Traffic in the City

There are roughly 2.7 million people in the city of Chicago.  With all these people plus the people migrating in from the suburbs for work that is cause for a lot of traffic.  For some people this means sometimes unbearable commute times.  Which in turn people get frustrated and look for faster routes and short cuts which has somehow turned into what I call the 'stop sign epidemic'.

 

People have either forgotten how a stop sign works or just do not care.  It is becoming a big issue in the city!  I'm on a site everyblock.com and there have been people not native to Chicago comment about the issue stating how they have never seen so many people roll through stop signs like they do here.

 

I live on a corner where 3 streets intersect and so it is a 6 way stop sign.  Just the other day 3 cars moved through the intersection and I decided to proceed otherwise I'd likely sit there forever.  I pulled forward, tooted my horn and held my hand out the window to the other car who decided he didn't need to stop.  He said something I couldn't make out I replied with 'that's a stop sign' and he replied with some vulgar words and was so angry.  I laughed it off and shook my head.  The more I thought about this situation the more it upset me.  I didn't care what he called me what bothered me was how angry he was that I made him stop when he should have done it on his own.  Who does he think he is that he is so special to not have to come to a complete stop and give others a chance to get through the intersection.

 

At this same intersection I was crossing the street one day with no hassles.  Well crossing the main street was a woman in a motorized wheel chair and her dog.  This young girl rolls up to the stop sign and didn't even look to her right to see the woman coming and rolled right through the stop sign almost hitting her.  The lady luckily was able to stop and pull her dog back before getting hit.  Out of reaction to the situation I screamed 'Oh my God you almost hit her' and she didn't even notice and kept on driving.

 

It saves lives!

These are just two examples and are very recent.  On a daily basis I have at least one issue where someone doesn't know how to use a stop sign.  This is so dangerous and really doesn't save any time.  It's to a point where I feel like something needs to be done, but what?  None of us want a stop light at every intersection.  None of us want cameras or police at every intersection.  So what do we do to get drivers to realize how important it is to STOP at a stop sign?  I guess for now I start with this post.  Read it, share it and educate others, It saves lives to stop at stop signs.