of honking as local drivers tangle with tourists who are clueless on how roundabouts work.

[Dixie Yooper]

I know this because I’m a Yooper.