Not justifying rolling stops, but I can understand why people do it. I've lived in infuriating neighborhoods with a 4 way stop sign at every... single... intersection... You could drive a mile and hit fifteen of them. Cities get a complaint about an intersection and the cheapest way to "calm traffic" is to plop down a 4 way stop sign. You've basically created stop-and-go traffic without the traffic.

Most stop signs I encounter in my commute and trips into town could be safely converted into roundabouts while still keeping neighborhood driving speeds low, but since this is the USA, nobody understands how to use roundabouts, so we sit there like idiots stopping every 300 feet of travel.

There is one intersection in Kirkland WA that needs to be a round about. Every day during rush hour one stop sign is responsible for a 3-5 minute line of traffic.

But you know what? Everyone stops at it Even though it is stupid, and there is almost no chance of cross traffic, people stop at it.

(It is on 116th ave in Bridal Trails, anyone local reading this knows the stop sign I'm talking about!)

So yes, some very stupid stop signs exist.

The neighborhood I live in now has a compromise stop signs every block going east/west, but no stop signs going north/south. It works out well enough!

Indeed, roundabouts would solve a lot of these problems.

One private gated community around here just uses giant speed bumps. Another, somewhat jarring, solution to the problem!

"But you know what? Everyone stops at it Even though it is stupid, and there is almost no chance of cross traffic, people stop at it."

Is it a place where the cops sit to get some easy tickets? That might explain it.

Nope. Single lane each way, no real room for cops.

People are just following the law.

It certainly is illegal, but everywhere else I've ever lived, 99% of stop signs would simply be a 'give way' or 'yield'. That's typically what people instinctively do at those signs. Give way/yield junctions are absolutely safe if used properly and in the right circumstances.

Your anecdotal evidence also contradicts mine, so we have a stalemate here.

I don't really understand the A-pillar comment either. Not going to apply this broadly because you're just a single person, but navigating your blind spots is something you learn to do in other countries at least.

I know we're playing the anecdote game here, but I've lived and driven all over the US and can't recall a place where stop signs were respected by anyone (cross walks are a different story)

From what I understand in Seattle (and I believe all of Washington State), every intersection at a corner is also a crosswalk, even if unmarked.

So people don't have to walk multiple blocks just to cross the street. :)

Accordingly I treat all intersections as potential crosswalks because people often cross at them!

I meant more that in some places (NYC) no one waits for the crossing signal, yet in other places (like LA) everyone does.

You are in an exceptional area then. The entire city of Philadelphia operates on the idea stop means slightly tap on breaks. I've even seen cops regularly roll them.

"Even" cops? Here in the Bay Area, cops blow through every intersection without turn signals and barely any hint of slowdown. And everyone's happy, because only our blue domestic warfighters stand between us and the unwashed mobs robbing Lululemon stores.

>Just, like, always stop at stop signs. It isn't that hard.

I hate people who reflexively come to a full stop at stop signs!

And some stop signs, I just completely ignore. Drive right thru as if there was no stop sign at all.

I have eye-balls so I don't have to stop at stop-signs.