S-T-O-P

Four little letters that, when put together are the cause of so much confusion and trouble. Here in Spain many of the elderly drivers were granted their permits before it became necessary to sit the complicated present day exams, and before the introduction of the international road signage.

The Spanish word commanding a driver to stop is Alto! Suddenly in place of Alto signs, Stop signs appeared. You wouldn't have to be a rocket scientist to work out what it meant, but if they ignored an Alto sign they certainly would ignore a Stop  sign.

The maximum speed limit in my country (Bermuda) is 35 kph. People slide past Stop signs here cruising at 35 k and consider that they have effectively stopped. It's as though when they see a stop sign they respond by saying, "Who? Me?"

Often, while driving along secondary roads, an estate road will connect, but at an angle, so that the driver on the main road can actually see the stop sign. Fortunately I was driving in the opposite direction, but I saw a person who was on that side of the road actually stop for the sign, with a bewildered look on their face. That look would have been worse had there been traffic behind him.

I was at a red light when traffic coming from the opposite direction started to move. There was the light signals, and also a stop sign. The first car started to move, then it stopped at the junction where the stop sign was, and once feeling secure that no other traffic was crossing with him,  he moved off. The following three cars all did the same thing, not realising that the stop sign is only there in case the lights are not working. The hierachy of authority in road signs are; policeman, traffic lights, standing road sign, painted sign on asphalt.

The most contentious issue with stop signs here is, how much stop is necessary? I know that sounds peculiar, but I will give an example. I was waiting for someone just off a junction that had six entrances, and consequently six stop signs. As I had nothing else to do I idly noticed that during the twenty minutes I was there not one vehicle came to a dead stop. It was constantly busy but not once did a vehicle stand absolutely still for even a fraction of a minute, unless I missed it. I think even Hollywood might have trouble choreographing that. Each of those drivers evidently felt that no actual standstill was necessary. 

i don't know why we have such trouble in obeying such a simple directive, but we do. The other side of that is if a policeman is standing and watching he will likely not be satisfied with the length of time a driver considers that he has stopped moving. I heard about an argument between an Indian national and a policeman, whereby the Indian gentleman was heard to say: " The sign says Stop, it doesn't say Stay!"

Enough said!

Copyright (c) 2015  Eugene Carmichael