So a few things happened this morning to make M. question stop sign positioning and hills. One it's raining and I put my rather adorable 6 year old onto a bus that she would be driving in the rain up and down hills on narrow back roads for a half an hour before reaching the school which actually is only 5 minutes from my house (I have to be at work before she does school so the bus is essentially my babysitter) and I always worry a bit when it rains.
Secondly some stupid lady lives right before the highest point of the hill on a pretty major road off of our road and today as I got to the top her car was sticking all the way out onto the road so I have two options 1. slam on my breaks and hope for the best or 2. swerve around her not knowing if someone is coming up the hill on the other side of the road and potentially making them swerve and get into an accident and it being bus hour there is no way I'm taking the chance of possibly making a bus full of kids crash because this lady is stupid and doesn’t think about the fact she's in prime area for causing accidents. So I slam on my breaks and luckily she at the last minute slams on reverse and all is well.
This got M. thinking. I wonder what the occurrence rate for accidents coming over major hills are. I think there should be some sort of law that makes stop signs mandatory at the top of the hill if a hill is greater than a certain degree. Is there such a law? If not why not? I have seen two accidents’ involving school buses by our home lately and one was coming down a major hill.
Does anyone else live off a major back road with pretty steep hills with no pull off and wonder the same thing?
After being hit by two drunk drivers (one time having to throw Emmy out the window because the doors were all smashed in and traffic was heading towards us) I’m a little on edge (possibly moreso than the average driver) over the possibility of being destroyed by someone who swerves into my road J. on the other side of the hill I’m coming down and I am completely unaware…likewise M. being on the other side and someone flying down the hill with no regard to what’s on the other side.
Jo thats what I assume too but I still worry over that someone else wont be following the rules when I'm coming over the hill, pluys in times when someone is in the road in the split second you dont have time to think really and sometimes automatically swerve to avoid accident
I've seen places where mirrors have been installed so people can 'see' over the hill (or around a corner) before they get there.
http://www.reflectionproducts.com/Driveway_mirrors.html
http://www.trafficmirror.com/
They are not that expensive.
You should talk to your town counsel about having one installed.
I think the easy answer is no one considering it an option to swerve across the center line when you can't see oncoming traffic. You should J. always assume someone is coming.
That is why any street that allows passing has the top of hills, twists and turns, anything that limits sight distance, will be a no passing zone. That is supposed to tell drivers you do not cross here because it is too dangerous.
Stop signs J. add to the problems.
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Someone may cross the line but they may cross the line anywhere. That is why they are accidents.
Problem with stop signs is since it serves not obvious purpose people are J. going to run them anyway except for one or two people and then that will cause accidents.
I think it's common sense, or *should be* that when you come up a hill like this that you would be going slowly and be on the extra lookout since it's technically a "blind spot". And you should never "swerve" to avoid an accident simply because you could come head on into oncoming traffic, which would be worse than rear ending whatever was in front of you to begin with. If people J. slowed down when they got to areas like this, it wouldn't be so risky to everyone.
putting a stop sign at the top of steep hills is a bad idea and would increase accidents when those with manual transmissions roll back trying to take off. As long as everyone stays in their own lanes there shouldn't be an issue. An accident is something that happens sometimes, there really is no way to avoid them completely, or they would not happen.
How about a flashing cautionary sign that says "DANGER: BLIND HILL" or "DANGER: HIDDEN DRIVEWAYS." When I drive in rural areas with twisty, hilly areas, those signs are quite common. I fear that having a stop sign at the top would cause rear-ending accidents.
In St. Paul, MN there is a famous and steep hill called Ramsay Hill which is in a VERY high traffic area. It has a 3-way stop, and a "Stop Ahead" sign coming up the hill to warn of it. Still, there are the occassional accidents.
ETA: Yes, a manual transmission on a steep hill is quite nerve-wracking, but it is something that can be learned. I mastered starting from a stop on hills in my stick-shift Jetta when I was 17, but I could have caused LOTS of accidents during my learning process as I rolled back, or stalled.
I think the best thing is to drive slowly. Everyone should do that in the areas where visibility is low. Stop signs are difficult at the top of the hill. I remember the ones in San Francisco. We had to stop at the top of the hill and look right and left to see if we can go. Imagine how nice it is to pretty much look at the sky and try to see if there is anyone on either side. So caution is pretty much the only option here.
