Cultural significance of Stop Signs

Stop signs, while an important part of society today, are relatively ineffective due to the vast majority of them. A lot of people tend to ignore stop signs all together in small neighborhoods and on side streets, or roll through the stop signs if there is no police officer around to make them do otherwise. Because of this, I feel that traffic circles are a better alternative to stop signs. The traffic circle allows traffic to keep moving when no one else is around, or in the case of a busy intersection, yield to cars already in the circle. According to the Federal Highway Administration, it is a fact that roundabouts "decrease accidents and increase capacity." The reason why roundabouts are safer is because they deflect traffic when cars enter, making them have to slow down in order to enter the circle, therefore making them a much better alternative to traffic lights and stop signs.