“What is the legal way to properly stop at a stop sign? Got pulled over for “rolling through,” can I creep past the white line? #StopSign #TrafficLaws
Have you ever been unsure about the correct way to stop at a stop sign? It can be confusing, especially if you’ve been told different things. Let’s clarify the proper procedure to ensure you can navigate stop signs safely and legally.
Stopping at a Stop Sign: Guidelines
– **Stop behind the white line:** It’s crucial to come to a complete stop before the white line painted on the road.
– **Check for oncoming traffic:** After stopping, you can slowly creep past the white line to get a better view of approaching cars.
– **Proceed cautiously:** Once you’ve checked for any oncoming vehicles and ensured it’s safe to proceed, you can continue driving.
Legal Requirements for Stop Signs
– **Complete stop:** The law generally requires a full stop at stop signs before continuing.
– **Obeying traffic regulations:** Rolling through a stop sign can result in being pulled over and receiving a ticket for a traffic violation.
– **Maintaining safety:** Stopping behind the white line and proceeding cautiously is essential for your safety and the safety of others on the road.
Remember, stopping and proceeding cautiously at stop signs is not just a legal requirement but also a crucial safety measure. By following these guidelines, you can ensure safe and legal driving practices at stop signs. #StopSignLaws #TrafficSafety“
>Or is stopping after the line good enough?
The purpose of the white line is to stop, at or before it. What you’ve described is rolling through a stop sign, hence why you got pulled over for it.
What people generally do, versus what is the law, doesn’t negate that the law is what it is. And yes, I’m guilty of doing what you’ve done but it doesn’t make it right. 🙂
Stop at the line fully, creep forward. Stop again and look, then go.
Come to a full stop at the white line. Count “one Mississippi, two Mississippi”. Then go if it’s safe to do so by easing out slowly. That’s what I was taught in driving school.
There are driving laws you should have learned, and you can look up all your state driving laws if you have questions.
Hard to imagine a cop writing someone up like this if there aren’t any “aggravating circumstances”. Did you piss off the cop somehow? Was there a bike path? A school zone? Do you have a “FTP” bumper sticker?
God I wish more people got pulled over for rolling through stop signs.
I bike, drive and walk a lot, and so many bikers and drivers seem to treat most stop signs as a yield sign.
To answer the question of why though. Stopping at the white line is not because thats where you can see when it is safe to continue on, it’s to give space to make that decision first.
If you stop at the white line, you have full freedom to look in every direction ***Before*** continuing on. If you roll in, you have to keep track of much more at once. 9/10 times you will be fine and safe to roll across, but all it takes is that 1 time to do harm, so why not spend that extra 2-5 seconds stopping.
The correct way to use a stop sign is to slowly come to a stop with your vehicle before the sign (or white line) and come to a full stop where your vehicle comes to rest. No Hollywood (rolling) stops.
A cop pulled me over once for not “stopping long enough” at a stop sign. After we conversed a bit, it became clear that he pulled over for “driving a cheap car in the wealthy neighborhood he was paid to babysit”. Once he determined that I lived in an adjacent (but less wealthy) neighborhood and was sufficiently Caucasian, he let me go with a warning.
Know your surroundings, is what I’m saying. Cops can be overzealous jackasses.
Gotta stop at or before the line you know that little jerk you feel when you car comes to a complete halt? Well In driving school they told me “feel the jerk or you are the jerk” meaning you need to come to a full stop or you are in the wrong. They always stressed that is _before_ the line.
I was taught that a legal stop lasts for two seconds, after that you can creep up across the line to check for pedestrians and incoming traffic before entering the flow of traffic, taking a free right, etc.
I had this very issue with my young son at a particular corner where if you stop at the line you cannot see cross traffic and of course this was an intersection of two State highways. My young son came to the intersection with a state police officer behind him so he stopped at the white line trying not to get a ticket. He then continued on and of course he was hit by a Dodge Ram truck and totaled a fairly new car and the Dodge Ram no one was really hurt. As I told him if you must go ahead and stop at the line then roll up where you need to see. You are never wrong to try and avoid an accident. If for some reason the cop does give you a ticket in such a circumstance you can always go back to the intersection and videotape the lack of vision at the designated stopping area and demonstrate that to the judge when you fight the ticket. But as long as you have truly come to a stop at the white line you will be fine. There’s nothing wrong with stopping twice if you’re doing so to avoid an accident.
I’m a state trooper and in my state, it means a complete cessation of movement. Once that has been completed and you are having trouble seeing cross traffic, you can slowly creep forward to gain a better view.
Your car “sets back” after the stop. So if you’re moving forward the weight is in the front while stopping. A complete stop is when the car redistributes that weight to be level. That’s how my Pop-pop taught me.
This happend to me on my DMV driver’s test 30 years ago. I did stopped at the white line but since you could not see down the road I rolled out to where I could see then went when I saw it was clear to go.
My instructor told me I needed to stop at the line of the stop sign, slowly pull out till I could see down the road and come to a complete stop again before pulling out.
Where I took my driving test, that was the biggest gotchya on the route. There was a stop sign where you couldn’t see the cross traffic when at the line, but you had to stop at the line, then roll forward, then check for traffic, then go, or they’d fail you right there 🤷🏽♀️
I took my drivers test in Florida in the late 90s, so take this with a grain of salt.
My folks were teaching me to drive in preparation for my test. They were very thorough, and wanted me to be safe. I felt very prepared for the test.
I took the whole driving test and the test taker was silent the whole time aside from directions, so I felt I was doing fine. When we finally ended, he told me that I failed, and that I failed for one reason – I never came to a full stop at a stop sign.
I was very confused, as I had done exactly as my parents had taught me. Apparently, they don’t come to complete stops at stop signs either. The instructor told me that you know you’ve come to a complete stop when feeling the slight lurch forward that the stop creates. My parents would slow down, to an almost imperceptible speed, but never get that little lurch – in fact, they had taught me that was bad. So when I was driving during the test, I’d slow down to where I wasn’t ‘moving’ at the stop sign, but then start moving again as soon as I felt I had ‘stopped’ enough.
I took the test again as soon as I was able, and I passed. And I gave my parents a good talking to.
When I took driving school eons ago, the instructor said you have to let the car “burp” to demonstrate a complete stop. Essentially that meant feeling the car do a little bounce down as you complete the stop.
I used to just slow down at stop signs until I got pulled over.
I ALWAYS fully stop now thanks to the cop.
Cop: “you didn’t stop at the line”
Me: “I slowed down though”
Cop: “it’s a stop sign, not a slow down sign”
Me: “it’s the same thing though”
Cop; takes out his night stick and starts tapping me on the head with it…
Me: “Stop STOP STOP!!!”
Cop: “would you like me to stop or slow down?”
The way my dad explained has stuck with me. Come to a full and complete stop behind the line and say “I just saved $256 dollars” and then go.
This is because he rolled a stop sign once and got a ticket for 255 dollars.
In practice though cops are liars who just need to fill a quota. I got a ticket once even though I stopped. Well I had no time to go to court and fight it being a busy student working a night job so I just paid and moved on with my life.
Stop right before the line. Give it enough time to look both ways, and then look in the first direction you first looked for good measure and then keep going.
Back in 1982, I was taught in the driving school not to stop at the sign, but at a location where I could see both left and right, whether there was anyone coming. But then, stop lines didn’t exist yet. Now they do.
And, a different country from most 😉
You need to stop behind the white line and break momentum for it to be a full stop.
Imagine the stop sign is actually a fence that crossed the road perpendicularly. You are supposed to come to a complete stop no father forward than where your vehicle would touch this fence. Then you can creep forward. When there is both a stop sign, and a stop line, you come to a complete stop at the first.
What usually gets people in trouble is not understanding what “complete stop” means. It means your vehicle has ceased its forward momentum. When this happens, the vehicle body will rock back slightly as the suspension pulls it back. This movement can be felt by the driver and it is what police look for to determine if you legally stopped. Many drivers let off the brakes too quickly and their vehicle never actually stop moving forward, they are just moving forward very, very slowly.
The answer is on the vehicle code book
That’s slowing down. Good example, if someone is beating you with a bat would you want them to slow down or stop?
Do you want to state which country you are in? I don’t think this is covered under international law.
Why on earth are you trusted behind the wheel when you don’t understand simple safety rules like this?
I live in the Midwest, I’ve rolled probably thousands of stop signs. Bad habit but if I ever get pulled over for it I can’t even argue. Yes I do know what a complete stop is though
Legally you have to stop before the line. You can get away with stopping after the line if you are certain you will be waiting anyway or if vision at the line is impaired, which is very common.
Stopping before the line puts drivers who have the right of way at ease because some idiots will pull forward as far as possible and often encroach into the lane. It’s clearly illegal and extremely dangerous but there are lots of idiots on the roads, so people seeing someone pulling up so far will often slow down or swerve because they are avoiding a collision and that can cause other collisions or at least disturb traffic
When police are around, I break till I get that inertia kick back. You know the one I’m talking about – cops look for that shit I swear.
Stop means stop. At a stop sign, you stop before the sign, or at the solid white line, roll forward to see (if you’re turning), then go. I don’t understand how people could get that wrong.
I once got pulled over for not stopping for 3 seconds at a stop sign. In the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. I stopped at the stop sign. The cop just said I needed to stay stopped for 3 seconds. I. Sure it was just an excuse to pull me over search my car and stuff but still. So I guess fully stop for 3 seconds or you could get harassed.
Sorry Im from Cali, and ive heard we are notorious for rolling through stops so Im no help here
Yes you have to first stop behind the line and then roll forward a little. It’s like the first thing we learned in driving class when we learned about stop sign lol. Might want to do a little refresh on your knowledge of the road. They are test only to help you practice and relearn what you have forgotten
Come to a full, complete stop. If you cant seem to figure this out, do “one-mississippi” in your head while completely stopped. Then yield to the appropriate car with the right of way.
They look to see the car rock back on its shocks. It is especially easy to see at night when the taillights are on.