For years The Chicago Tribune had driver's-advocate column that asked questions and when necessary took on the nameless, faceless bureaucrats that make some, erm, interesting decisions when it comes to traffic engineering (or lack thereof).  I don't know if the column still exists but I do recall one specific column on 4-way stop signs.

The constant creep of suburban development once again threatened to overwhelm an already lagging infrastructure.  Motorists had no choice but to seek alternate routes as the arterial roads were often gridlocked.  Horrified bedroom communities responded by planting 4-way stop signs at every possible intersection.

The Tribune questioned this practice and found that Illinois state law laid out specific requirements for the establishment of a 4-way stop versus a 2-way stop.  Most important was that the intersection must see a certain amount of traffic at peak time or within a certain time frame (1 hour, 24 hours, etc.).  In the end, many of the intersections with 4-way stop signs did not meet the criteria.  The Tribune asked the municipalities to simply comply with the law as written and you can guess the rest:  in almost all cases the municipalities silently ignored the law or refused outright, hiding behind the old "safety" rubric.

Switching states to WV and specifically Morgantown, the Suncrest and Star City areas (e.g., the neighborhoods near Collins Ferry Rd and University Blvd) are absolutely awash in 4-way stop signs on roads that are only lightly traveled on any day of the week.  Yes traffic around WVU is heavy but there's really no advantage to cutting through these neighborhoods as they lie parallel to the arterial roads.  Again it's obvious that ham-fisted state DOH or local authorities have gone overboard in littering the landscape with stop signs either because a disgruntled homeowner requested it once upon a time or simply because - again - they view it as a safety measure (even when it's not).

So West Virginians or anyone else who knows....does state law or the state traffic code have a set of criteria for establishing 4-way stop signs?  If so what are the requirements?   If traffic volume alone is the determining factor then the vast majority of these 4-way stops should be replaced with 2-ways.

  I walked down the side walk and they threw water baloons at me!!! TWICE fist time the said hey buddy i turned and threw threw but they missed i got there number thow.

 This guy driving a Stratus on I64 westbound at 4:50 Pm 01/16/2008 and running with a second vehicle through a posted 55mph work zone at Milton, WV, over 70 mph passing me coming out of work zone of which he never slowed in work zone, cut across in front of my vehicle while i was accelerating and ran aout a half mile beside the other car with him and when the other car pulled ahead this guy suddenly hits his brakes and I swerved to miss him, lost control momentarily and corrected at emergency lane. I caught up with him, got plate number 6KC-724 WV on stratus, and when he realized I did he dropped back at 40 mph, and I caught up with the green car and got WV DLT 116 Plate #. This might have been an insurance scam, now I think about what they did. Luckily I avoided the collision.

 When are you people ever going to learn how a four-way stop works? It's really not that difficult. I know I'm not the only one sick of almost being hit by you numb-nuts who go out of turn and try to run us over.

And also to the little vermin-weasel this morning in the white pickup... You can stare at me all you want, you noticed I didn't look away. Anytime you're feeling froggy, you go ahead and leap, you little twit. I'm not a violent person, I haven't been in an actual fight since I was a teenager. But I won't be intimidated. You couldn't see up from your perspective, but I'm twice your size and I can easily take care of myself.

Now, for any of you in WV that can actually READ this, please go back, read your driver's manual and learn how to take your turn and not somebody else's!!

 Who is the idiot in Vermont who has nothing better than to scope out cars in Lyndonville and write a comment about them.  Obviously, you don't have a life or a job!!!!

 Big ass Chevy Avalanche cut me off at Sol Shanholz Rd. and Rt. 50 in Augusta.  Then Big A sped down Rt 50 at approx. 75 mph. in a 55 mph zone.  Big and Dumb!!!!

while driving back from Chas. W Va. i pulled along side of a black jaguar. The driver was a white male in his 30's.when I looked in his window I couldn't beleive what I saw. There was a woman ,and what I could tell to be a gorgeous woman in the middle of the front seat naked giving a b___ job to the driver while the man in the passengers side was steadily finge____ fu_____ her. WHAT A ROAD SHOW. I THANK YOU, WHOEVER YOU WERE, FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART