To the Editor,
Recently I was working at the corner of Jackson and Jefferson avenues.
Stopping for coffee and a snack, I had a chance to observe the traffic where there were four stop signs. I was surprised as to how few people stopped, unless another car was coming. Even a few school bus drivers failed to stop.
Were they teaching students that you could ignore stop signs?
I grew up in Nemaha County where I knew a truck driver that hauled livestock and other things for farmers. One day he failed to stop at a highway stop sign. A Kansas Highway Patrolman stopped him. He said, “What is the difference between stopping and hesitating.” The patrolman answered, “Just five dollars.”
If every driver was fined $20 or $25 for “just hesitating” instead of stopping, a new hospital could probably be paid for in less than a year.
Anytime those pretty wheels are still turning, a stop has not been made.
Earl E. Bell
Iola, Kan.
