"Yes drivers should be paying more attention"

Now that's the understatement of the decade!

I assume those stop signs are there to make sure that a driver cannot claim that he didn't know that there was a stop at that corner. It probably also helps to cut down on fast cut-through traffic, a long-standing issue in College Terrace.

Lucky for them they just hit a sign instead of a pedestrian or an on-coming car.

Did they hit the sign at night or in the middle of the day? Maybe the street needs more lights.

I do not know at what time the sign a few blocks away was struck two months ago.

Last month this sign was struck sometime around 7AM and this morning it was struck at 7:45AM or so. Plenty of sunlight to see the sign.

How bizarre ~ I turned left from Columbia heading east on College this morning at 8:45 and didn't even notice the sign was down! I must admit, though, that it's helpful to have it there for westbound cars on College. From casual observation, the stop sign on the right at that corner was frequently missed.

The fact that drivers run down giant red signs gives me little hope that those same drivers would be able to see and avoid small children -- many of whom are walking to school in the morning as traffic comes through this neighborhood.

While these middle-of-the-road stop signs are not perfect, they have had the effect of slowing down some vehicular traffic through our neighborhood.

Not sure if it helps, but at that time in the morning on a sunny day the sun is low and blinding. If the stop sign is in the middle of the road, it could possibly be invisible in the morning sun. Drivers are often looking for pedestrians and other vehicles in places they expect them when the sun is in their eyes and not for a sign stuck in the middle of the road. Most signs are not stuck in the middle of the road, are taller than a person or vehicle and don't have the bulky size of a vehicle so I think they could be hard to see if you don't expect to see them there.

It looks to me like we need a lot more of these signs. Better the sign than a pedestrian or bicycle. Somebody out there -- that clunking sound you heard while you were texting was a stop sign!

I agree that it's far better for a driver who is not fully taking in the road conditions to hit a sign rather than another person. Perhaps drivers who can't even see a stop sign when it's right in the road would be best walking rather than at the wheel. Also, just wanted to mention that the wording of the original post here is very vague. When you say a sign is taken out it implies that the city or some individual came and removed it, rather than that someone in a vehicle drove into it, knocking it down. If not for the photo this would have remained a mystery.

The low morning sun can blind you as a pedestrian and cyclist.

Please don't dismiss the dangers of blinding sun in the am commute.

If the sun in your eyes is affecting your driving safety, then you need to slow down or even stop and wait for conditions to improve. These people who hit the sign could easily have killed someone.

We have a similar stop sign by Duveneck School. Still standing without a blemish. Also have some other middle of the road "calming" islands at other spots on Channing - no problems there either.

Perhaps the drivers in your area need to slow down a little bit and be more cautious while they drive?

"Perhaps the drivers in your area need to slow down a little bit and be more cautious while they drive?"

Indeed, but how? The efforts at traffic calming have failed. The round abouts didn't work and they were not reinstalled after the road surface repaving. The speed "humps" aren't working. These stop-sign-islands are not working and three have been struck in three two months.

While looking out my bathroom window this morning (which faces the sign in the above picture) I saw two out of three cars treat the stop as a yield -- only slowing to perhaps 10 or 15 mph before blowing through the stop sign and turning left onto Columbia towards California Avenue.

Someone who crashes into a stop sign made at least 2 mistakes:
1. not staying in their lane
2. not stopping at the stop sign

Our traffic enforcement is not tough enough if people like this are allowed to drive in our neighborhoods. Most of these stop islands are adjacent to elementary schools, right?

I have noticed a significant slowing of traffic in College Terrace since bumps were put in place, along with the stop signs. The circles also were effective, but confusing. I disagree with you that "The efforts at traffic calming have failed". I was not part of the traffic effort in CT, and I am known to speak my mind when I am critical of something, but I must say that the traffic calming efforts have been a step in the right direction. I congratulate those who put the time and effort into implementing them.

Better they take out the drivers who are running it over. How hard is it to avoid running over a sigh? That is really astounding that there are so many bad drivers that the sign has been hit twice in a month. LOL. Drunk college students? Old ladies who cannot drive? What is the problem?

Once again a stop sign was taken out. This time it was the other one in the College / Columbia intersection.

Web Link

The DMV should declare this a hazardous driving zone and force a mandatory drivers re-test for all the residents. This kind of incompetent driving is unacceptable, especially with so many schools and children nearby.

The lady that hit it said that she didn't see it. And I believe her. The sun was low in the sky to the west-north-west. She was coming from California Ave. northbound on Columbia St. She made a left to go westbound on College. At that time of day the sun is right in your eyes. A narrow, 2" diameter pole is easily hidden in the glare.

I'm not trying to make an excuse for this lady, clearly she should not have hit a stationary object, but I think some blame lands on the City of Palo Alto for not thoroughly evaluating the placement of these signs.

It's a 2 inch pole with a 2 foot wide stop sign on top of it. How high is the stop sign off the ground? About the same height as a pedestrian's head? Not seeing it is no excuse. If the sun is affecting your vision, then slow down so you have more time to see where you are going.

@retest all the drivers

The sign is not two feet wide when seen edge on. Also I've never seen a pedestrian two inches wide.

From the photo, it is obvious that someone hit the sign head-on, not from the side. I do not remember any of these signs posted in locations where you could easily hit them from the side.

consider the possibility that someone is running into this sign on purpose.

As far as I can tell it has been three different people.

Did they stick around to assume responsibility?

Anyone see the stop sign get taken out at College and Columbia again yesterday? My with neither heard it or saw it happen, but it was gone at about 5PM. This was the western most stop sign in the intersection.

CPA Util replace it this morning.

Darn typo...

Was meant to be .... My wife neither heard it nor saw it happen, but it was gone at about 5PM.