Driving me sane!
Jim reflects on the cardinal zen of
driving
As I drove down Arkansas Street to Arsenal this
morning for my rich dark pecan roll and café latte at The Bread Company, I
was once again reminded of what a pain it is to drive in St. Louis. Here, there
are frequent stop lights on every major street. On almost every side street,
there is a stop sign at almost every corner. In a 10 block stretch down Arkansas
from Shenandoah, for example, one stops six or seven times. Over the years and
decades, frustrated drivers here have invented what is known locally as "the St.
Louis stop." That is, in St. Louis, nobody stops at stop signs on side streets,
except the just-learning-to-drive and the needs-to-quit-driving-now set (into
which set I move as we speak). What actually happens at such intersections is
that people tap their breaks a couple of times after first checking for any
visible patrol cars, children, dogs, and then move right on through the
intersection. We figure adult pedestrians ought to be able to take care of
themselves.
What is most interesting
and more than a bit nerve-wracking, is what happens when two cars reach a St.
Louis side-street intersection at the same time. Actually, I have observed quite
a variety of events. There is the larger-than-car driver, jammed back against
the driver's seat, cell-phone arm glued to body, who stares defiantly straight
ahead, and rams right through the intersection. I have yet to play a game of
chicken with those guys and gals. And then there is the ram-stopper. This
happens when a car is on a side street with a stop sign that crosses the one you
are barreling along. They see you coming, but they roar up to the intersection,
slam on the breaks, and stop about two feet out into the cross street just as
you are passing them. You have to play chicken with these drivers; they are
begging you to. And then, there is the official St. Louis stop. To do this
successfully, your car must absolutely never slow to more than 7 mph. When you
and another committed St. Louis stop driver reach the intersection at the same
time, there just is no telling who is going to make it through first. However,
by some incredible miracle, someone DOES make it through first, and the other
may actually have to slow to, say 5 mph. This is embarrassing and not something
you share with others, even with your spouse. It can really throw you
off-balance for hours. I'd say that about 80% of the stops at side-street
intersections in St. Louis are . . . St. Louis
stops.
Well, the other day, I was
grooving along I-44, blessed driving experience. There is now a lane for every
speed, none of them below the officially posted speed limit. Never mind that
there are pot holes and cracks in the rightmost lane and confusing dotted lines
down the middle of lanes, remnants of the days when the freeway was marked for
three lanes instead of four. It is still almost all good, fairly smooth driving.
So I had a bit of time to reflect on the indignities of side-street navigation
in St. Louis. I was reminiscing about my first driving lesson, back in 1954
would you believe, how I almost screwed up the parallel parking, but I did pass.
And after 20 years or so of mostly fender-benders and a couple of totaled
vehicles, I proudly recalled, I stopped having accidents. I just became a damn
good driving machine. (I'll probably have to eat these words, but I've not had
an accident to speak of for 20 years.) One thought led to another, and I was
thinking about how we learned in that driving class to stop at every
intersection, look both ways, and then move through when the way was
clear.
And then it hit me! Why the
situation is so confusing in St. Louis with the side-street stops. What we were
taught, back in those pre-Korean War years, was that the person on the right is
presumed to have the right to move forward ONCE THEY STOP. Well, of course. The
problem with the St. Louis stop is that, since nobody actually stops, nobody
knows who is on the right of whom. Courtesy is not possible in such a situation.
(Of course, courtesy no longer exists for many other reasons, too.) But my point
remains similar to the idea of taking your turn in line. If you can't get people
to stand in line, then the idea of taking one's turn doesn't have any reference
point. And if you can't get people to stop at stop signs, how can you tell who
is first to the intersection, and THEN, who is on your
right.
I thought about possible
solutions. I suppose some time they will come up with a device that simply
announces, "The tan 98 Nissan will go next," and if anyone tries to beat that,
their cars will stall. But that is years away, and I'm not sure that's the best
solution. I thought for precisely one second about trying to get St. Louis to
reduce the number of side-street stop signs, but recognized my foolish fantasy
immediately. I thought about moving near the MetroLink and just not driving
anymore. But then I might have to cross one of those side street intersections
as a pedestrian, terrifying nightmare,
that.
So here is what I have decided. I
am going to try this for one week. I am going to stop at all stop signs. I know
it is just too foolish to hope that I might convince others to do likewise. But
I am just going to see if this simple act of courtesy makes life easier for ME.
At least if I am stopped, I will have time to observe that some other car is
BEHIND a car making a St. Louis stop, and I can probably proudly move through
the intersection before this trailing vehicle can roar through. This would be a
no-guilt situation for me. (Well, I might have to contend with the driver behind
me laying on the horn, or actually trying to pass me on the right. I'd have to
be nimble about it, and only make this a tiny little complete
stop.)
I suspect that in doing this, I
might regain a small sense of courtesy from that time fifty years ago when good
driving included the idea of looking out for the welfare of everyone on the road
or in the intersection. At least I'd know where TO MY RIGHT is—over there
on the right. I could then decide whether it was safe, and yes, even courteous,
to go before or after the driver on the right. And further, I'd at least know
that, as the guy on somebody else's right, I had STOPPED before moving through.
Oh, and one other thing. I think this
decision is going to require that I decide that I don't have to be some place in
a hurry, or to be sure that I start out for where I am going in plenty of time
to get there. Probably these are other aspects of driving courtesy and safety,
even in the 21st Century. I'll let you know how this all comes
out.
Posted: Wed - March 26, 2008 at 03:43 PM
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