[BHV] (stop signs)On MSN online today as a feature article

[Tom Allen]

I must hang my head in shame.  Shake your fingers at me, but I will blow through stop signs on the side streets here in Corning.  Shame on  me.  But when I'm riding with my 6 yr old, we stop at all stop signs.  If we roll slowly through, he yells at me, "Dad you are supposed to stop!!!  The police will write you a ticket!!!!"   When did kids become so smart??




________________________________
From: William Lodico <wlodico at stny.rr.com>
To: "Big Horn Velo Cycling Club, Elmira, NY" <bhv at icycle.org>
Sent: Fri, October 23, 2009 1:59:52 PM
Subject: Re: [BHV] (stop signs)On MSN online today as a feature article

The problem is not strictly bike related.  Over-use of stop signs as traffic calming devices has led to a general tendency on the part of all wheeled users of the roadway to ignore the literal command to stop.  My own informal survey shows the majority of drivers not stopping at stop signs.  Most come to a near stop.  A significant minority roll through at a fast walking or running pace, 5 to 10 mph or so.  And a smaller, quite dangerous group will move on through at speeds up to 20 mph or more.  Cyclist run the same gamut, and like car drivers, they tend to check only for cars, and not for other cyclists. 

So clearly, for only very few, "Stop means stop."  This is the de facto reality, and police are simply not going to devote enough manpower to stop sign enforcement to change it.


For a variety of reasons, I am not in favor of holding cyclists to a strict "stop and dismount" rule; but cyclists coming to stop signs should be going slow enough that they can immediately stop and dismount and properly follow the usual sequential procedures when there is other traffic present.

WILLIAM J. LODICO, Attorney at Law
Helping Accident Victims Since 1980
PO Box 1176
150 Lake St, 3rd Floor HSBC Bldg
Elmira, NY 14902

tel (607) 734-0500

On Oct 23, 2009, at 11:47 AM, Eric Hall wrote:

Stop Means Stop-How do we get bikers to obey traffic laws?
>
>Have a nice weekend all!
>
>Eric
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