As with many other areas that people don’t realize are not independent cities–Van Nuys, Northridge, Chatsworth, etc. I have a friend who has lived in Encino for 20+ years who will argue to the death that he doesn’t live in Los Angeles; he lives in Encino.
It makes perfect sense. It should be that way. It tells the driver “everyone you see approaching this intersection is supposed to stop. If you are waiting at the stop sign and you see a moving vehicle that isn’t actually in the intersection yet, you have the legal right to proceed.”
It’s telling you it’s not a yield intersection, where cars waiting at the stop sign have to wait for traffic to pass by on the main street.
With 3/4 way, etc, the driver is supposed to look at how many streets are connected, then subtract the number on the sign and find out if there’s a remainder. Sure, maybe people of average intelligence can do it, but in the USA, anyone who passes driver’s ed is allowed to drive, no matter how dumb they are.
Various neighborhoods all over Los Angeles (hundreds of them) do this.
As for “All Way” vs “4-Way” or “3-Way” or “17-Way” it seems to be utterly arbitrary and up to the whim of whatever local authority places those signs, or something like that. I see all these variations around various towns here.
What really galls me, however, is the 4-way (or however-many-way) all-way stop intersections that are NOT SO MARKED at all! There are a great many of these too. Stop signs facing all ways, but no indication on any of those stop signs that the other street(s) at that intersection have stop signs too. Those are frustrating, because it’s so easy for any driver to stop and not be aware that the other drivers are waiting for somebody to go first.
There ought to be a state-wide law requiring all multi-way stop intersections to be signed as such.
If the stop signs are arranged in some unusual way, then all drivers approaching from all directions should be made aware of that fact. It’s not good enough for a driver to be advised merely that “three of these streets stop and one doesn’t, but good luck guessing which one that is”.
Another variation I often see is: A stop sign along with another sign saying “Cross Traffic Does Not Stop”. Other variations are “Traffic From Left Does Not Stop” or “. . . From Right . . .”
Of course, but unlike those other places, Toluca Lake makes a concerted effort to convince anyone going there that it isn’t L.A.
Yeah, I’ve come across a lot of those. Whenever I come to a stop sign, I just treat it as an all-way stop sign unless I am definitely sure I don’t see a stop sign or stop lines in the cross direction. And, regardless, I try not to cross the intersection unless I see cross traffic showing evidence of stopping and seeing the stop sign. (And then, of course, you have the uncontrolled intersections, which you have to be aware of, too, and make sure that the other driver is aware of it.)
“All way” is designed for three-way intersections: -|
But since it’s easier to manufacture just one sign, they use it for four-way intersections, too.
If its in California, it means that no driver will actually come to a full stop at the sign. Each vehicle will only slow down enough to avoid an accident and simply go around the other vehicle in the intersection.
Its called a “California Roll”.
My front window looks out at a stop sign (near an elementary school) and I can testify to this. Some day I’m going to take a video for a while and count the percentage of cars which actually stop. < 10% in the informal surveys I’ve done.
The most common situation for 3 way stops ( and “all way” stop signs ) that I encounter is a regular cross shaped intersection where one of the streets is a one way street.