DRIVER COMPLIANCE WITH STOP-SIGN CONTROL AT LOW-VOLUME INTERSECTIONS

The objective of the research was to determine whether stop-sign control under designated conditions was fulfilling the requirements for application as specified by the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. This was to be demonstrated by the percentage of observed motorist violations and compliance, assuming that these measures reflect confirmation of need and respect afforded by the public. The dependent variables of violation and compliance rate, conflicts, and accidents were compared in a factorial experimental design with the independent variables of major-roadway volume, minor-roadway sight distance, rural or urban traffic condition, and type of intersection geometry. Minor-roadway volume, signing control, roadway cross section, geography, and weather were all controlled variables. The results from 2830 observations at 66 intersections indicated that the violation rate decreases with increasing major-roadway volume and is significantly high (p < 0.001) up to the average-daily-traffic (ADT) level of 2000 and significantly low (p < 0.001) above the ADT level of 5000-6000. An interaction effect between major-roadway volume and minor-roadway sight distance results in a violation rate that is significantly higher (P < 0.05) when sight is unrestricted than it is when sight is restricted. No conclusive relationships could be established between violations at low-volume intersections either in the rural-urban traffic environment or in the intersection geometry type that had three to four legs. No correlation was established between violation rate and accidents across all study variables; however, conflict rate was reduced at the upper and lower major-roadway volume levels. It was concluded that the operational effectiveness of low-volume intersections could be enhanced with no observed safety detriment by the application of no sign control below major-roadway volume of 2000 ADT, yield-sign control at major-roadway volume between 2000 and 5000 ADT, and, depending on minor-roadway volume, stop-sign control or signalization above 5000 ADT. These recommendations should be modified based on adequate sight distance; yet the determination procedure used in this study seemed insufficient and requires further revision. (Author)