A: Because it has eight sides.

OK. Stupid answers like that will get you kicked out of class. Stop signs are the second most common crash at intersections, and most accidents happen at intersections (including rear-enders.)  See right column ("uncontrolled" intersections) for the correct answer.

Simple rule: whoever has the red sign has to wait for whoever doesn't have a red sign. Capice?

That means wait - as long as necessary. Forget about the bums waiting behind you, they're not going to pay for your car if you crash. You will.

People almost always stop at stop signs. What they don't do is wait when they should. They don't wait either because they're impatient, because they think it's a 4-way stop, or because they can't see from where they stop. DO NOT PROCEED UNTIL YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE ARE NO CROSSING CARS OR PEDESTRIANS. It is not "stop-n-go."

You can move up to see better, but then STOP AGAIN IF YOU SEE CROSS TRAFFIC!

People crash at stop signs because they didn't see the other car, or they had to stop half-way across because they didn't see the pedestrian. Remember, the pedestrians go first at stop signs, even if the crosswalk lines are not painted. See pedestrians.

1. Don't stop at the stop sign. Stop at the crosswalk. The stop sign tells you what to do, not where to do it.

2. Pedestrians first, cars second. If you can't see, move up a bit.

3. You can move into the crosswalk and even into the first lane if it's a parking lane, to see better, but if you see traffic, stop again! DON'T BE AFRAID TO STOP AGAIN! Don't forget to look for pedestrians on the other side before you go.

GO SLOW UNTIL YOU CAN SEE.

STOP AGAIN IF YOU SEE MORE CROSS TRAFFIC.

You can move out as far as the parking lane, if cars are parked in the parking lane of the cross road.

If two people each have a stop sign, whoever stops first goes first, no matter who's turning left. But both must wait for cross-traffic.

If you don't look to see who stopped first, you won't know who gets to go first. Same at 4-way stops. Look to see who's first, then stop. Go in order of who stopped first, not who got there first. We could argue all day over who got there first, but there's no argument about who stopped first.

REMEMBER, STOP SIGNS DO NOT PREVENT TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS. THEY PREVENT TRAFFIC JAMS. THEY ARE NOT SAFE.

This is what happens when there are no stop signs. Nobody can move, but nobody crashes either. Everybody is stuck, because the cars can't go sideways. Stop signs allow traffic to flow more freely, and faster. So fast that when someone makes a mistake, the other drivers can't stop in time.

Do not rush stop signs, they don't happen very often!

You won't encounter stop signs very often, so

take your time!

[top]

Intersections are "controlled" by stop signs. If there are no stop signs (and no traffic lights) the car coming from the right gets to go first. This means the car coming from the left doesn't get to go first - you do!

You only get to go straight if the other car is on the left, or if there is a stop sign (or yield sign) on the right. The rule is, whoever has the red sign must wait. If nobody has a red sign (red signs are expensive, they can't put them everywhere,) then the car on the left must wait, and the car on the right gets to go.

Because there is no stop sign or stop light, there is a rule. The rule isn't "whoever got there first," because we could argue all day about who got there first.

The car from the right gets to go first, if the car from the right doesn't have a stop sign. Simple! (Compare the top diagram, "car from the left"!) With the right/left rule there is no argument about who got there first, as there is no argument about which side is left and which is right! Sometimes the other car is on the left and you go, sometimes the car is on the right and you wait. Fair and easy.

ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, WHY DO STOP SIGNS HAVE EIGHT SIDES?:

You know if the driver on the right has a stop sign because it is octagonal.

The driver on the right goes first if there is no stop sign. (The same is true for triangle/yield signs.)

See? The car on the right has an octagonal sign. That means you get to go first! Yay!

Can't wait?

[top]