Hidden Stop Sign on Blind Curve
Hidden Stop Sign on Blind Curve –
The Fix: Install Reflectorized Stop Sign on the Left
2013 -- Grapeview Loop Road winds along a rural route toward an intersection with State Route 3, a busy highway in Mason County. As it approaches SR 3, the county road curves to the right, and becomes wide-mouthed at the intersection. This configuration essentially hides the Stop sign on the right in vegetation until a driver reaches a point only 84 feet back of the intersection. According to sight distance studies, drivers unfamiliar with an intersection aren’t able to respond that quickly and stop before entering the intersection.
Mason County is aware of the inability to see the Stop sign until it’s too late to stop, so it posts a Stop Ahead sign. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices provides that a Stop Ahead sign should be placed 125 feet in advance of a Stop sign for a 40-mph road. The Stop Ahead sign here, however, is located 640 feet in advance of the Stop sign, contrary to the MUTCD’s directive against placing advance warning signs too far back because drivers can forget about them due to other distractions while driving.
On three occasions, drivers from out of the area, unfamiliar with this intersection, do not see the hidden Stop sign on the right, and travel onto SR 3 without stopping, whereupon they end up in collisions with traffic on the highway.
May 27, 2013 – Laurie Hammons drives along Grapeview Loop Road toward SR 3, having never driven there before. She doesn’t see the hidden Stop sign, and travels onto SR 3 where she’s struck by a one-ton pickup. Laurie sustains brain and orthopedic injuries.
We’re contacted by Laurie’s husband Gary, who is irate because WSDOT has sent him a bill for damage to a guardrail struck by Laurie’s car as a result of the crash. He has inspected the road and observed that the Stop sign is hidden, and the Stop Ahead sign is too far back to be useful.
We issue a Public Records Act request that produces documents showing that WSDOT has measured the sight stopping distance at the intersection, and has confirmed that drivers can’t see the Stop sign until it’s too late to stop. We file suit against the State and Mason County.
As the case is proceeding toward trial, WSDOT installs a Stop sign on the left side of the lane where it can readily be seen.
It also installs Stop Ahead signs on both sides of Grapeview Loop Road at the 125-foot distance called for by the MUTCD.
No further collisions.
Hammons v. State of Washington/Mason County