Remeber, red means stop

I’m not sure when it became optional to stop for stop signs, but that seems to be the case lately. Otherwise, why would motorists do the stupid things they do?
I see it every day in my neighborhood on 14th Street and Judd Avenue, where there is a four-way stop with flashing red lights that indicate First Lutheran School is nearby. Yet, some people don’t see the signs.
Apparently during the summer time, motorists don’t think they need to stop because school is out for summer vacation. They fail to understand there are still children in the neighborhood, and at times they cross or play in the streets.
It happens often in the winter months, too. Motorists often either don’t see the stop signs or don’t care to stop because there is no cross traffic in sight. Most are usually going too fast to stop in time anyway.
Thanks to a former police chief, Glencoe has a reputation for having more stop signs per capita than most small communities. But the number of signs does not necessarily equal obedience.
Maybe we need to paint them redder or make them bigger. Better yet, invite the Finnish lumberjacks back to cut down all the boulevard trees so we can better see the signs.
Another option is to paint funny sayings on the stop signs so people have to stop to read the sayings. Or perhaps citizen vigilantes like the one in the Baldwin Avenue-11th Street area need to take matters into their own hands. The vigilante apparently took a paint brush to a stop sign and street sign there and decided his shade of green was a more appropriate color.
Some of the blame for the summer stop sign violations can be placed on the changes in traffic flow. Now that 13th Street is torn up between Ives and Judd Avenues due to the central storm water project, traffic has been rerouted to 14th Street and right past my house.
Usually a quiet area, 14th Street has become a thoroughfare for cars, trucks and even semis. But thanks to the former police chief, it also includes numerous stop signs. Apparently people accustomed to 13th Street and its stop sign-free straight shot through town forgot about 14th Street and its over abundance of signage.
Regardless, one night last week, after several neighbors complained about the numerous stop sign violators, Glencoe Police began beefed-up patrols and nabbed at least six violators within an hour. Thanks, we needed to get motorists’ attention. Nothing says “we’re watching you” than a ticket for a moving violation.
Now, if the police could apprehend the knucklehead who recently drove through the work site on 13th Street that was barricaded at both ends.
My wife and I were walking near Casey’s when we spotted the car, heading east on 13th Street, go around the barrier at Ives Avenue, dip down into the dug away street, and travel up the other side at Judd Avenue and navigate around the barriers there.
Wow! That took a lot of moxie since a large excavator was also digging in the work zone at the time.
Must have really had to go to the bathroom, or something as urgent, to pull off that maneuver!