It's not just you HR - I don't think anyone around here stops at stop signs.

After the horrific crash last month in Ontario that killed 11 people there was alot of discussion and items in the paper about stop signs.

Apparently they are the most ignored sign and that lots of studies have been done on it.  It is one of the reasons behind a rural push towards traffic circles.

People ignore them or don't see them or just don't bother.  Particularily if they occur along a normal driving route. 

I know I never trust a ghiway stop sign and always monitor the oncoming car for them to  be running.

Maybe ignoring Stop signs is another indication of the "Lexus syndrome" being discussed on another thread? 

When people start to think they are in some way 'more important' or 'more entitled' than others then they start to think that rules are in place to control 'ordinary' people in order to give the 'special' people an easier ride through life. 

Doesn't this fit on Maslow's scale - I seem to recall there being something in that book that claimed that truly mature people followed laws because it was the right thing to do.  Immature folks think they only have to obey the rules if they are being observed and evaluated.

Apparently signal ligths have also become optional...

And when were the rules about how to react to a yellow light re-written?

I missed both those memos.

I have accidently cruised through a stop sign. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we are easily distracted now a days.  Personally I think that people are in too much of a hurry and have forgotten how to think of anyone other then themselves.

I'm seeing that around here too - especially worrisome in the school district, when crossing guards are not present.   Too many people in too much of a hurry! 

Lastpointe raises the issue of traffic circles - We've experienced them in England & in Italy & IMO they are really quite wonderful at keeping traffic moving safely,   I imagine the transition from one system to another here would be tough though - I would imagine many North Americans would be quite puzzled about how to maneuver them.

There are some traffic circles here, and they aren't used well.  One even has lights, which I think is a little odd.

I do get slightly annoyed by stop signs when traffic travelling perpendicular has a red light (for pedestrians).  Often, I could make my turn safely, but coming to a full stop means their light will turn green before I can go sometimes.

I'm guessing that by circles you mean what we call "roundabouts" here in Oz?

The rule is to give way to the car that's already in the roundabout. Sometimes there's a collision - but as it's at slow speed it's never serious........

I  like them - you don't get held up as much as you do with traffic lights - and it's safer than nothing..........

(Obviously, the major intersections are controlled by traffic lights.)

Yes, Yes - roundabouts!

If I remember correctly it is next to impossible to get safely around a busy roundabout on a bike!

Chemgal wrote: There are some traffic circles here, and they aren't used well. One even has lights, which I think is a little odd.

Traffic circles work well for a particular traffic density. When that density increases, the size of the circle also has to increase, or traffic gets jammed as cars trying to enter the circle are prevented by too many cars in the circle trying to exit. Unfortunately many traffic circles were made with lower densities in mind, and then when they need to be increased in size, there's no room.  So traffic lights are added to keep the traffic flowing, which takes away the point of the traffic circle, and at that point, many circles end up being removed (but sometimes they are kept that way because the construction phase would cause so much traffic congestion!)

double quote - this car's been around the circle one too many times

I can attest to that! There is one near my parents house that NO one knows how to drive properly. I have seen people "yeild" to an empty round about, people not yield at all, people go the wrong way through it, people passing (it's too small to safely pass) people not using the outside line properly, NO one signals to say they're getting out...it's painful!

However, my mom does say it works well in the mornings when she goes to work when it is regulars going through it.

Oddly, we're starting to see small roundabouts in neighbourhoods here. There are two in the new subdivision just north of me. Not quite sure why they used them instead of a conventional cross because it's just the intersection of two streets. Apparently, they did build a proper roundabout at one of the main intersections in London during a rebuild but I haven't seen it yet. It's in a part of town where I rarely go (nothing wrong with it, it's just out of my way). I remember navigating the big roundabout in Halifax back when my wife (fiancee at the time) lived there in the nineties. Did master it eventually.

Mendalla