Kalamazoo Going Full ‘Stop’ And Ditching Yield Signs
Listen, we're almost all guilty of rolling through a stop sign. Yes, we'll maybe slow down a little, and make ABSOLUTELY sure there's no cars coming (or a cop sitting near the intersection). But if the way is clear, why go full stop, right?
If we do that for Stop signs, just imagine how egregiously people will ignore Yield Signs... again... guilty as charged.
This is almost precisely why the City of Kalamazoo is ditching more than 400 Yield signs, and replacing them all with Stop signs.
MLive talked with the city's traffic engineer, Dennis Randolph...
"In the name of safety, we want messages to drivers to be as simple as possible, so there's no misunderstanding."
And he's not wrong. The number of fender benders and accidents where people roll through Yield signs without paying attention is high. Randolph said drivers used to know what Yield signs meant, but not so much anymore.
So changing with the times, the city of Kalamazoo will remove more than 400 Yield Signs, and replace them with Stop Signs. And to be honest, more places would be better off to do the same.
Driving in Michigan is pretty aggressive at times. In just the few months I've lived here, I've nearly been in a few fender benders myself. The rules evolve and change over time, and apparently so does tolerance to yielding for other drivers.
But, it's not complete death for the Yield Sign. Some will still exist in areas where they're most effective, like roundabouts... which is funny, because people tend to stop there for no reason anyway. It's like all traffic knowledge and common sense goes out the window when the road suddenly goes in a circle, instead of straight ahead.
Regardless, keep an eye out for these changes in the next few months over Kalamazoo.