I’ve noticed lately that stop signs seem to be malfunctioning. Something in my brain tells me that they used to work much more efficiently. I know it was a long time ago, but didn’t it used to be possible for more than one vehicle to enter the intersection at the same time?
For instance, the North and South cars could both cross simultaneously if neither was turning. The same for the East and West. Yet these days it seems as if only one direction goes at any given time. And what’s worse is that drivers now seem to have the mentality that their arrival at the line for the intersection is the most important aspect. Taking turns just doesn’t happen.
I appreciate that if I’m in a line waiting my turn that it’s difficult to do just that. But the stop sign-governed intersection used to be able to handle the round-robin action. Now people are so interested in making sure they don’t lose out to someone, they often take their turn well before their direction should be moving.
The same is true for one-lane traffic, specifically if you’re talking about a bridge. Or merging. And if you don’t, you lose your place to someone who will do so rather than wait. What goes around comes around and all that is nice, but it would be awfully satisfying if it came around a lot faster.