Comments on: Fooled Drivers, or Foolish Drivers?

By: David Hembrow

David Hembrow — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:20:38 +0000

I can see the problem here. There was a junction near where I lived in the UK which offered the same kind of optical illusion of a straight line for driving, which was actually a one way slip road in the opposite direction.

The Dutch are better at this and it’s rare to see something which looks like something else.

Residential areas tend to look rather like this even if they are 1950s vintage with longer straighter (US-style) boulevards. Such design sends a very strong signal to drive slowly and carefully.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:59:34 +0000

A heavier option would be a speed hump across the road to force drivers to slow down (or wake up tired/drunk drivers).

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:42:16 +0000

Here’s my guess.

The driveway to the right, just before the stop sign, maybe appears to be a continuation of the road. So at night, confused people apparently drive to the right of the stop sign (b/w the orange cones). This causes them to bounce severely, maybe get some air before they hit the street. And then due to the surprise and further confusion, they either don’t brake or hit the gas, causing them to race across the street, jump the curb, and end up in the house.

By: Paul Souders

Paul Souders — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:38:29 +0000

I agree with your conclusions re: barriers, sightlines, and forgiving roads. But when I first saw this photo (and before reading the text) I assumed the stop sign was planted on a traffic island.

in my uneducated opinion and based only on a single photo, if I lived at that intersection I’d push to remove the stop sign and wreck the sightline with a planting directly on the corner.