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tamirabeth t1_jcqckof wrote

Most, if not all, intersections on residential streets need to be 4 way stops. People blow through streets going way too fast, and the blind turns are nerve-wracking.

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asswipesayswha t1_jcralcb wrote

Other options include speed bumps

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eray71 t1_jcswe17 wrote

Please not speed bumps those of us with low cars and/or work trucks can’t get over them easily and have to cross at an angle, which is not ideal

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terminal_prognosis t1_jcu1s07 wrote

Never seen a low-slung work truck? What sort of work trucks have lower ground clearance than a car?

As for cars, if you lower your car and now it can't get around, I think that's on you. They put violent speed bumps in Somerville and while people whine about them all the time, the only people I've ever seen scraping their cars were going way too fast. Ironically, weirdly often in Priuses, though friends who driver Priuses say they have zero problems because they slow down for the bumps.

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eray71 t1_jcujmie wrote

For the work truck it’s not the height, it’s that my Tools get flung around and slam into each other! You’ll notice most folks, such as myself, drive really slowly in our tool trucks cuz large potholes and other road bumps can not only make a mess, but break tools! Speed bumps are brutal for the tools slamming into each other and ladders sliding around. It’s not like they will fall off, it’s just loud, unpleasant, and expensive. And i don’t mean to sound like they shouldn’t change intersections where people are getting hurt, I just think removing vision obscuring items should happen way before speed bumps!

And the other car is a bone stock 996 that can’t make it over them

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tamirabeth t1_jcu40d4 wrote

I have a low to the ground car and only have issues when I'm going too fast. I recommend slowing down.

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eray71 t1_jcuj8nl wrote

It’s not the speed, it’s the splitter. It’s a bone stock 996 that can’t make it over the ones in Sommerville unless I go diagonally.

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that_dogs_wilin t1_jd2vl5n wrote

Another good option when available is a mini roundabout, basically a raised circle in the middle, so it's impossible to go straight through.

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terminal_prognosis t1_jcu25ta wrote

Ugh, no, traffic calming should not be by creating endless stop-and-start, creating extra noise and pollution. Other forms of traffic calming are superior to adding yet more of the most idiotic traffic control layout known to man (that almost the entire rest of the world rightly shuns).

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tamirabeth t1_jcu4a0k wrote

The rest of the world shuns stop signs?

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terminal_prognosis t1_jcu4ozr wrote

In most countries stop signs are quite rare - like you can go days without seeing one, so kind of, yes.

But I was talking about all-way stops, which are only in N. America, Liberia, and S. Africa, because they are inefficient and unhelpful.

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tamirabeth t1_jcu5lrk wrote

I mean...

> for use at low traffic-volume locations, the arrangement is common in the United States, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, and Liberia, as well as in a number of, usually rural, locations in Australia where visibility on the junction approaches is particularly poor.

is pretty dead on for Cambridge.

And I noticed you missed a couple of countries....

We also don't have many roundabouts, and never will have as many as other countries where they're more common. This doesn't seem like a fair comparison when the roads are completely different in other countries.

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terminal_prognosis t1_jcu5x87 wrote

If we're going to quote, how about the disadvantages:

> the Handbook of Road Safety Measures recommends that four-way stops are best used between minor roads away from urbanized areas

and

> Some of the disadvantages associated with all-way stops are: > > * Increased emissions of hydrocarbons.[9]: 431–433 > * Increased average delay.[9]: 430 > * Increased wear on vehicle brakes > * Discouraging bicycling.[10]

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tamirabeth t1_jcu6ixj wrote

Wow. So many major disadvantages to prioritizing safety. /s--clearly

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CJYP t1_jd0f7hi wrote

I bet the handbook would recommend a traffic signal for this purpose. Might work a bit better than a stop sign.

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sckuzzle t1_jcqo83d wrote

> and the blind turns are nerve-wracking.

Perhaps first we should fix these turns so that there are no blind turns...?

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tamirabeth t1_jcqognc wrote

You'd have to level the entire city.

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sckuzzle t1_jcqt4gj wrote

Marking (and enforcing) 10 yards of "no parking" before / after every intersection would work wonders. It's mostly the cars that block vision.

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tamirabeth t1_jcqtntt wrote

It's the enforcing that seems to be the issue.

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CJYP t1_jcrdbuw wrote

You could enforce it by widening the sidewalk on those turns so that it's physically impossible to park there. That seems to be the preferred solution for intersections, anyway. It does cost money though. May not be practical immediately.

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[deleted] t1_jcqgs8l wrote

[deleted]

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mtmsm t1_jcqmi3v wrote

You can share your opinion all you want but the fact is that this intersection has been deemed too dangerous judging by the number of crashes there.

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negroni2 t1_jcqcyl2 wrote

You say that, but you don't actually want that.

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tamirabeth t1_jcqdh2g wrote

No, I do. Especially since I treat most as 4 ways anyway. There are too many chances in those dense neighborhoods, and people need forced to change.

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blackdynomitesnewbag t1_jctzwen wrote

Giving up the right of way by treating a two way stop as a four-way stop can be confusing to other drivers and it’s not recommended. One of the best things you can do as a driver is be predictable.

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negroni2 t1_jcqlotc wrote

No, you don't. If you drive at all in Cambridge, you drive through dozens of intersections on streets with only two stop signs for the right and left sides every day. What you're saying is dishonest and quite frankly wrong. You don't optimize a city by arbitrarily putting 4 way stops at every single intersection.

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tamirabeth t1_jcqojb9 wrote

Please continue to tell me what I think and do. I LOVE that.

Edit to add:

What are you talking about with optimizing a city? Optimizing for who? I drive daily and hate it, wishing we could all go car-less. Pedestrians and others on the road (like other drivers!) shouldn't be put in danger because you want to save 0.4 seconds on your commute.

It seems to me that an "optimized city" would prefer to prioritize public safety over your desire to save that 0.4 seconds.

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