What could possibly be wrong with putting up a stop sign?
After all, it’s just a sign.
Wouldn’t it be safer if we had stop signs at every street intersection?
Better safe than sorry. Right?
Who can be against stop signs? We hear that all the time. Why not just put them up? We hear that too. Here’s why:
Stop signs have a function in the arena of driver safety. One of the functions that a stop sign does not have might surprise you. Stop signs do not function well as tools to control speed. The Minnesota Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is the guide for traffic control devices for the entire state. It is organized in a way that provides standards that cities must follow and describes what we should do (GUIDANCE) and provides suggestions (SUPPORT) for consistent implementation.
In Section 2B.5, under GUIDANCE, the first recommendation is that STOP signs should not be used for speed control. The essence of these sections is that stop signs should be used in the following applications:
1) For safety applications where a minor street intersects a high-volume street and the right-of-way would be unclear to motorists.
2) Streets entering a through street similar to the current situation where side streets are required to stop.
3) Un-signalized intersections in a signalized area
4) Where high-speed roadways intersect, a history of crashes that could be corrected or at locations where there is restricted site distances approaching the intersection.
5) Where traffic signals are justified, stop signs may be used as an interim measure until signal installation.
6) At intersections where each street has high traffic volumes once again to clarify right-of-way for motorists.
Sometimes City staff are perceived as being stubborn in striving for stop sign placements only where the signs are warranted. We’re stubborn for a reason. Eden Prairie’s experience as well as reports from across the country lead us to the following conclusions:
1) Un-warranted stop signs can have a non-compliance rate as high as 75%. If drivers do not perceive a need from a safety standpoint or to help determine right-of-way, non-compliance can be expected.
2) Un-warranted stop signs can actually have a negative effect on pedestrian safety. Even though residents are concerned about traffic volume on this corridor, it none-the-less is a relatively low-volume street with a correspondingly low volume of pedestrian traffic. In an instance where a pedestrian and a vehicle arrive at an un-warranted stop sign location, a dilemma is created should the pedestrian assume that the sign offers protection and cross the street? At the volumes along this corridor, we are convinced that the gaps or intervals between cars offer many opportunities for pedestrians to cross the street and that the safest situation requires that the pedestrian take on a proactive defensive posture.
3) Studies have shown that unwarranted stop signs have no effect on speed.
4) Although least important, un-warranted stop signs waste time and fuel, can increase noise due to stopping and starting and can increase driver aggravation.
5) Maintaining uniformity improves driver respect for all traffic control devices.
It sounds like a simple matter just to slap up a stop sign, but it comes not only with a financial cost, but also a management cost and an enforcement cost as well. It’s not just that simple.
I would like to thank our Public Works Director Gene Dietz for the bulk of the material I used for this posting. He’s been around a long time and he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to this subject.
