BJohns4183
Mon, 28 Jun 2004 15:58:04 -0700
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Hi,
I was wondering if anyone knew what is the status of a stop sign, obviously not put up by a government body.
A rural church I ride past has the church itself on one side of the road and the parking lot on the other. On Sunday mornings they put up two stop signs on on either side of the road where people cross from the parking lot to the church. They look just like "real" stop signs, except they are smaller and on tripods.
When church is beginning or ending, they sort of make sense because there are people everywhere. But when there are no individuals desiring to cross the street, the signs seem to create confusion. Once I saw a car amost get rear ended because someone decided to honor the stop sign and the car behind had no intention of honoring the sign.
Yesterday I was riding my bike and approached the church about 10 minutes before church was to begin. Approaching the stop sign, I saw an elderly person just completing her cross of the road, a younger person just about to cross the road and young children running in the parking lot. Under the circumstances, I decided to come to a full stop. Unknown to me, there was another cyclist behind me (but not riding with me). Apparently he did not intend to stop (nor did he anticipate me stopping). He swerved, but almost brushed up against me. Then he almost hit the person who was just about to cross.
I'm sure these signs were the idea of some very well intended people and have served to avoid accidents. But they do seem to create confusion between those who obey and those who do not. Would a "yield to pedestrians" sign work better?
Barry Johnston
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