Me driving saner. 


Follow up on the recent blog entry Driving me sane!  

A week ago I decided that I would just . . . stop for all stop signs.This was an experiment, done not so much to prove a point, as to find out if there was a point to prove. And so, here I am a week later, dutifully reporting on a week of stops. Actually, I learned quite a bit, but nothing really earth-shaking.

The first thing I noticed was how hard it was to start stopping, pun only incidentally intended. I'd jump in the car or truck, depending on the day and situation, and buzz right through that first, and sometimes that second stop sign with a masterful St. Louis Stop of about 8 mph minimum. Then I'd remember my resolution. Then I would stop completely at the next stop sign. I didn't have to wait long, of course, this being St. Louis. It is hard to find a corner without a stop light or stop sign of some kind here. Maybe they just grow, like volunteer trees, and the street crew cuts down the ones not at the corner. No, that can't be. But it does raise the interesting question of why this situation does prevail here. Sometime I'll have to figure that out.

And I would generally keep on stopping for all of the other stop signs, especially if it were a short trip to the store or to church on Sunday. Now I'm not saying that this would happen to you all, it only happened to me. But a kind of calm began to descend on me. Of course, I realize that many drivers will simply think that I have totally wimped out here. But I had a GOOD reason. Remember, this was an experiment, an attempt to do something about a mildly unsettling situation. I just wanted to see what would happen. And I'm telling you, I got calmer, right away and as the week wore on.

I made some discoveries too. I am a generally punctual person, preferring to arrive somewhere on time, if there is a time attached to the event I am going to attend. I discovered that stopping for all the stop signs didn't make me late to an event. I didn't feel like I had robbed myself of valuable seconds or minutes from my busy day. No, I got there peacefully, and I got there on time.

I began to observe what other drivers were doing who were at the intersection at about the same time as me. I could swear that I met less drivers this week that were using the St. Louis stop technique. I still did meet a few though. But when I did, it's like I knew they were going to do this before I got to the stop sign, and so I just stopped and let them through. They were oblivious, I think, but I was peaceful. The other thing that I noticed was that if I DID succeed in stopping at the stop sign, and then started to move out in the intersection, not a single driver tried to beat me through. It was like they said "Oh, he stopped first, so he is ahead of me." This goes to prove my theory that when no one stops, no one knows who is first in line.

Some times Stephen and I go places together. Once I explained to him what I was doing. "Wearing out your brakes is what you're doing," was his main response. "Well, that depends on how you stop," I replied. But I have to say that I'm not sure whether St. Louis stops save brake shoe wear or not. Actually, I'm inclined to think that the wear you save on your attitude by stopping completely far outweighs any real or imagined brake shoe wear.

For the time being, then, I think I'll keep up this practice of stopping at every stop sign. I think that indirectly, it's improving my driving, even though I already have a good driving record. No one has yet honked at me for stopping, but the year is young. It may happen. I've resolved to deal with it peacefully, should it happen. In the meantime, if you're a St. Louis stopper, try my approach, and let me know how it goes.


 

Posted: Thu - April 3, 2008 at 02:48 PM          

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