One of the basic freedoms of this country is our right to rely on our own judgement to decide right from wrong. Some, whether from religion or other moral ethics, will have a more restricted code of conduct than the laws allow, which is perfectly permissible as long as it falls within the regulations. It's when our judgement starts to cross the established laws, and especially when it crosses safety boundaries that we should be concerned.
There's very little etiquette on the road these days. People might stop at a four-way stop and observe the rules defining the right of way, or they might not. More and more, I see people rolling through stop signs like they were exempt. I could be wrong, but it also seems to me like the bigger the car (meaning SUV's and large pickup trucks) the greater the chance they'll fly through a stop.
I noticed something the other day, and it got me thinking about this. There are several corners around my neighborhood with stop signs and white lines painted so you know where to stop. The problem is, that if you stop behind the white line, you can't see traffic because there are walls lining the road and the stop sign is too far back. So, naturally, everyone has to cross the line about fifteen feet to see when it's safe to go.
How are people supposed to obey the rules of the road when they are constantly bombarded with this kind of lunacy? The city planners probably have rules defining how far back a stop sign must be, and where the white line goes in relation to the sign, but must we hire morons, unable to think for themselves, to install them?
I'm sure there will always be bad drivers, but we don't need to condition people into becoming bad drivers.
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