ATA: Compliance with Must Stop for Pedestrians law very low in Chicagoland
https://www.activetrans.org/sites/default/files/Must%20Stop%20Surve...
The results of this survey are not too surprising. Just last night a family crossing Lincoln Ave. in a zebra crosswalk was surprised and thanked me when I stopped my bicycle to wait for them. They didn't know that I was required by law to do so.
This must be the second most ignored traffic law (after speed limits).
Views: 1138
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on
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I disagree. I think this is ignored even more than Speed Limits... I try, whether in my car or bicycle to always stop. And a few times it has almost gotten the pedestrian hit when the car behind me cuts around at high speed. Its a dilemma for most of us. Do I stop with the real risk of being hit and putting the pedestrian at risk, or do I not stop and thus act like a privileged jerk...
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Permalink Reply by Tom Z on
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I always try to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk. But, as stated you don't know what the person behind you is going to do. If it's a single lane of traffic in each direction it is much safer.
This is another reason I would like to see Milwaukee go down to a single lane in each direction on the NW side. It would make it so much easier and safer to cross. But, NIMBYs don't want this, sad.
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Permalink Reply by David Barish on
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I am all for safety and all for slowing down traffic but I do not like these crosswalks especially with a stop sign in the middle of the road in the middle of a block. As David mentioned, they can be confusing. I may stop but the person behind me may not. I also find that they encourage people to cross in the middle of the street rather than go to a corner. I can understand this in an area where its not easy to do so at the corner. Otherwise, it makes no sense to me and increases chaos where people do not know what they are supposed to do. I have posted elsewhere that I find the little stop signs in the road dangerous to me as a cyclist. The roadway is narrower and cars have a harder time squeezing by and putting me in jeopardy. Further, there are times when I am driving a vehicle and want to move over to give 3+ feet of room to a cyclist or to make sure my car does not hit an open door. I see the other side of the roadway is open. However, I am not sure if its ok to maneuver my vehicle over the stop sign that is sitting in the middle of the street. Then there are the people who see a stop sign and stop...when nobody else is there. If this law is to work there cannot be so many of these crosswalks. They should be exceptions. I find they are the rule rather than the exception so pedestrians cross everywhere and the world is dazed and confused. The stop signs are just in the way. Drivers should already know to stop at a crosswalk. I am sure there are statistics that prove me wrong but my unscientific experience is negative.
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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on
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25MPH speed limits that are strictly enforced with heavy fines, and posted everywhere but on the limited-access expressways, would do a lot more to keep pedestrians and bicyclists safe than anything else.
After 20MPH the chance of a pedestrian being killed or maimed by an automobile driver doubles with every 5mph of speed an automobile is moving at.
20MPH would be twice as safe as 25, but getting cars slowed down to just 25MPH will be hard enough to tackle as a society right now. At speeds over 25 autos are going much too fast to slow down in time for pedestrians attempting to cross at a crosswalk, and cars are much less likely to even attempt to because by the time a driver sees the pedestrian inching into the crosswalk it is already too late for them to stop without screeching to a halt.
Like people have already said above, other drivers in this city will just go around any other vehicle that slows or attempts to stop in front of them in the roadway. It's their first reaction to any vehicle that slows or isn't going fast enough for them. Left, right...it doesn't matter which side they go around, as long as they can get around and keep going to get wherever it is they are going in as little time as possible. That's all most drivers care about.
The real problem is speed, and the impatient entitlement of auto drivers as a whole who feel their time is worth so MUCH more than the lives and safety of any other road users they may pass by in their hurry to get wherever they are going.
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Permalink Reply by Jordan M S on
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I'm sure you mean well, but I have so many problems with what you're saying... like you said, drivers should know to stop at a crosswalk, and be going slow enough to stop at a moment's notice. I don't find crosswalks confusing at all, and neither should anyone given the right to operate a massively dangerous weapon. And about passing in a crosswalk - no, it's never okay to run over the stop sign - that would only happen when you irresponsibly pass and squeeze a biker.
David Barish said:I am all for safety and all for slowing down traffic but I do not like these crosswalks especially with a stop sign in the middle of the road in the middle of a block. As David mentioned, they can be confusing. I may stop but the person behind me may not. I also find that they encourage people to cross in the middle of the street rather than go to a corner. I can understand this in an area where its not easy to do so at the corner. Otherwise, it makes no sense to me and increases chaos where people do not know what they are supposed to do. I have posted elsewhere that I find the little stop signs in the road dangerous to me as a cyclist. The roadway is narrower and cars have a harder time squeezing by and putting me in jeopardy. Further, there are times when I am driving a vehicle and want to move over to give 3+ feet of room to a cyclist or to make sure my car does not hit an open door. I see the other side of the roadway is open. However, I am not sure if its ok to maneuver my vehicle over the stop sign that is sitting in the middle of the street. Then there are the people who see a stop sign and stop...when nobody else is there. If this law is to work there cannot be so many of these crosswalks. They should be exceptions. I find they are the rule rather than the exception so pedestrians cross everywhere and the world is dazed and confused. The stop signs are just in the way. Drivers should already know to stop at a crosswalk. I am sure there are statistics that prove me wrong but my unscientific experience is negative.
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Time for a (serious) sting operation? It may seem silly, but I'm thinking thousands of tickets per day, easy.
Jeff Schneider said:Tonight I did my own little survey on a round-trip ride from Andersonville to Central Station. I had to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks or at corners several times. Even though each time I stopped, I made the most outrageous stop signal for the drivers following me, in no case did any of them stop. They just went around me, and the pedestrians waited until all cars had passed to cross.
In one case, a cyclist also passed around me (on the right-#@!@&%#!!), but he didn't pass too close to the pedestrians in the crosswalk, and they didn't seem annoyed at him.
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Permalink Reply by Michelle S on
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Please don't maneuver your vehicle over the Stop for Pedestrians signs.
David Barish said:...
However, I am not sure if its ok to maneuver my vehicle over the stop sign that is sitting in the middle of the street.
...
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For sure. Just renewed my license a couple weeks ago and took the written test. A few questions on motorcycles, nothing on bikes. All of the questions asinine. No changes since I was 16.
Jeff Schneider said:Compared to many countries, the intellectual requirements to obtain a license to drive in the US are quite low. It shows.
Jordan Schlife said:I'm sure you mean well, but I have so many problems with what you're saying... like you said, drivers should know to stop at a crosswalk, and be going slow enough to stop at a moment's notice. I don't find crosswalks confusing at all, and neither should anyone given the right to operate a massively dangerous weapon. And about passing in a crosswalk - no, it's never okay to run over the stop sign - that would only happen when you irresponsibly pass and squeeze a biker.
David Barish said:I am all for safety and all for slowing down traffic but I do not like these crosswalks especially with a stop sign in the middle of the road in the middle of a block. As David mentioned, they can be confusing. I may stop but the person behind me may not. I also find that they encourage people to cross in the middle of the street rather than go to a corner. I can understand this in an area where its not easy to do so at the corner. Otherwise, it makes no sense to me and increases chaos where people do not know what they are supposed to do. I have posted elsewhere that I find the little stop signs in the road dangerous to me as a cyclist. The roadway is narrower and cars have a harder time squeezing by and putting me in jeopardy. Further, there are times when I am driving a vehicle and want to move over to give 3+ feet of room to a cyclist or to make sure my car does not hit an open door. I see the other side of the roadway is open. However, I am not sure if its ok to maneuver my vehicle over the stop sign that is sitting in the middle of the street. Then there are the people who see a stop sign and stop...when nobody else is there. If this law is to work there cannot be so many of these crosswalks. They should be exceptions. I find they are the rule rather than the exception so pedestrians cross everywhere and the world is dazed and confused. The stop signs are just in the way. Drivers should already know to stop at a crosswalk. I am sure there are statistics that prove me wrong but my unscientific experience is negative.
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There was a crosswalk enforcement sting operation just last Friday, I think, on Logan Blvd right as it comes off the big Logan "Square" roundabout circle. I drove right into their obvious net, and stopped for the nice plainclothes officer who stepped out right in front of me in the crosswalk with his umbrella.
The guy behind me almost hit me as he was halfway changing lanes to pass me at the time. He slid sideways halfway passing me and halfway still behind me at an angle. A car going the other way drove right past the guy in the crosswalk and one of the two police cruisers, in plain sight parked on the connecting drive between Logan Blvd. proper and the side mall/parking drive 100 yards further back, came screaming out after him with lights ablazing. Too bad, so sorry. I don't know if he got a ticket or a stern finger-wagging. I continued on my way, after the "pedestrian" was to the other side of the street.
Jordan Schlife said:Time for a (serious) sting operation? It may seem silly, but I'm thinking thousands of tickets per day, easy.
Jeff Schneider said:Tonight I did my own little survey on a round-trip ride from Andersonville to Central Station. I had to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks or at corners several times. Even though each time I stopped, I made the most outrageous stop signal for the drivers following me, in no case did any of them stop. They just went around me, and the pedestrians waited until all cars had passed to cross.
In one case, a cyclist also passed around me (on the right-#@!@&%#!!), but he didn't pass too close to the pedestrians in the crosswalk, and they didn't seem annoyed at him.
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I just got back from a vacation in Switzerland. No matter where I was, no matter what the speed limit was, every time I walked up to a crosswalk all drivers immediately came to a complete stop. I'm so used to drivers not stopping in the US that I assumed they wouldn't stop and I delayed everyone while my mind slowly realized that the cars were in fact stopping for me. Now I just have to make sure I didn't get used to this behavior and inadvertently cross in Chicago in front of a car that has no intention of stopping.
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Permalink Reply by John Wirtz on
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Changing the law from "yield" to "stop" didn't improve results? Shocking
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Permalink Reply by Joe Schmoe on
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Andersonville has the greatest percentage of cars who stop IMO. Almost shockingly vs. the rest of the city. I do always try to yield to pedestrians, and cars when they got to an intersection first or are supposed to have the right-of-way. It is scary sometimes stopping for those, knowing that the guy behind you might hit you from behind. If it's a 2-lane road, keeping your speed around 30 helps.
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