Stop signs are the red octagon-shaped signs visible, usually at intersections everywhere. However, what does stop really mean, and do people believe it means “stop?” Technically, when approaching a stop sign, the driver must come to a complete stop before continuing through the intersection.
Monday afternoon, a staff member of The Columbian-Progress sat at the intersection of Second and Main streets to observe traffic. Of the 100 vehicles that approached the intersection, a total of 58 vehicles came to a complete stop. Thirty drivers did a “rolling” stop and slowed down to nearly a halt, but the vehicle stayed in motion. Then, 12 drivers only slowed down slightly, but kept on moving.
Columbia Police Chief Michael Kelly said that with the world moving at such a fast pace, people are more hurried to get from one place to another, leading to careless and dangerous motorists.
“Everybody is always late for something,” Kelly said.
He also said he thinks many drivers could be distracted because of their cell phones and/or back seat parenting and don’t realize what happened until they are halfway into the intersection.
“We certainly want everyone to obey the traffic laws,” he said.
Overall, Kelly said he believes they’re not bad people or bad drivers; they’re just not paying as close attention as they should.
This is not just an in-town issue, but one that is prevalent with the traffic signals on U.S. 98 as well. A lot of those accidents, Kelly said, occurred because someone was not paying enough attention.
Mississippi law Section 63-3-805 states, “The driver of a vehicle shall likewise stop in obedience to a stop sign as required by this chapter at an intersection where a stop sign is erected at one or more entrances thereto although not a part of a through highway and shall proceed cautiously, yielding to vehicles not so obliged to stop which are within the intersection or approaching so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard, but may then proceed.”
There used to be traffic lights at the intersections of Main and Second streets, Main and Church streets and Main Street and Dale Ave. The lights were removed in 2014 due to necessary repairs. A traffic study was conducted and results indicated there was not enough traffic along Main Street to merit reinstalling or replacing the lights with new ones. While the board, at the time, approved a bid to have new lights installed, then-Mayor Robert Bourne vetoed the bid, reasoning that the traffic study and the cost would be financially unfeasible.
