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A stop sign is a traffic sign designed to notify drivers that they must come to a complete stop and make sure the intersection (or railroad crossing) is safely clear of vehicles and pedestrians before continuing past the sign.<ref>Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, 1968. United Nations Publication. Template:ISBN</ref> In many countries, the sign is a red octagon with the word STOP, in either English, the national language of that particular country, or both, displayed in white or yellow. The Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals also allows an alternative version: a red circle with a red inverted triangle with either a white or yellow background, and a black or dark blue STOP. Some countries may also use other types, such as Japan's inverted red triangle stop sign. Particular regulations regarding appearance, installation, and compliance with the signs vary by some jurisdictions.
Design and configurationEdit
The 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals allows for two types of stop signs as well as several acceptable variants. Sign B2a is a red octagon with a white Template:Smallcaps legend. The European Annex to the convention also allows the background to be "light yellow". Sign B2b is a red circle with a red inverted triangle with either a white or yellow background, and a black or dark blue Template:Smallcaps legend. The Convention allows for the word "STOP" to be in either English or the national language of the particular country. The finalized version by the United Nations Economic and Social Council's Conference on Road Traffic in 1968 (and in force in 1978) proposed standard stop sign diameters of 600, 900 or 1200 mm (24, 36 or 48 inches).
The United Kingdom and New Zealand stop signs are 750, 900 or 1200 mm (about 30, 36 or 48 inches), according to sign location and traffic speeds.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Template:Small</ref><ref>New Zealand Transport Agency. Traffic Control Devices Manual: General requirements for traffic signs Template:Webarchive, Template:Small</ref>
In the United States, stop signs are Template:Convert across opposite flats of the red octagon, with a Template:Sfrac-inch (2 cm) white border. The white uppercase Template:Smallcaps legend is Template:Convert tall.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="SHS_English">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Template:Small</ref> Larger signs of Template:Convert with Template:Convert legend and Template:Convert border are used on multi-lane expressways. Regulatory provisions exist for extra-large Template:Convert signs with Template:Convert legend and Template:Sfrac-inch border for use where sign visibility or reaction distance are limited, and the smallest permissible stop sign size for general usage is Template:Convert with an Template:Convert legend and Template:Sfrac-inch (1.5 cm) border.<ref name="MUTCD03_2B">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The metric units specified in the US regulatory manuals are rounded approximations of US customary units, not exact conversions.<ref name="SHS_English"/><ref name="SHS_Metric">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Template:Small</ref> The field, legend, and border are all retroreflective.
Some modern stop signs have flashing LEDs around the perimeter, which has been shown to substantially reduce crashes.<ref>Increase Visibility of Stop Signs: LEDs Around Stop Sign Face</ref>
- Vienna Convention road sign B2a.svg
B2a
- Vienna Convention road sign B2a-EA.svg
Acceptable variant of B2a in the European Annex
- Vienna Convention road sign B2b-V1.svg
B2b
- Vienna Convention road sign B2b-V2.svg
Acceptable variant of B2b
- Vienna Convention road sign B2b-V3.svg
Acceptable variant of B2b
- Vienna Convention road sign B2b-V4.svg
Acceptable variant of B2b
HistoryEdit
The first stop sign was created in 1914<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> by Detroit police sergeant Harold "Harry" Jackson, who was working as a traffic guard at a busy city intersection. One of the cross streets had a particularly low-visibility turn entering the intersection, almost always forcing Sgt. Jackson to slow down and hold back the traffic entering from that street. Looking for ways to make his job easier, he took a rectangular piece of plywood, cut off the corners to give it a distinct shape, wrote "STOP" over the center and placed facing the street. He noticed that his innovation improved the overall traffic flow through the intersection. After he shared his experience with fellow officers at a meeting, the practice started to spread across the city intersections.<ref name ="slate">Template:Cite journal</ref> The next year, 1915, stop signs were adopted across Michigan.<ref name="signalfan">Signalfan. History of the Stop Sign in America. 1997.</ref>Template:Better source needed<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The first ones had black lettering on a white background and were Template:Convert, somewhat smaller than the current sign. As stop signs became more widespread, a rural-dominated committee supported by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) met in 1922 to standardize them and selected the octagonal shape that has been used in the United States ever since. The unique eight-sided shape of the sign allows drivers facing the back of the sign to identify that oncoming drivers have a stop sign and prevent confusion with other traffic signs. Another consideration of the AASHO was visibility and driver literacy, as summarized in subsequent State Highway Commission reports in the states of the U.S., was that the goal for signs "standardized throughout the Union" was that "The shape of the sign will indicate what it will mean. This has been worked up very carefully by the best-qualified men in the country and men who have made a thorough study of this question. It has been found that so many people have trouble in reading the sign that the shape of the sign is very much more important than the reading matter on it."<ref>"Seventeenth and Eighteenth Reports of the State Highway Commission to the Governor of Virginia for the Twenty-one months ending June 30, 1925" (Virginia State Highway Commission, 1925) p.37</ref>
The octagon was also chosen so that it could be identified easily at night since the original signs were not reflective.Template:Citation needed The more urban-oriented National Conference on Street and Highway Safety (NCSHS) advocated a smaller red-on-yellow stop sign.<ref name="signalfan" /> These two organizations eventually merged to form the Joint Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which in 1935 published the first Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD) detailing the stop sign's specifications.
The MUTCD's stop sign specifications were altered eight times between 1935 and 1971. From 1924 to 1954, stop signs bore a red or black Template:Smallcaps legend on a yellow field.<ref name="signalfan" /> Yellow was chosen because fade-resistant red materials were not available.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Retro-reflective or self-lit signs were permitted in the 1935 MUTCD; retro-reflective ones were first required by the 1948 edition of the MUTCD, which also called for a Template:Convert height from the road crown to the bottom of the stop sign.<ref>Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. 1948 Edition. Part 1A, Section 31. "[A stop sign] shall be mounted so that its bottom will be 2Template:Frac feet above the crown of the roadway."</ref> The 1954 MUTCD newly specified a white Template:Smallcaps legend on a red field, and increased the mount height specification to 5 feet in rural areas.<ref name="signalfan" /> Red traffic lights signify stop, so the new specification unified red as a stop signal whether given by a sign or a light. The current mounting height of Template:Convert was first specified in 1971.<ref name="signalfan" />
US mandate, international adoptionEdit
The MUTCD stop sign was already widely deployed in the United States when the use of other types of stop signs was eliminated in 1966.<ref name="signalfan" /> In 1968, this sign was adopted by the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals as part of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's effort to standardize road travel across borders. The Convention specifies that Template:Smallcaps be written in English or the national language, and also allows a circular sign with red legend. Forty European countries<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> are party to the convention.
Stop signs around the worldEdit
Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend Template:Legend
The red octagonal field with white English-language Template:Smallcaps legend is the most common stop sign used around the world, but it is not universal; Japan uses an inverted solid red triangle, for example, and Zimbabwe until 2016 used a disc bearing a black cross. Moreover, there are many variants of the red-and-white octagonal sign. Although all English-speaking and many other countries use the word Template:Smallcaps on stop signs, some jurisdictions use an equivalent word in their primary language instead, or in addition. Also, several languages borrowed the English word "stop" a long time ago, such as French, and therefore do not consider it to be a foreign word any more. The use of native languages is common on U.S. native reservations, especially those promoting language revitalization efforts,Template:Citation needed for example, and Israel uses no word, but rather a pictogram of a hand in a palm-forward "stop" gesture.
AsiaEdit
Countries in Asia generally use a native word, often in a non-Latin script. The sign's shape varies by location, with places such as South Korea, Hong Kong, or Taiwan using the standard octagon shape, with Japan using a triangle.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
EuropeEdit
Countries in Europe generally have stop signs with the text Template:Smallcaps, regardless of local language. There were some objections to this when introduced around the 1970s, but now this is accepted. Turkey (and the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) is a notable exception to this, instead using the Turkish word for stop: "dur".
Latin AmericaEdit
In Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Caribbean and South American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela), signs bear the legend {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ("stop" in Portuguese and Spanish). Mexico and Central American countries bear the legend {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ("halt") instead.
CanadaEdit
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In the Canadian province of Quebec, modern signs read either {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or Template:Smallcaps.<ref name="P-010">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As of 1987, Quebec removed the English stop from its road signs in favor of arrêt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Both stop and arrêt are considered valid French words, with France actually using the word "STOP" on its stop signs, and the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) notes that the use of "stop" on stop signs is attested in French since 1927.<ref name="panneau STOP">panneau ARRÊT, Office québécois de la langue française, granddictionnaire.com.</ref> At the time of the debates surrounding the adoption of the Charter of the French Language ("Bill 101") in 1977, the usage of "stop" was considered to be English and therefore controversial; some signs were occasionally vandalized with red spray paint to turn the word Template:Smallcaps into "101".<ref>Photo by Flickr.com user "imagesdistributioncanada"</ref> However, it was later officially determined by the OQLF that "stop" is a valid French word in this context, and the older dual {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} / Template:Smallcaps usage is therefore considered redundant and therefore deprecated (à éviter). Newly installed signs thus use only one word, more commonly only Template:Smallcaps in Québec, while Template:Smallcaps is seen in predominantly English-speaking areas. The latter version of stop signs has been disagreed upon by some Quebec residents.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Bilingual signs with {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} are still placed in areas of Alberta, New Brunswick and Manitoba; the Acadian regions of Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island; on federal property in the National Capital Region; and at all border crossings of the Canada–United States border.Template:Citation needed On First Nations or Inuit territories, stop signs sometimes use the local aboriginal language in addition or instead of English, French, or both, such as Inuktitut Template:Smallcaps. All other English-speaking areas of Canada use Template:Smallcaps.
Other countriesEdit
- Arabic-speaking countries use {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration (except for Lebanon, which only uses Template:Smallcaps since 2019).
- Armenia uses {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.
- Bangladesh and Nepal use a stop sign with no text.
- Brazil and Spanish-speaking Caribbean and South American nations use {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.
- Cambodia uses {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration.
- China and Taiwan use {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration, except that Mainland China's sign has a bolder word.
- Cuba still uses an old circular stop sign with a triangle that is used from the give way sign and black text.
- Ethiopia uses a version of the sign that says {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.
- Hong Kong SAR uses a version of the sign that says {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration, and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.
- Iran and Afghanistan use {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration.
- Israel and Palestine use a version of the stop sign with a raised hand.
- Japan uses a triangular sign that says {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.
- Laos uses {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration.
- Malaysia and Brunei use {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.
- Mexico and other Central American nations use {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.
- Mongolia uses {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration.
- Myanmar uses {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration.
- Nigeria uses a yellow border and text.
- North Korea uses {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration.
- South Korea uses {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.
- Russian-speaking countries use either {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (i.e. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} transliterated into Russian), with the latter marking the place where vehicles should wait at traffic lights (displayed on a white rectangular sign).
- Thailand uses {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:Transliteration.
- Vanuatu uses a circular red stop sign.
GalleryEdit
- Iran road sign - stop.svg
Afghanistan, Iran
- Italian traffic signs - fermarsi e dare precedenza - stop.svg
Albania, Burundi, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, San Marino, Sierra Leone, Vatican City
- Stop sign (Tunisia).svg
Algeria, Djibouti, Tunisia
- UK traffic sign 601.1.svg
Anglophone Africa, Anglophone Caribbean (Lesser Antilles), India, Mauritius, Seychelles, United Kingdom
- MUTCD R1-1.svg
CitationClass=web }}</ref> Tonga, United States
- AM road sign 2.5.svg
Armenia
- RU road sign 2.5.svg
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Lusophone Africa, Russia, Portugal, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
- Stop sign (United Arab Emirates).svg
Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
- Bangladesh road sign A1.svg
Bangladesh, Nepal
- HR road sign B02.svg
Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Luxembourg
- Bhutan stop sign.svg
Bhutan
- BA road sign II-2.svg
Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brunei road sign - Stop.svg
Brunei
- Cambodia road sign R3-01.svg
Cambodia
- Canada Stop sign Cree.svg
Canada — Québec (in Cree)
- CA-QC road sign P-010-fr.svg
Canada — Québec (in French)
- SIECA road sign R-1-1.svg
Central America
- CN road sign 禁 1.svg
China
- Cuban Stop Sign.svg
Cuba
- Zeichen 206 - Halt! Vorfahrt gewähren! StVO 2017.svg
Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, SADC, North Macedonia, Vietnam
- Denmark road sign B13.svg
Denmark
- Ecuador road sign R1-1.svg
Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, South America
- Ethiopia Stop sign.svg
Ethiopia
- Finland road sign B6.svg
Finland
- France road sign AB4.svg
France, Francophone Africa, Haiti, Monaco
- Traffic Sign GR - KOK 2009 - R-2.svg
Greece
- Hong Kong road sign 101.svg
Hong Kong SAR
- Hungary road sign B-002.svg
Hungary
- Indonesia road sign (Prohibitory) 1a.svg
Indonesia
- Israel road sign 302.svg
Israel, Palestine
- Jamaica road sign R2.svg
Jamaica
- Japan road sign 330-A.svg
Japan
- Laos stop sign.svg
Laos
- CH-Vortrittssignal-Stop.svg
Liechtenstein, Switzerland
- Malaysia road sign RP1.svg
Malaysia
- Macau road sign 15a.svg
Macau SAR, Portugal (1971-1994)
- MA road sign 201 (Arabic).svg
Mauritania, Morocco
- MX road sign SR-6.svg
Mexico
- Jalisco TR-1.svg
Mexico (Jalisco)
- MN road sign 3.5.svg
Mongolia
- Slovenia road sign II-2.svg
Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia
- Nederlands verkeersbord B7.svg
Netherlands, Suriname
- NO road sign 204.svg
Norway
- Nigeria road sign - Stop.svg
Nigeria
- North Korean stop sign.svg
North Korea
- Philippines road sign R1-1.svg
Philippines, Sri Lanka
- PL road sign B-20.svg
Poland
- KR road sign 227.svg
South Korea
- Sweden road sign B2.svg
Sweden
- Taiwan road sign f1.svg
Taiwan
- Thailand road sign บ-1.svg
Thailand
- Turkey road sign TT-2.svg
Turkey
- Vanuatu stop sign.svg
Vanuatu
Historical galleryEdit
The following are some older stop sign designs, used before the Vienna Road Traffic Convention standardized the design::
- Early Australian road sign - Halt.svg
Australia (1940s-1959)
- Early Australian road sign - Stop.svg
Australia (1959-1964)
- Ethiopia road sign 4.01.svg
Ethiopia
- Finland road sign 232 (1957–1971).svg
Finland (1957-1971)
- Historisches Verkehrszeichen (Deutschland) Halt für alle Fahrzeuge! vor 1937.svg
Germany (before 1937)
- Greek old traffic sign stop neccesary.svg
Greece (before 1982)
- Hungary road sign B-002 (old).svg
Hungary
- Italian traffic signs - old - stop.svg
Italy (1959-1990)
- Japanese stop sign (1950-1960).svg
Japan (1950-1960)
- Japanese stop sign (1960-1963).svg
Japan (1960-1963)
- Japan road sign 330-B.svg
Japan (1963-2017)
- Kenya road sign R01 1975-2009.svg
Kenya
- Libyan stop sign.svg
Libya
- Mexico road sign SR-06 (old).svg
Mexico
- Mexico road sign SR-06.svg
Mexico (until 2023)
- Old North Korean stop sign.svg
North Korea
- Pakistan - Stop Sign.svg
Pakistan
- Znak IIA – 19 (1968).svg
Poland
- Romanian traffic sign - II-20 Stop 1957.svg
Romania (1957-1961)
- RomanianTrafficSign 30-Stop 1970.svg
Romania (1970-1971)
- Old South African Stop Sign.svg
South Africa
- South Vietnam STOP sign.svg
South Vietnam (1955-1975)
- Spain traffic sign B-300, 1962 set.svg
Spain (1962-1976)
- Spain traffic signal old r2.svg
Spain (1976-1992)
- Spain traffic signal r2 1992.svg
Spain (1992-2023)Template:Efn
- Sweden road sign B2 (gammal).svg
Sweden (1951-1976)
- Old Taiwan stop sign.svg
Taiwan (1954-1968)
- Thailand road sign บ-1 (old).svg
Thailand
- Tonga - STOP sign.svg
Tonga (until 2025)
- Turkey road sign TT-2 (old).svg
Turkey
- UK traffic sign 601 (1965–1975).svg
United Kingdom (1965-1975)
- 1927 US road sign W-03.svg
United States (1924-1954)
- Zambia R1 (old).svg
Zambia
- Stop sign in Zimbabwe.svg
Zimbabwe
ApplicationEdit
The use of stop signs varies by country. North America and South Africa use all-way stops in some intersections unlike in some countries where they are legally prohibited.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Template:Small</ref> In a majorityTemplate:Citation needed of Central Asian countries, as well as Cuba in North America, junctions without traffic lights or roundabouts are controlled by stop signs on minor roads and by white, yellow and black priority diamond signs on the major road. In Europe and Australia, stop signs are restricted to places where coming to a dead stop is deemed necessary because of severely limited sight lines. At the vast majority of minor intersections in these countries give way signs or equivalent road markings are used, or the intersections are no-priority; roundabouts also work on the give way (rather than stop) principle.
North AmericaEdit
Stop signs are often used in North America to control conflicting traffic movements at intersections that are deemed not busy enough to justify the installation of a traffic signal or roundabout. In the United States, the stop sign is not intended as a traffic calming device,<ref name="MUTCD03_2B"/> but is meant to be installed mainly for safety or to assign right-of-way. Stop signs may be erected on all intersecting roads, resulting in an all-way stop.<ref name="MUTCD03_2B"/> Some research has concluded that stop signs do not offer measurable safety benefits over the Yield approach.<ref>Some factors influencing the road behaviour of vehicle drivers. R.J. Smeed, UK Road Research Laboratory. Operational Research Quarterly, Journal of the Operational Research Society, Birmingham, England, 1952.</ref><ref>"Driver behaviour and accident records at unsignalized urban intersections". Abishai Polusa, Department of Civil Engineering & Transportation Research Institute, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel. June 1984. Available online 4 July 2002.</ref> Other research has concluded that multiway stop signs do not effectively control traffic speeds, and can give rise to negative effects including increased traffic noise and pollution from braking and accelerating vehicles, enforcement problems, and reduced sign compliance.<ref>Bretherton, M. "Multi-Way Stops—The MUTCD Is Correct!" 1999 ITE Compendium of Technical Papers. Institute of Transportation Engineers, August 1999.</ref>
On school busesEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}
A stop sign on a pivoting arm is required equipment on North American school buses. The sign normally stows flat on the left side of the bus, and is deployed by the driver when opening the door for picking up or dropping off passengers. Some buses have two such stop arms, one near the front facing forwards, and one near the rear facing backwards. The stop sign is retroreflective and equipped either with red blinking lights above and below the Template:Smallcaps legend or with a legend that is illuminated by LEDs. Unlike a normal stop sign, this sign indicates a two-way absolute stop, requiring other vehicles travelling in both directions to remain stopped until the sign is retracted.Template:Citation needed
EuropeEdit
In Europe, stop signs are generally placed at sites where visibility is severely restricted, or where a high crash rate has been noted. In some European countries, stop signs are placed at level crossings to mark the stop line. For most situations, Europe uses the give way sign instead.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> All-way stops, which are common in North America, are exceedingly rare in Europe. Comparatively, roundabouts and priority to the right intersections are more common.
United KingdomEdit
In the United Kingdom, stop signs may only be placed at junctions with tramways or sites with severely restricted visibility.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> Until 2016, each stop sign had to be individually approved by the Secretary of State for Transport.<ref>UK Department of Transport. Traffic Signs Manual, Chapter 3: Regulatory Signs, Section 3.2, 9 September 2008</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This requirement was removed by the 2016 amendments to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the responsibility for approving stop signs now lies with local authorities.
Section 79 of the Highways Act 1980 enables the government to improve visibility at junctions, as by removing or shortening walls or hedges. The Department for Transport considers improving visibility to be preferable to installing a stop sign.<ref name=":0" /> The former UK practice of using "Halt" or "Slow" at Major Road Ahead signs was discontinued in 1965 at the recommendation of the Worboys Committee.<ref>Great Britain. Report of the Traffic Signs Committee [Chairman, Sir Walter Worboys], 18 April 1963.</ref> Instead of replacing all the old Template:Smallcaps signs with the new Vienna Convention Template:Smallcaps sign, the Template:Smallcaps sign became the standard one at UK priority junctions.<ref>"New traffic signs demonstrated on road at Birmingham." The Surveyor and Municipal Engineer, vol 122, p880, 1963.</ref>
Compliance requirementsEdit
Laws and regulations regarding how drivers must comply with a stop sign vary by jurisdiction. In the United States and Canada, these rules are set and enforced at the state or provincial level. At a junction where two or more traffic directions are controlled by stop signs, US and Canada practice generally has the driver who arrives and stops first continue first. If two or three drivers in different directions stop simultaneously at a junction controlled by stop signs, generally the drivers on the left must yield the right-of-way to the driver on the far right.
In all countries, the driver must come to a complete stop before passing a stop sign, even if no other vehicle or pedestrian is visible. If a stop line is marked on the pavement, drivers must stop before crossing the line. Slowing but not completely stopping is called a "rolling stop", sometimes nicknamed after a city or region where it is considered endemic (e.g., "Rhode Island roll" or "California stop"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>) – slowing down significantly but not stopping completely at the sign.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This partial stop is not acceptable to most law enforcement officials, and can result in a traffic citation. However, enforcement of this rule varies widely among countries. The automobile manufacturer Tesla removed a "rolling stop" feature from its self-driving software after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration complained the practice is unsafe and illegal everywhere in the United States.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In some countries such as Czechia and Russia, stopping is required only at a place where a driver has a sufficient view into the intersection, not at the border of the intersection (where a "STOP" line is not present). Therefore, if multiple drivers come from the same direction and all of them stop at appropriate place, they can continue without stopping again.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
BicyclistsEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In some jurisdictions, such as the U.S. state of Idaho, the traffic code allows for bicyclists approaching a stop sign to slow down and yield to conflicting traffic, then proceed without stopping unless safety requires a full stop.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Idaho law has been in effect since 1982 and has not been shown to be detrimental to safety.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Since 2017, more states have implemented changes to the law similar to Idaho's: Delaware (2017),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Oregon (2020), Washington (2020), Utah (2021) and North Dakota (2021). Cyclist advocacy groups have sought similar "Idaho stop" laws for other jurisdictions in the United States.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DisadvantagesEdit
Stop sign placement can pose difficulties and hazards in applications where cross traffic is not controlled by a sign or light. Relatively long distance between the stop sign and the crossroad facilitates accurate perception of the speed of approaching cross traffic, but lengthens the time and distance required to enter and clear the junction. Relatively short distance between the stop sign and the crossroad shortens the time required for safe passage through the intersection, but degrades the ability of the stopped driver to accurately perceive the speed of approaching cross traffic. Specifically, drivers approaching an intersection from beyond the subtended angular velocity detection threshold (SAVT) limit may be perceived by a stopped driver as standing still rather than approaching,<ref name="Weinberger">Template:Cite journal</ref> which means the stopped driver may not make an accurate decision as to whether it is safe to proceed past the stop sign.<ref name="looming"/> Whether the distance between the stop sign and the crossroad is officially short or is shortened by drivers creeping past the stop line, they can lose the visual acuity of lateral motion,<ref name="JoV">Template:Cite journal</ref> leaving them to rely on the SAVT.<ref name="looming">Template:Cite journal</ref> This can make it challenging to accurately estimate the movement of approaching cross traffic.<ref name="looming"/><ref name="Weinberger"/> According to recent game-theoretical analysis, at intersections where all directions face stop signs, drivers have strong incentives to run the stop sign. A better solution is to randomly remove one stop sign from all directions, which could lead to significant efficiency gains while ensuring safe traffic.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
- All-way stop
- Assured Clear Distance Ahead
- Road traffic safety
- Roundabout
- Rules of the road
- Stopping sight distance
- Traffic psychology
- Yield sign