Yep, these guys:
A relatively simple and straight forward traffic sign, you would think… Well, they used to be. Today they are viewed (for the most part) as more of a nuisance or inconvenience more than anything. Here in our glorious ‘new age’ of driving, you really don’t have to stop, if there is not a cop around. Just ‘coast on through,’ especially if you are running late. And even if you are not running late, everyone else on the road will know the World revolves around you – so just blow on through…
There are a couple things you might want to keep in mind when you coast through a stop sign these days; the “Big Mother Rule” being primary among them. This is when an approaching vehicle is bigger than the one you are in. It’s that “Mass times Velocity” thing… Didn’t learn that in high school? Well, never mind Sunshine, you will… and if you survive, it will then mean something to you. If you don’t survive, we’ll put up a nice ‘road cross’ for you at the spot you departed our world…
About 10 years ago there was a guy who coasted through a stop sign with an oncoming semi truck coming his way. It might have worked except there was about 3-4 inches of snow on the roads. Now you have that ‘mass times velocity’ thing compounded by a slick surface! The guy’s car couldn’t accelerate as he thought, and the truck couldn’t slow up, as he thought. Oh well, his choice. He got a very nice ‘road cross…’
It’s uncanny but I can almost sense when someone is going to blow through a stop sign these days. I can almost sense them ‘doing the math:’ “Okay, I can pull out in front of this (oncoming) guy because there’s room for me to get out, and time for him to slow up…”
If I am doing 55 mph and they accelerate right up to 55, or higher, before I come up to their bumper, that is pure coincidence. More often than not, they tend to “lollygag at 45 – 50 mph!” Or the real “crowd pleaser is when someone pulls out in front of you, sending you into “max breaking,” only to turn left about 100 feet down the road! But keep in mind, they are probably running late…
Lately I have been noticing more and more “piggy backing” through stop signs. This is when the first guy blows through a stop sign and a couple-3 others follow, knowing you are going to have to slow up anyway! No need to get upset – it’s just “new age driving…”
Be at Peace, knowing you are near the Center of the Universe…
Hope you did not think I would let this pass.
In junior high school (now called middle school) we were required to take “driving” as in driving cars as a course. Here I learned about the proposition of “the illusion of central position” and Robert Ardrey — from a driving course teacher, no less. The lesson was that if I assume that all other drivers suffer from the “illusion of central position”, I will survive quite nicely on the highways and byways. Damn, he was right — a driving instructor.