Dear Editor,
I shall be grateful for the opportunity to make two simple suggestions to our Traffic Chief. I think both can help to ease road congestion and improve the level of consideration and courtesy shown by road users.
The first is that thought be given to replacing ‘yield’ signs at intersections in the city with the ‘four-way’ stop intersection system. The four-way stop requires all drivers to stop at the intersection and yield to the driver on the left who first arrived at the intersection, so that traffic through the intersection flows clockwise depending on who arrived first. This is a simple change that can have a dramatic impact.
Given the number of vehicles on the road, I have a sense that such a system would ensure traffic moves at a steady pace and help reduce the sometimes long wait at major road yield signs. It is also a fairer system and it could reduce road accidents – I am especially thinking of the intersection at Railway Embankment and Delhi Street/Conversation Tree.
If the Traffic Chief wished to run a pilot, I will be happy to find sponsors.
My second suggestion buttresses the four-way stop. I believe that painted grids indicating no-stop zones at intersections in the city can also aid in alleviating traffic build-up and preventing gridlock. In the morning hours on workdays, drivers on major roads routinely block intersections and are often unwilling to give way to vehicles on secondary roads.
Before closing, I wish to share an observation. Of recent I have noticed that drivers have been flashing headlights to indicate they are coming through. In driving school I had been taught that this signal is used to indicate that you are giving way to another driver. Has the protocol changed?
Yours faithfully,
David Yhann
