Several years ago, I test drove a car and that was my first time driving a car in the States. The car was pretty good, probably because it was brand new. I pushed the gas pedal harder, and suddenly I heard a screaming from the passenger seat. I looked to the right, and the dealer’s face was dead pale. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Ahh … you didn’t stop at the stop sign.” “What? Stop sign? What is it?” The dealer stared at me and it seemed that his face became paler. “Well,” I said, “let me drive this car back.”

I had excuses for not stopping. With my several years of driving in Taiwan, I had never seen any stop sign. I know this is not a good excuse since apparently my dad was more modest than me. Once my parents visited me, and I let my dad drive my car. My dad stopped and waited for an intersection to be clear whenever he saw a stop sign. Finally, when he came back home, he asked me what he should do at intersections. I live in a residential area, so in the neighborhood, you see more stop signs than traffic lights. I told my dad, “You stop whenever you see a stop sign, and whoever stops first goes first.” However, I wish things were that simple.

Based on my observations, lots of Philly drivers do not stop at stop signs. What is worse is that some of them don’t even bother to slow down. This is an absolutely serious problem, and it results in serious accidents. I witnessed one holy crash while walking around in the neighborhood. And last week, when I jogged around, I saw a mom and her kid waiting in front of a stop sign, nervously. Before I reached them, three cars had passed by, and finally I stepped out to block the fourth car, we three therefore crossed the intersection together.

I feel two kinds of driving are unbearable: 1. Aggressive driving. 2. Unpredictable driving. Stop signs are supposed to make drivers’ behaviors predictable, and stop signs naturally would generate a safe walking environment for a residential area. If for every less than half a mile, a car needs to stop, what is the point to drive more than 20 miles per hour?

Ironically, the combination of stop signs and aggressive Philly drivers creates unpredictable Philly drivers. When you are approaching a stop sign, you see another car coming to the same intersection with high speed, and you wonder “huh, he has no intention to stop.” You stop at the intersection first, but he passes through like a racing horse. “Damn, don’t you know I have the right to go first?” you curse. Or you stop at the intersection first, and then he stops too. Since you are a good driver, you do a complete stop, so you cross the intersection like a sick old bull. He gets impatient and honks at you and even generously gives you a finger. “What is wrong with him?” you mumble.

These are stories have happened to me. I still sometimes curse and sometimes mumble, but I always stop at a stop sign. Because to stop or not to stop: that should not be a question.