Honor the Stop

The biggest problem I have seen in Greensboro, and I have commented on it before in other forums, is the apparent inability of any local road user to honor stop signs and red lights.

Some cyclists make the excuse that by blowing stops and reds they stay clear of motor traffic. This is generally not true. In the case of red lights they just make the motorists pass them again and again which compounds the irritation factor. In the case of stop signs it is merely a flaunting of the traffic code, pure and simple. Motorists waste more energy on complete stops than cyclists when everything is taken into account.

Motorists, on the other hand, have some truly dangerous habits in this part of the country. I can't recall when I last saw a motorist stop at a stop sign unless they were in imminent danger of a collision and sometimes not even then. Then there are the right on red crew--How many people around here stop before evaluating whether it is safe to proceed as dictated by the vehicle code? If I were to sit at any corner where right-on-red is allowed (and a few where it's not) I'll bet the numbers would be similar to the rolling stop numbers.

What would help would be if the local LEOs cared about "road crime". Prior to this latest economic downturn they would use the excuse that they didn't have the resources to pursue these issues. It seems now they have stepped up excessive speed patrols now that the local coffers are empty but what happens when the economy recovers?

As a good conservative (therefore no longer Republican) I say we need to take the matter into our own hands and start policing ourselves. Whether motorized or in an HPV, stop at reds and stop signs. Honor the Stop.