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Yield signs vs stop signs

 
steward
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Does anyone know of places that replaced stop signs with yield signs without increasing the accident rate?

It seems to me that a low speed sign and a yield sign would save gas, and reduce noise pollution.

Our area has tried adding some traffic circles, but they're hard to retrofit in urban areas without making them really tight to use. Some are more successful than others, but they do seem to reduce noise.
 
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Give way signs at intersections are the norm here, even on major roads. We also have lots of roundabouts (UK influence undoubtedly) and in places where plonking a raised circle in the middle would take up too much space, there's always the option of painting a circle and changing the signage. If you don't have an established roundabout driving culture, that might be a step too far, though.
 
master pollinator
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If you don't have an established roundabout driving culture, that might be a step too far, though.



Um, yeah. We have one nearby in an even smaller town. It's not well traveled, and even so, I worry when I see another car on it with me. I've had a couple close calls there.
 
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Lack of driving culture used to it is a major thing. Where I used to live they put in a roundabout that ended up with 3-5 wrecks a week until they wised up and removed it. Too many people had no clue how to deal with it.
 
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Agreed - there are a couple of them, not too far from here, and I'm always nervous on them - especially on my motorcycle - because too many people here just don't get it. And during tourist season, all bets are off, and I avoid them, like the plague.
 
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Hi Pearl,

I avoid driving through towns that have them.   There is a town near me that has a town square that is technically a traffic circle. The problem is that local custom says the traffic takes turns.   Of course, people from outside the area don’t know that.  One day there is going to be an impressive legal dispute over this.   Me, I avoid the that town square.
 
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Jay Angler wrote:Does anyone know of places that replaced stop signs with yield signs without increasing the accident rate?


The only places that I've witnessed that happening were so rural that the accident rate was approaching 0 both before and after. The stop sign nearest my house is either ignored completely or treated like a yield sign. I haven't yet seen an accident there in the four years we've been here.

Am I the only person around who adores traffic circles? Sure, I wish people knew how to operate them more consistently, but when everyone does, they're plainly superior to a four-way stop where there's space to put them in.
 
pollinator
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When I was learning to drive in a smallish town, many residential street intersections were “uncontrolled” e.g. no signs. Rule was to slow on approach and yield to car already in intersection. It worked from a driving standpoint, far as I could tell. I think there are not many such left except in rural places, maybe.

Now I live in Chicago. In an urban environment like this the stop signs serve multiple functions that a yield sign would not: 1. Actually giving pedestrians a chance to cross 2. Slowing traffic without all the problems of physical traffic humps. 3. Improving traffic flow by easing or displacing traffic “backups” so vital intersections are not blocked
 
Mk Neal
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Christopher Weeks wrote:
Am I the only person around who adores traffic circles? Sure, I wish people knew how to operate them more consistently, but when everyone does, they're plainly superior to a four-way stop where there's space to put them in.



As a driver intent on passing through without stopping, I like a traffic circle.

As a pedestrian, they’re awful. Make me walk yards out of my way with no shade or shelter, and reliant on the courtesy of drivers to yield. (Yes, of course the law says pedestrian has right of way, with with no actual red light and no ticketing ever it’s luck of the draw)
 
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I think if you're starting from stop signs, you're best to phase these things in.
Roundabouts work really well at a certain traffic density (in the UK at least). So you go from a minor road giving way to a major road, then maybe a stop at a major road, as the traffic density gets higher, you may need traffic lights to give the minor road cars a chance to get out. Then as the minor road becomes more important you might  have a roundabout (mini roundabouts are common in busy towns in the UK and fit inside our narrow streets). The traffic density can get so high that you need lights on the roundabouts ....

Just be grateful you don't live in Swindon - here's the magic roundabout!




Constructed in 1972, and still confusing drivers ;P
 
Carla Burke
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I'll take a hard pass, thanks. 😬
 
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I live closer to that than maybe a handful of permies but I’ve never driven it. New thing for my bucket list.

Yeah, stop signs are rubbish and are very rare here. I was very glad I didn’t see many 4way intersections when I drove in the US. We don’t have any here.

I’ll quickly get off my soapbox but Strong Towns may have something helpful to,say.
 
Jay Angler
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I have always been appalled by some of the "driving based" computer games where crashing and killing things seemed to be a badge of honor.

Wouldn't it be neat if some of those existing platforms could actually have real-life places like Swindon's Magic Roundabout on them? Maybe we could actually teach North Americans how to use roundabouts properly (I admit to being shocked when I ran into a US one years ago and they had a stop sign right at the end of the merge lane - wait - what???  It's probably long gone as that was decades ago.) Actually reward with points for navigating it safely! People would be able to practice specific roundabouts that were on their proposed route and if that wasn't enough, choose to avoid them!
 
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