Coasting through stop signs legally

Of course it's a made up stat (I didn't imagine anyone would take it literally), but in my experience it is fairly accurate. There are very few of them in the Tampa Bay area and, other than the one located near Clearwater Beach, zero effort to educate drivers as to their use or enforce the law. I encounter one on a primary shortcut to work and unless there is little to no traffic, I never get to go through one without at least one car disobeying it and violating another driver's right of way. Are there 3 or 5 way roundabouts? I'm certain there are, but your 90% 4-way estimate is probably conservative. I am not opposed to them in theory, only in practice and that is a the fault of the drivers, law enforcement and traffic planners. If the driving public was properly educated as to their use and law enforcement saw to it that transgressors were charged, I would be all for them. I am not optimistic, however, as local law enforcement appears to be far more concerned with cars going 10 miles over the speed limit on the interstates rather that 3 cars running every red light.

 

Second/third/etc on roundabouts, and there are quite a few advocacy
websites done by traffic engineers who are all in favor of them
for the same reasons. But they really need to go hand-in-hand
with public [re]education. And they need to be uniformly designed
so that the traffic in the circle ALWAYS has right of way, or
else they just plain don't work. And there are plenty of degenerate,
stupid cases where some of the incoming traffic *does* have right
of way per the signage, causing people in the loop to have to
stop, which jams up the whole works. The rocket scientists behind
these abortions need a forcible career change.
.
The nice thing about roundabouts correctly done is the predictability;
you always know you're going to come down to a very low speed
at entry [if not have to stop outright] and can plan your nice
regen glide accordingly. The more people do that, the far fewer
rear-end incidents will occur because more people are slowing
at a predictable rate that doesn't cause too much spacing
compression. Roundabouts are absolutely optimal in a hybrid.
.
For existing stop signs, I don't think I know *anyone* who actually
really and truly does a *complete* stop at any of them in the
absence of cross-traffic. Closest I ever see is a dip to a very
low speed, almost stop, but not an actual standstill if the way
is clear. And I think most LE is okay with that, as long as
they don't see the "flying California stop" at more like 20 mph.
In a Prius you can come off regen at 8 mph and hopefully use
minimal physical brakes to get down to that acceptable rolling
rate a little farther in advance of the stop line, use a little
remaining momentum to at least start the turn, and even if you
haven't stopped completely can manage to piss off the F350
behind you for not just blowing it off!
.
_H*

 

How does a pedestrian safely cross the street at a roundabout?

 

A pedestrian in a marked crosswalk would have the right of way over vehicular traffic. In practical application....run like hell and hope for the best.

 

Depends on area. In Ontario I see plenty of full stops, in Quebec, very few. I note that it is very difficult to avoid a "jerk" at the end of a full stop, unless you decel VERY slowly. I think that's one reason people avoid them; I consider the last second jerk to be proof of a full stop.

Yes, after looking every which way for cops and pedestrians/cyclists/vehicles/obstacles/animals, my target is to just barely avoid dropping out of regen. Ideally, the physical brakes will almost never be used.

 

The traffic circles in Washington DC are an effing nightmare. No around here understands or respects the possibility that anyone else might have the right of way. I will go far out of my way to avoid the worst ones. I nearly had the front end of my car taken off several times by Metrobuses driven into Washington Circle at full speed despite the fact that other cars are coming around the circle.

Even the small roundabouts in my residential neighborhood can be a problem. Again Metrobus drivers are the worst offenders - they never, ever, ever yield or even slow down before entering them. Most other vehicles don't slow down either. I've lost track of the number of times I've nearly been killed riding my bike in one of them when I clearly have the right of way.

As for running stop signs, it's not enough to see that there are no other cars approaching the intersection. You'd better be damn sure there are no pedestrians.

And p.s I actually come to a complete stop at stop signs. I do it on my bike, too.

 

That would be 8 MPH and above - far too fast to try justifying a 'legal' illegal rolling stop.

I on the other hand come to a gentle and complete stop every time. I love seeing the freaked-out expressions of the people behind be when they have to slam on their brakes. Run into me, YOUR FAULT!

 

driving in Europe require good driving skills and basic driving courtesy, both that are on very low level in most of the U.S. states.

for god's sake, Americans do not even understand who has the right of way on a 4 way intersection that only has the stop signs, so how can we implement roundabouts?!

 

As an avid pedestrian and cyclist as well, I can assure you I've spent countless hours analyzing the dangerous things drivers around peds and cycs. Eg. I ALWAYS signal turns, if for no other reason that it shows courtesy to anybody I may not see.

I just realized I rarely drive at night anymore. Clearly lighting plays a major role for visibility.

I'll claim also that under 8 MPH, it's "coasting", not "running", and probably 50% of drivers in this area do that when intersection is absolutely clear. At 15+ MPH I'd call it "running", but it's not the words that matter, it's the numbers.

 

I am in love with the idea of counters indicated future light changes. They have several out that you can look at for pedestrians, but I have actually seen a few on the lights for cars! You can adjust your speed up if you are close, and down if your back far enough to plan a stop. I hate that feeling when you are approaching the point of no return and the light turns yellow.

 

years ago when i lived in Europe there were certain major streets that were "green wave" enabled.
that is, if you drive at a certain speed, say 40 to 45 mph (speed is displayed next to traffic lights) you can drive for miles and miles without stopping.

think of saved energy and time there! compare that with 'binary foot' drivers (accelerator or brake) that many drivers here seem to have and think of the energy saved!

 

This is indeed a great idea and not too hard to implement. Though living in Baltimore there are probably other needs that should be adressed with that $

Not a big fan of roundabouts, I see lots of potential for carnage.

I think that 4-way stop signs are a good safety idea. If y'all complain about drivers ramming through them remember that it takes two lunatic drivers to have an accident in a 4-way stop sign. That's the idea, that you stop and watch the other person slow down or ramming through the stop.

Having lived in Europe for 19 years the TWO big problems about driving in the US are 1) Tailgating 2) Driving slowly on the left lanes.

Four-way stops are an improvement more often than not.

 

Driving brings out the worst in human behaviour, methinks. Lowest Common Denominator, or LCD, in driving tends to mean Least Courteous Driver--and it's NOT just the under-educated or over medicated. More often than not, the self-proclaimed, "Importanter Than You," guy/gal is the nice person who blows the sign with complete contempt and disregard simply can't be bothered by traffic laws. Relaxing these seems to serve only to embolden the already brash, rude, and inconsiderate drivers.

I've driven in Europe extensively, from German Autobahns to Turkish countrysides (complete with 4-wide passing in two-lane roads). The difference in these countries seems to be that everyone drives in the same manner. Aggressive is fine as long as I know everyone's aggressively driving. Everyone seems to follow the rules, what rules there are (except in cities), and drivers stay to the right, stop at pedestrian crosswalks, etc.

The problem, at least here, seems to be that everyone wants their driving to personify their character. And sphincterization seems to be more common than common sense.

 

They have those here in Quebec, Canada and I think I've seen a few in Ontario also.

They count down to 0 for both upcoming green lights and red lights. Yes, if you can see the numbers they are wonderful !

I think the countdowns appeal to the "F1 racing" mentality too many Quebec drivers have, but they appeal to FE nuts too.

 

I disagree. It only takes one. Driver A can do everything right, but that doesn't stop Driver B who doesn't even see the stop, and plows through at 60+ MPH. Ever watch police chases on Cops ?

 

Rotaries are better than 4-way stops because in the event of
a simultaneous right-angle meeting, where the car on the right
would normally have right of way, both cars can start to proceed
at the same time and simply fall in behind each other as they
circulate.
.
The biggest issue, as pointed out by several of the roundabout
advocacy/design sites, is that the center island has to be large
enough and the approaches have to curve the right way to avoid
the right-angles problem in the first place. Around here we have
a few token rotaries with tiny center islands through which two
right-angle cars can basically dive straight, which obviously
creates one of those space-time discontinuities. Proper islands
and feeders can still be laid out in a very small footprint,
easily within the real estate already taken by many larger
intersections.
.
Ped crossings are done across the approach lanes, just after
they split, where cars are already down to a low speed [or should
be] and only have to stop slightly shorter to accomodate a
crossing before heading into the rotary.
.
I heartily suggest some reading at roundaboutsusa.com ...
.
_H*

 

roundabouts have been EXTREMELY popular in my area especially in the last 5 years or so... and having been a very frustrated commuter at two intersections in particular, i have to say, they were none too soon in coming.

they route much more traffic much smoother than any light system. on a street in my town, it is fed by two exits from I-5 and from 4pm to 6 pm every weekday, it used to be HELL to drive. there was one light that would stay red for 5 minutes in a vain attempt to lessen the average 5-10 block backup of traffic to no avail... finally a roundabout was put in... actually 3 of them... now, its a slowdown still (too much traffic no matter what) but only within 2 blocks of the roundabouts, you slow to 10 mph... roll up and thru the roundabout and you are gone... average time saved to travel the two miles across town on this street... about 10 minutes... and yes, they studied traffic flows and it went from an average 17 minutes to 7 mins...

was there confusion?? oh course there was... any time ANYTHING is changed...someone will be unhappy...period...oh well too bad...

 

There are two reasons you ignore a traffic signal when a policemen gives you a contrasting signal.

1. In most, and probably all, states that is what the law says.

2. A traffic signal can not throw you face down on the hood of your car while your in-laws drive by.

 

IMHO.
If you eliminate #2, you will automatically eliminate a big percentage of #1.
:car:

 

I tend to differ. "Slowly" is a perception in the mind of the beholder. If #2 is doing the speed limit or above they aren't going "slowly."
If #2 goes way above the speed limit, you will still have some a-ho . . . Um, I mean #1 . . . tailgating because they feel #2 is still going too slow.

Yes, it will get rid of some tailgating, but "a big percentage"??? I doubt it.
#1 always wants to be #1 . . . no matter the speed.