All of us California drivers are known, and often guilty of one thing: the “California Stop”. Some of us, even have been given tickets for our slowing rather than stopping. We would assume that the argument of the additional carbon emissions, fuel, and lost time created by unnecessary stops at empty intersections may not get you out of a ticket, but nonetheless, is a valid point and may be provoking a change in signs of the future.

Gary Lauder, the mastermind behind a new kind of sign was one of those “California Stoppers” and after getting a nasty ticket in college, cruising through a dark and empty intersection in the night with only the company of a hiding police car waiting to pull over Lauder over for his unstoppable ways, Gary came up with an idea. The new sign is simple, yet may create a huge change. It simply reads “Take Turns”.

It may not seem like a big change to you, but consider this: it has been estimated that one conventional stop sign on a particular road costs $112,000 a year in fuel and lost time.

The focus on this new sign is mostly on traffic flow. A constant, and smooth traffic flow increases efficiency, and ironically enough (contrary to what you might think), flowing traffic is less likely to produce crashes. Take for an example, a roundabout versus a stoplight intersection. The roundabout is around forty percent less likely to result in a collision between cars.

We’re not entirely sure as to when Lauder’s simple sign will be appearing on roads near you, but TED, a non profit organization focusing on ideas worth sharing, is helping Gary Lauder spread his message and concern.

Regardless of whether we’ll be seeing this sign on the roads soon, it is apparent that roads have as much of an impact on environmental pollution and carbon emissions as the car you’re driving has. Who would’ve thought that pesky stop sign was hurting more than just our driving records.