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On a public road I almost always come to a full stop, and if I don't I recognize it as an error. That's the law and there are very good reasons for it. It's an
by rtikulit 5y ago
On a public road I almost always come to a full stop, and if I don't I recognize it as an error. That's the law and there are very good reasons for it. It's an unambiguous standard of performance, for example. Arguments for rolling stops based on personal utility are selfish, IMHO, and arguments pleading utility to others are disingenuous--the rolling stoppers say that it's safer to rolling stop because of the rolling stoppers? Please. Think it through. :-)
(Part of the reason I do it is because as I age I would like to ingrain habits that will make me a safer driver even as my cognitive ability declines.)
Near me there is an intersection where the same cars drive through on a daily basis and where the drivers have habituated themselves to rolling stops. Yes, it's almost always fine. But I have been almost T-boned twice, and was hit once, fortunately with minimal damage. And even though they do not have the right of way, their habit of rolling stops regularly pre-empts the actual rules of the road, and they cut off drivers who have the right of way.
That this is due to the normalization of deviance is abundantly obvious.
- jacquesm 5y ago
- Swenrekcah 5y agoSafety rituals are extremely useful exactly because accidents happen when you have reduced capacity without realising it. Doesn’t matter if it’s because of lack of sleep, work stress, cognitive decline, etc.
- rtikulit 5y agoI'm struggling to respond constructively to your comment. Think about all the phenomena that make up "cognitive ability" and all of the possible dimensions and properties of "cognitive decline". It should be obvious that your advice is not in any way useful or actionable. And rituals are a very well accepted strategy for dealing with situations which demand consistent and good attention, where human cognitive variability causes problems. A couple of famous examples--checklists used by aircraft pilots, or the pointing rituals used on Japanese railways.
- NikolaNovak 5y agoOne thing that pops up into mind - I wonder if there's a difference between drivers of automatic vs manual gear shifts in propensity for rolling stops.
- rtikulit 5y agoI don't know. I drive standard. Maybe part of the reason I always stop is because I love a well-executed launch. :-)