4 ms·

Can anyone explain why the US has so many stop signs? Here in rainy Britian, we have "give way" signs at 99.9% of junctions. You're not required to stop. There

Can anyone explain why the US has so many stop signs? Here in rainy Britian, we have "give way" signs at 99.9% of junctions. You're not required to stop. There are stop signs, but in 10 years of driving I've only seen 1 in the UK. They don't seem necessary frankly...

mikhailfranco 6y ago
The US also has 4-way stop signs, where each driver has to remember the arrival of the other vehicles, then move off in the correct sequence. I once also saw a 3-way stop, meaning a 4-road junction, where one road had right-of-way and the others had to do the precedence order. Obviously, this was insanely dangerous - if anyone on the stopping approaches thought it was a 4-way stop, and assumed that all other vehicles would stop, then it would pull out in front of a vehicle that actually had the right-of-way. Then there's right-turn-on-red, which is scary for pedestrians...
esotericn 6y ago
Stop signs are fairly common out in rural areas without much traffic in the UK. The US just has a lot more of that. We also just have roundabouts all over the place and Americans seem to be allergic to them for whatever reason.
- leephillips 6y ago
  But this is about DC. DC is full of intersections which should be controlled by traffic lights but have either nothing or a stop sign, because that’s cheaper. It’s an example of the generally poor infrastructure, and it makes the pedestrian experience rather annoying.
  - mb7733 6y ago
    I think the pedestrian experience of 4-way stops is pretty great - you always get right of way. Pedestrian experience is probably the one downside of roundabouts.
    - leephillips 6y ago
      It didn’t seem great to me when I lived in DC. Having the “right of way” doesn’t mean that cars, eager to grab their turn, will respect it, or even see you. Plus, most of these are not 4-way stop signs. And, DC has plenty of roundabouts as well (streets were laid out in the 18th c. by a French dude). And that’s even worse, as a driver or a pedestrian, because US drivers have no idea what to do in a traffic circle.
      - happymellon 6y ago
        It's a one way road that you are joining. Nothing more complicated than that.
  - LatteLazy 6y ago
    Poor design for pedestrians/drivers is good design for tax payers it seems...
pards 6y ago
Same in Sydney, Australia - it's 'give way' signs or roundabouts, and they're much more efficient IMHO. Mythbusters did an episode on it, too, which supports my view. There are very few 'yield' intersections here in Toronto, Canada. It's all 4-way stops which are very confusing because the right of way is inconclusive and circumstantial.
- chris_wot 6y ago
  I don’t think that’s true. There are plenty of stop signs in Sydney. Way more than give way.
jsmith45 6y ago
The US as a rule avoids junctions without a traffic control device. Yield signs (equiv. of "give way") are very rarely used, except as part of merge scenarios (including). The exceptions are: A merge does not normally have traffic control devices except possibly a yield sign, or special merge signage. Obviously a one way road forking (like part of a divided highway) does not need signals or stop signs. Driveways do not usually count as roads for determining if an intersection exists. Commercial driveways are sometimes treated as roads, typically with stop signs, and ocassionally in heavy traffic areas with traffic lights. Large commercial areas (big box stores, or shopping centers) are more likely to have their driveways treated as roads. Two roads intersecting without anything present to control traffic basically never happens. The less important street or less traffic street will typically get stop signs. If both roads are negligible traffic and build to the same standards, the stop sign direction is picked arbitrarily. If there is significant traffic, but both roads are approximately equal in importance and volume, 4 way stop is typically used, basically functioning as a poor-mans roundabout. In cases with really high traffic, traffic lights are typically used at intersections. Most areas in the US do not make heavy use of roundabouts. They are becoming increasingly more common over time, but mostly in newly developed areas and it still varies by location. Retrofitting existing intersections is not super common (although it probably happens a lot more in some parts of the country).

mikhailfranco 6y ago

The US also has 4-way stop signs, where each driver has to remember the arrival of the other vehicles, then move off in the correct sequence. I once also saw a 3-way stop, meaning a 4-road junction, where one road had right-of-way and the others had to do the precedence order. Obviously, this was insanely dangerous - if anyone on the stopping approaches thought it was a 4-way stop, and assumed that all other vehicles would stop, then it would pull out in front of a vehicle that actually had the right-of-way. Then there's right-turn-on-red, which is scary for pedestrians...

esotericn 6y ago

Stop signs are fairly common out in rural areas without much traffic in the UK. The US just has a lot more of that. We also just have roundabouts all over the place and Americans seem to be allergic to them for whatever reason.

leephillips 6y ago
But this is about DC. DC is full of intersections which should be controlled by traffic lights but have either nothing or a stop sign, because that’s cheaper. It’s an example of the generally poor infrastructure, and it makes the pedestrian experience rather annoying.
- mb7733 6y ago
  I think the pedestrian experience of 4-way stops is pretty great - you always get right of way. Pedestrian experience is probably the one downside of roundabouts.
  - leephillips 6y ago
    It didn’t seem great to me when I lived in DC. Having the “right of way” doesn’t mean that cars, eager to grab their turn, will respect it, or even see you. Plus, most of these are not 4-way stop signs. And, DC has plenty of roundabouts as well (streets were laid out in the 18th c. by a French dude). And that’s even worse, as a driver or a pedestrian, because US drivers have no idea what to do in a traffic circle.
    - happymellon 6y ago
      It's a one way road that you are joining. Nothing more complicated than that.
- LatteLazy 6y ago
  Poor design for pedestrians/drivers is good design for tax payers it seems...

pards 6y ago

Same in Sydney, Australia - it's 'give way' signs or roundabouts, and they're much more efficient IMHO. Mythbusters did an episode on it, too, which supports my view. There are very few 'yield' intersections here in Toronto, Canada. It's all 4-way stops which are very confusing because the right of way is inconclusive and circumstantial.

chris_wot 6y ago
I don’t think that’s true. There are plenty of stop signs in Sydney. Way more than give way.

jsmith45 6y ago

The US as a rule avoids junctions without a traffic control device. Yield signs (equiv. of "give way") are very rarely used, except as part of merge scenarios (including). The exceptions are: A merge does not normally have traffic control devices except possibly a yield sign, or special merge signage. Obviously a one way road forking (like part of a divided highway) does not need signals or stop signs. Driveways do not usually count as roads for determining if an intersection exists. Commercial driveways are sometimes treated as roads, typically with stop signs, and ocassionally in heavy traffic areas with traffic lights. Large commercial areas (big box stores, or shopping centers) are more likely to have their driveways treated as roads. Two roads intersecting without anything present to control traffic basically never happens. The less important street or less traffic street will typically get stop signs. If both roads are negligible traffic and build to the same standards, the stop sign direction is picked arbitrarily. If there is significant traffic, but both roads are approximately equal in importance and volume, 4 way stop is typically used, basically functioning as a poor-mans roundabout. In cases with really high traffic, traffic lights are typically used at intersections. Most areas in the US do not make heavy use of roundabouts. They are becoming increasingly more common over time, but mostly in newly developed areas and it still varies by location. Retrofitting existing intersections is not super common (although it probably happens a lot more in some parts of the country).