I guess this can be considered as an 'amusing' article. Two authors published the reason why bicyclists tend to not stop completely at stop signs and why they tend to do a rolling stop. It has everything to do with the laws of physics and the use of less energy to get back up to speed.
A nice review and summary of it can be found here.
Zz.
It's not just cyclists that hate stop signs.
ReplyDeleteThere are relatively few stop signs places like Britain where most cars have standard rather than automatic transmissions. Most minor junctions are controlled by yield signs and larger ones by roundabouts - presumably because coming to a full stop and starting again involves clutchwork, changing gears and wear and tear on the clutch.
Interestingly, there are fewer accidents per mile driven in the UK than in the US - I'm guessing its because yielding requires a driver to pay more attention than mindless stopping.
I also do a lot of driving in Canada - and I find the stop signs there are often pointless and maddening.
Hamish