Can a financial incentive make people change their driving habits? One police department in Pennsylvania is taking a slightly passive-aggressive approach to preventing accidents with signs that remind motorists how stop signs work. “Complete Stops: FREE,” the signs say. “Rolling Stops: $128.50. Your choice.” Police in neighboring towns are interested in the signs now, too.

The signs cost only $18 each, and the town has put up five at them at its most problematic intersections. Police have tried to watch those intersections, but can’t be there 24/7, and it’s always better to remind people not to roll through stop signs before they do it, if your goal is to prevent accidents and not fund the police department by writing tickets.

“We’ve enforced all the intersections where we had [complaints about motorists not stopping],” that apparently wasn’t doing the trick, we thought the signs might be an aid to that,” the police chief told TV station Fox 43.

None of this matters if they don’t work, of course. Reader Sherri lives in the area, and she took the lesson to heart. Well, to her wallet and to her heart. “I thought about it today at every stop sign I came apon and I made sure to completely stop, so it definitely works!” she wrote to Consumerist when sending the story in as a tip.

Police in Lancaster County get creative to crack down on dangerous driving [Fox 43]

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