Amherst’s Addiction to Traffic Signs

By Chris Buchanan

How might one portray the essence of Amherst, New Hampshire to a visitor? I might describe it as a small, quaint town in touch with its historic New England atmosphere and tradition. Envision one of Amherst’s country lanes, the serpentine road meanders through the forest… it’s the picturesque drive through rural New Hampshire – at least, it once was.

I have noticed a change as I drive the streets of Amherst. Where no signs once were, stop signs have sprung up. Not too much later, a thick white line is painted across the street by the stop sign showing me where to stop. After the sign sits there for a year or so, a new “stop ahead” sign appears not too far away, in case I miss the large, red, reflective, sign with “STOP” written on. The latest addition includes reflectors being added to sign posts to increase their visibility even more.

In Amherst, we’re falling victim to America’s growing addiction to signs. The convention today has become “when in doubt, put up a sign… or maybe three.”  Yield signs have been replaced by stop signs, two-way stops have become four-way stops… more and more, our roads are becoming “adorned” with often inappropriate signage and markings. I’ve always liked the historic ambiance of small New England towns like Amherst, but somewhere, somebody is trying to turn our roads into the New Jersey turnpike. As the current trend continues, perhaps we can expect stop signs to appear at the end of our driveways, or warning signs declaring “don’t stare into the sun.”

Is this really right for Amherst? While sometimes necessary, in many instances a yield sign (if any sign) is much more efficient than stop signs. Two-way stops are often more appropriate than four-way stops, and traffic lights that continue to stop lonely cars at midnight when there’s not another vehicle in sight are simply absurd.

Are we really better off today now that our country lanes are lined with sign clutter? Are we so much safer now that we must come to complete stops at every crossing? Professor John Staddon of Duke University published an article in the Atlantic showing that signage often is unnecessary and can actually be dangerous. Signs force drivers to pay attention to things other than where their attention should be: monitoring road conditions. He points to examples in the Netherlands and Germany where town officials have experimented by reducing the amount of signs in town. Did the streets turn to chaos riddled with crashes? Actually, accident rates declined and drivers became more observant.

Should we continue to clutter our streets with a multitude of painted lines and traffic signs? Or do we maintain Amherst’s historic, colonial atmosphere?  It’s time we take a step back and reduce the unnecessary signage. This is historic Amherst New Hampshire after all, not the New Jersey turnpike.

For further reading:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/distracting-miss-daisy/6873/#

http://www.nysun.com/opinion/tear-down-those-stop-signs/82055/