Always a full stop for stop signs?

[darrylri]

While it's nice to see even LEOs take a "reasonable" approach, there will still be cases where, if you don't make a complete stop, you're going to get written. There's a fairly quiet residential intersection I go through with some regularity and have seen several of the local constabulary parked 100 feet down, watching everyone go through. I bet they don't give anyone a break on that duty.

While such a change will never happen here, it is interesting to see how this is handled in Europe. You see very few stop signs over there. Instead, they have a system of "priority right". The vehicle entering an otherwise uncontrolled intersection from the right has the right of way, no stop or yield required. In practice, the main streets are marked for priority straight through. Probably because getting and keeping a license over there is so much more difficult and expensive than here, this system seems to work very well. Combined with the extensive use of traffic circles where there is space, the flow continues even through their very tight and crowded city centers.

[sdpc2]

and for the same reason... (it may have even been Rob who suggested it), except when i can't see well enough to make sure that there is a clear path.


[QUOTE=robnye;711780]I do a pause n go (MSF term) which includes a second at a full stop pretty much every time, except when riding with my recently licensed son, then it's full stop and foot down.

As an aside I use almost every opportunity I get to practice my slow riding skills including u-turns and "slow-racing"

What the practice does is often I can approach an intersection with a four way stop or red light and with proper timing never put a foot down;

[ragtoplvr]

When I was 20 I could stop and never put a foot down, look and never miss anything.

Now I am 55, and I now stop. Put down at least one foot, and look carefully. If I am riding a distance, over 100 miles, fatigue can creep up on you. That can be fatal. So it is best to create the stop and look carefully habit. Acting different 10 miles from home defeats developing a habit.

If I am in so much of a hurry that I do not have time to do this, well there is a car and a truck in the driveway.

The bike is for enjoyment.

Rod

[beemervol]

Funny Story.... One day I wrote a guy a speeding ticket for doing 38 in a 20 mph clearly marked zone.

He didnt pay the ticket by mail and decided to show up in court with his lawyer. When the judge asks how do you plead, the lawyer gets up and says "not guilty your honor". The judge says to the lawyer "are you sure you dont want court supervision"? The lawyer says no so we proceed with a little trial and the judge finds the guy "not guilty". Some judges will find someone not guilty for minor traffic offenses if they show up with a lawyer because the judge knows the lawyer cost alot of money.

I really didnt care either way but after court when I am walking out, the guy I wrote the ticket to comes up to me in the hallway with a big smile and says " officer I beat you". I said "yes you did but can I ask you a question"? He said sure so I asked him if he knew what "supervision" was and he said "no". I then asked him what the lawyer cost and he said $450.00. I then told him that supervision would have cost him $125.00 with no mark on his license but if the lawyer cost him $450.00 then who really beat who?

DUH !!!

This is the reason people don't like or respect judges, lawyers and law enforcement officers. It's a game and all three are just trying to bring as much money into the system as they can and all are happy as long as they get some of the cut.

Between the motorcycle and truck, I drive around 55.000 miles a year and I speed when I feel it's safe to do so and I run stop signs when it's safe to do so. There are times when I follow the letter of the law because the conditions make it prudent to do so. My last speeding ticket was 1998 in South Carolina. I was given the choice to pay an extra $50.00 fine and plead guilty to a charge that didn't go on my driving record. Naturally I paid the extra $50.00.

My point is drive to your abilities. Use the laws to help keep you and your fellow drivers/passengers safe, but so many of the traffic laws are made and enforced to be just a revenue stream for government and the people who live off of it.

[From MARS]

I wouldn't come to a full stop if only: 1) I had more money than time; 2) I could tell which LEO's are reasonable and which aren't; and 3) I could see around corners before getting to them.

#1 may be true; I don't know yet. #2 You guys need signs! #3 I wish!

Tom

[greenwald]

"Between the motorcycle and truck, I drive around 55.000 miles a year and I speed when I feel it's safe to do so and I run stop signs when it's safe to do so."

[beemervol]

Kevin:

I will assume that anyone who drives faster than the speed limit or doesn't come to a complete, foot down stop is unsafe in your eyes. That's a lot of folks. I'm not trying to provoke you, it's what I see in my travels.

David

[greenwald]

Kevin:

I will assume that anyone who drives faster than the speed limit or doesn't come to a complete, foot down stop is unsafe in your eyes. That's a lot of folks. I'm not trying to provoke you, it's what I see in my travels.

David

Your first sentence, by your own confession, is an 'assumption.' Those can get you in trouble, and rarely summarize what the other person (that would be ME) is truly thinking.

As for your concluding sentence, you have not provoked me, sir.

It's just that I've been a front-row-seat witness to three decades of chaos and carnage on the roads - almost always not the fault of a traffic law existing, but rather the ignoring of it.

[oldnslow]

My last word on the topic as a few posts have questioned police and their techniques.

The last officer I trained in speed enforcement wanted to 'hide' and 'catch a couple of speeders'. I suggested we sit in the open in plain view. This, I explained would be most effective because 'everybody' would slow down and we wouldn't have to write a single ticket!