The Patron Saint of Traffic

We live on this busy street corner, and for 30+ years have been used to background noise of screeching tires followed by loud bangs.  Followed by that awful silence. Accidents occur with monotonous regularity in front of our house. Drivers blissfully ignore the YIELD signs and sail merrily through the blind intersection without a care in the world.  That is, until they collide rudely with someone else.  All we can figure is, maybe people think a YIELD sign just means speed up and merge?

Anyway, neighbors have petitioned the city for years to install STOP signs here, but no luck. Perhaps there were finally too many wrecks, so imagine my surprise and delight watching the DOT worker put up a shiny new STOP sign yesterday. This is a very big deal.  Now we should actually be able to make a left turn and park in front of our house without mortal fear.  At least, with less fear. No one would be brazen enough to ignore a STOP sign, would they?

BTW, there really is an official patron saint for drivers and automobiles, and it isn't the guy in the white hat.  Her name was Saint Frances of Rome, a city infamous for some of the worst traffic in the world. In 1925 Pope Pius XI declared her the patron saint of automobile drivers because of a legend that an angel used to light the road in front of her with a lantern when she traveled, keeping her safe from hazards.

And here's the real Frances, showing how to keep your saintly cool in bad traffic.