Home › Forums › WSB Reader Recommendations › Is a Yield sign THAT confusing?
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June 12, 2008 at 10:36 pm #587205
JenVMemberToday, for the umpteenth time in about a month, I was nearly t-boned at the intersection of Findlay and 42nd. There is, for those of you who don’t know, a yield sign on 42nd…meaning you yield to the cars coming down Findlay. Every time I go thru this intersection, I slow or stop now, because NO ONE seems to see the yield sign. This morning, a little blue Chevy Aveo (?) blew thru the intersection going at least 45, narrowly missing me as I slammed on my brakes. He did not even slow down at the intersection. This is getting ridiculous. Seattle cops, if you’re reading this: CASH COW INTERSECTION!
Yield means yield. if there is no yield sign, the person on the right has the right of way.
everyone be careful at that intersection!
June 13, 2008 at 12:56 am #627741
WSBKeymasterThose must be the people who practice by ignoring the stop sign at California/Thistle, westbound on Thistle turning northbound on California. The police really do stake it out at least once a week and seldom have to wait long to chase after somebody. I’m glad because coming from the other side of California into that intersection, we have been nearly broadsided at least half a dozen times! – TR
June 13, 2008 at 2:48 am #627742
TheHouseMemberThat stop sign has always puzzled me. It could easily be a continuous turn for those heading northbound on Cali or eastbound on Thistle since almost no traffic comes from the other directions (could make it a stop for them, making it a two way stop).
June 13, 2008 at 2:59 am #627743
CMPParticipantI’m surprised there isn’t a traffic circle at 42nd & Findlay since there are so many in that neighborhood, at least north of Juneau. I’d like to say I can’t believe people blow through the yield sign without looking, but I’m not surprised, given how dumb drivers are around here. But don’t get me started b/c I could write pages on that topic. I guess you just have to take caution going through any unmarked (or sadly, marked) intersection by slowing way down since it seems only about 20% of Seattle drivers know to yield to the right.
As for California & Thistle, I’m sometimes guilty of being able to get through it still in second gear, but that’s usually at an ungodly hour when most people are still sleeping. Otherwise, I come to what I consider a good stop, but not long enough to piss anyone off behind me.
June 13, 2008 at 7:38 am #627744
WSBKeymasterAll I can tell ya from Cal & Thistle is that even though I drive with my headlights on all the time to maximize visibility, almost no one coming westbound on Thistle ever so much as glances southward. And that side of the road is used more than you can tell by looking across the Do Not Enter signs – the road continues down the hill to the south before dead-ending, and a fair amount of the people from Sullivan/42nd (the street south of Thistle) come down that way too. And don’t even get me started on the dunderheads who flout the DO NOT ENTER signs and insist on charging south on the California stub, invisible to those who are about to turn onto it from westbound Sullivan. I’d better stop now, I hijacked Jen’s vent … TR
June 13, 2008 at 2:46 pm #627745
JenVMemberno worries- my tag was “bad drivers” too. :) there are a lot of them in West Seattle, and a lot of bad intersections. although it was an awful job, I am glad for my experience as a claims adjuster, because it made me a much more careful driver than I already was. Still a leadfoot, but a safe leadfoot. ;)
June 13, 2008 at 3:17 pm #627746
AnonymousInactiveTotally agree Jen, it’s like people just blow through uncontrolled intersections and also don’t yield. Because I see this so often, I approach intersections cautiously often to the frustration of the driver behind me. For example, I slow down when I approach an intersection that does not have a circle or yield or stop sign because the person on my left may not realize that they need to yield to the person on the right. Good topic. It really pisses me off.
Off topic a bit but what really pisses me off are the jaywalking peds who just step out infront of you with no notice and then scowl at you because you had to slam on your brakes. People need to wake up and realize that they will loose to a car no matter who has the right of way.
June 13, 2008 at 3:17 pm #627747
SueParticipantWell, as long as we’re including bad drivers, I’ve gotten to the point where I treat every intersection as a yield (unless, of course, it’s got a light or a stop sign). I drive up Dawson a lot between Fauntleroy and California, and also Juneau between Fauntleroy and 35th, and nobody yields at the circles either – they just blow through them as if nobody else is on the road. I’ve had many near misses throughout West Seattle, without so much as anyone raising their hand to apologize, nor hitting a brake. It’s really scary. And this morning at the nearly-finished light at Dawson/Fauntleroy, there’s a crosswalk now and the traffic light is a constant blinking yellow, and somebody still was speeding up as if to threaten me as I crossed the street on foot. So frustrating!
June 13, 2008 at 3:21 pm #627748
SueParticipantwsblover, my dad has this saying that I love: “right of way doesn’t get you anything if you’re dead.” I see pedestrians dart out constantly, assuming I will stop. As a driver, you can’t see everything all the time. It’s possible we’ll miss them and hit them. There’s also the possibility of brakes failing or reacting slowly and being *unable* to stop. People just assume this sense of entitlement that cars will always stop for them. Believe me, that’s my goal too (to not kill anybody), but cars don’t stop instantaneously!
June 13, 2008 at 3:47 pm #627749
AnonymousInactiveTotally agree Sue
June 13, 2008 at 3:50 pm #627750
KenParticipantLet’s mention one of the most dangerous yield signs that is regularly ignored.
Delridge onramp to the WS Bridge. The yield sign is regularly blown by the bus, but that I expect and can understand since the law actually requires other drivers to yield for the bus in most situations, but the SUV drivers on cell phones are far more dangerous. I can only guess they are unaware of either the sign or the meaning of the sign in that context.
June 13, 2008 at 4:17 pm #627751
FranciParticipantI’ve noticed lately in and out of West Seattle a new trend. In WS it was at 35th & Morgan, lots of traffic. A car stopped at the red light, heading east on Morgan, there was a minor break in cross traffic, he just proceeded to cross the road against the red light. He also had to pull into the right hand lane to get around the car(s)in front of him to cross 35th.. I’ve seen this behaviour at a light near my office too.
Since when have red lights become stop and go?
June 13, 2008 at 4:18 pm #627752
CMPParticipantI totally agree with the Delridge onramp to the bridge. My bus driver treats it like a merge, but I guess if those coming from Spokane had to yield to Delridge traffic, they’d NEVER get on the bridge. I’m telling you, when I was mistakenly forced to take the written drivers test when I moved back here from Kansas, I learned quite a bit about road signs and other laws that I forgot when I was 16. People should have to retake the written and driving test every five years to renew their license. Might make the roads safer and create more jobs for the DMV. Any good driver wouldn’t whine about this, it’s the bad ones that won’t agree with me. Then again, there are some people out there who are so stupid and ignorant, that a test won’t make them a better person or driver.
June 13, 2008 at 4:42 pm #627753
charlabobParticipantIt really is about bad drivers…..not ignorance of signs.
Along with the phenomenon of ignoring yield signs, we have the phenomenon of pretending one has a yield sign when one doesn’t. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve yielded properly, only to have someone coming from the non-yield direction stop and sit absolutely still, waiting for me to pull out in front of hir(m). If you have the right of way, and someone yields to you, take the damned right of way and go.
I haven’t been able to figure out if this is a warped instance of Seattle nice or just strange driving behavior. Either way, it just results in gridlock — even if there are only two cars involved.
June 14, 2008 at 12:04 am #627754
swimcatMemberI think WS has some of the worst drivers around; coming home from work, the second I get off the viaduct heading southbound to the WS Bridge things slow down and get f’ed up.
People should have to retake the drivers test every four to five years; most people can’t remember what they ate for lunch yesterday much less something they learned when they were 16. Merge like a zipper, yield to the right, don’t run red lights, stay out of the left lane if you’re driving at or below the speed limit… it all seems so simple yet so many people can’t perform at that level.
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