By Marc Schollett
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 1:46 p.m.
Read more: Local, Tart, Bike, Fact Finder, Stop, Marc, Schollett, Fact Finder
If you see a stop sign, chances are you know exactly what you are supposed do. But one viewer contacted me, wondering if all stop signs were in fact created equally and if so, why isn't more being done to make sure everyone obeys them. The answers I found for her are the subject of this Fact Finder.
Kelly King drives up and down Aero Park Drive in Traverse City a couple of times each and everyday to get to work. She says the drive is usually pretty uneventful, until she nears the crossing with the TART trail at Parsons. According to Kelly "More often than not, I would say at least 70% of the time there is somebody that is not stopping at the stop sign that's causing the cars to either swerve or suddenly break." Most days, she is reminded when she gets there, that she needs to worry not only about herself in her car but also something she can't see till it's too late. Kelly says "It's a blind intersection. There is a lot of foliage that's designated to make the TART trail more beautiful to ride on but that is a visual barrier between the bicycles and the cars."
Kelly says too often, as a driver, she has to deal with cyclists not stopping at those mini stop signs on the TART trail. Instead they just cross Aero Park Drive into traffic that doesn't have to stop. She says to make matters worse; landscaping has grown up virtually blocking the view for riders or drivers to see each other. Kelly fears "A car is going to hit somebody. The cars have the right of way right here and the bikes are not stopping, and its not just here, I seem to encounter it all along where the TART trail passes a road in the town."
After on too many close calls, Kelly contacted me with a simple request, "I want you to find out if the stop signs can be regulated? If there is anyway for tickets to happen or enforcement to happen because there is going to be an accident."
Bottom line, are all stop signs created equal when it comes to the law? Even if they are smaller, a different color, handmade, or only pertain to bike riders?
To get the answer, I went to an expert at the Michigan State Police Headquarters and asked him what makes a stop sign a legal stop sign? Few people know the rules of road better than Sgt. Jerry Hilborn with the Michigan State police and he says "the stop signs you see on roadways have traffic control orders backing them and according to the manual of uniform traffic control devices a national standard that Michigan has adopted. Those signs are a certain dimension and placed a certain district from the roadway."
So there are standards when it comes to what one looks like, and where its placed, but what really makes a stop sign legal and enforceable is not what it looks like but rather a piece of paper called a traffic control order. Sgt. Hilborn explains that piece of paper has a lot of power, "a traffic control order is the paperwork legitimizing a stop sign, speed limit sign, and no parking signs in the area. Traffic control orders legitimize a sign for law enforcement purposes."
So if a stop sign has a traffic control order on file, troopers, officers, and deputies can write tickets if you race through one. That may not be good news for Kelly though because according to the Sgt. Hilborn "the signs on bike trails, private property, malls, shopping centers, they don't normally have a traffic control order behind them they are placed there for public safety and for safe traffic patterns."
Now this is critical, just because you can't get ticketed for running these stop signs doesn't mean it's a good idea because "all the stop signs, we should treat like regular stop signs that might not have the traffic control order backing them but they are placed in these areas to keep people safe and to keep traffic moving in a safe and orderly manner."
In other words, they are there for a reason. If you run one, you may not get ticketed, but if you run one and cause an accident, you could be found at fault and held responsible. The TART organizers say they are aware that running one of these may not get you ticketed but it could get you hurt. In a written statement, they told me:
"We strongly encourage trail riders to obey the trail signage. The signs are there for their own safety. We even put "Stop at STOP signs" on our trail guidelines signage that is on the trails. Our goal is to promote a safe trail experience for all." --Missy Luyk, Trail Program Specialist
So what do you think? What have your experiences been with bike and pedestrian crossings, or any unorthodox stop signs?
Please leave a comment below.
