Something to add to this is that 'stop' signs are pretty rare in the UK compared to somewhere like the US. People wouldn't be expecting a 'stop' sign at a junction like this, so they're expecting to yield, and due to the blind spot they think they are yielding.
Most drivers are taught to assess the junction before they arrive and decide if they need to come to a stop or not. The thought process in the heads of drivers approaching the junction is "I have good visibility in both directions and there are no other vehicles. I will go through." This works for most situations but fails tragically here.
Yes, the drivers should stop for the stop sign but they clearly don't. It's a UX problem. The junction should be fixed not the user.
The training doesn’t teach you to “ignore signs and signals.” The point is that the overwhelming majority of junctions of this type are marked Give Way, and the trained behaviour on a Give Way junction is to slow and take careful note of other vehicles, but not necessarily to stop. Full Stop signs are very much more rare in the UK than in the US and where they are used it is typically at completely blind junctions. Because of that, many drivers’ brains will subconsciously recognise this as a Give Way and act accordingly. Which is careless, but ultimately a UX issue.
If the thought process is "that's a give way sign, I'll do the give way thing", then that's a UX issue with the sign. If the thought process is just "I'll do the give way thing" then that's also a major training issue.
It can be fixed with better training, infrastructure changes, or both. The cost of fixing the training regime would be extremely high, however: New drivers presumably already know what to do and have been tested on it during their practical exam. The problem is that encounters with stop signs are sufficiently rare they fail to naturally reinforce that training through repetition. To fix that, you either need to increase the frequency of natural stop-sign encounters by installing more of them or to introduce artificial encounters by requiring practical exams for license renewals.
But in the UK most junctions are yield, so drivers don't approach junctions thinking 'I might have to stop' they think 'I'll have to yield', so if they aren't paying attention their default is to yield.
I think that's an American sign. The context of the article is the UK. We don't that exact sign in the UK. I think there is a 'stop in 100 yards' sign but I can't recall ever seeing one. But the point was people aren't paying attention to the signs... so another sign doesn't solve that.
MUTCD == the (American) Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, it was intended to demonstrate what I was talking about.
If you add multiple (large) signs ahead of the actual control device, you'll have higher compliance, since the unusual sign doesn't appear out of the blue.
Maybe in NA. In the UK the likely solution would be to install a roundabout. You can’t ignore an upcoming obstacle, in which you’re forced to give way.
Gotta say, as a biker, I love roundabouts for that reason- and people who don't ignore the obstacle go flying [1]. As a driver, I love the idea of drifting around one sometime when I have the skill and there's legitimately nobody nearby. Also forces people to focus, which is nice.
Most UK cities have at least one stop sign, put there so that people doing their driving training or test can have access to one. They really are quite rare.
