Lehi City has hundreds of intersections without stop signs and so do our neighboring cities including Saratoga Springs, Orem, and Provo. State code sets the right-of-way at intersections without stop signs as follows:
- A vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a vehicle that has already entered the intersection from a different approach.
- When vehicles arrive at approximately the same time the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right. The vehicle on the right has the right-of-way.
- At T-intersections the vehicle on the street that doesn't continue beyond the intersection shall yield the right-of-way to vehicles on the street that does.
We follow national standards adopted by the state on when stop signs should be installed. There are different traffic volume thresholds for two-way stops and all-way stops. For two-way stops there should be at least 2,000 vehicles, pedestrians, or cyclists going through the intersection a day. All-way stops should have at least 300 vehicles per hour for 8 consecutive hours on the major road and 200 vehicles per hour on the minor road for the same 8 hours.
Stop signs are always placed on the approaches with the least amount of traffic. The standard states that stop signs should not be used for controlling speeds. Stop signs may also be used to address limited sight distance.
Research shows that stop signs placed against the above standards result in low compliance, meaning motorists begin rolling through the stop signs or stop checking properly before proceeding. This is particularly dangerous for pedestrians including children who may believe the stop signs offer protection when crossing when they actually don't. Stop signs installed against the above standard often result with reports that, "No one is stopping at these stop signs!"
