in
Burlington there is a total of 11 stop signs!) Ludicrous!         The lunacy of it all has created a war between us and “ Them “. And who are “Them?” “ Them “ are the city departments responsible for saturating the streets of
Burlington ( read : Your community ) with a forest of the aforementioned devices to keep the streets safe (read:  their job ).  I’m certain the entire department goes into delirious orbit complete with hi-five’s and fist pumping  “ Yessss’s !! “, when a hitherto unfettered intersection is discovered to be ripe for treatment.  To “them “ it’s in many ways like winning the lottery or at least equates finding Waldo!            How many people realize that there are actually two types of stop signs? We all know the familiar no – brainer (if we have to be sheep, it has to be that) with the STOP printed at the bottom.
Denmark, a pioneer (?)  In the mid – fifties, saturated the country with stop signs, but obviously came to their senses and replaced them all with the other sign which (collective gasps!!!)  Requires you to think for yourself!  Wow! What a concept. Of course ‘they “ will say that by making stops unilateral we are sure to stop!(Yeah right, nobody ever runs a STOP sign).           At my most recent visit to
Denmark I saw just one stop – sign (in the airport P-lot). I was also out driving in the country and had to enter a highway from a side road. I saw the familiar triangular ‘Yield’ sign and the characteristic ‘ sharks-tooth ‘ marking in the road, looked both ways and seeing no traffic from either direction I coasted onto the highway without stopping. I felt giddy with power. I had actually decided for myself that it would be safe to proceed without stopping. “ They “ will say: “ Yes, but what if a large truck were to have come through at the exact same time. By making full stop mandatory we may have saved your life! “ Well, that’s a big  ‘may ‘, and in the meantime I didn’t get frustrated.  I didn’t do something stupid, which I might have done if that was the 111’Th frustrating impedance of my day I might have experienced had this taken place in
Canada. Besides I saved brakes and fuel, a most significant part of the equation.            Boy, I am frustrated! Does it show?    P.S.   Should  ‘They ‘ do the unthinkable and revert to sanity, and knowing that untold numbers of intersections would have to be redesigned, that would not be a deterrent to ‘ Them’…….now, would it? Lots of work for years and then it could all be reversed and another decade of sure work. Bahhhhhh….Baaaaaahhhhhhhh………Eat your porridge, chew it 32 times, be in by 11!…Yes, Mom……                                                  Ingo Andersen