The in basket: Laura Jackley read the May 1 Road Warrior saying
one must stop for the stop bar or crosswalk at an intersection, not
at the stop sign, which is usually a few feet back from those other
points.
She wrote, “I was taught, years ago, as was my daughter just
recently in driver’s ed
school, that one must stop BEFORE the stop sign and inch out to
have
unobstructed visibility. Not the case, anymore?”
The in basket: Laura Jackley read the May 1 Road Warrior saying one
must stop for the stop bar or crosswalk at an intersection, not at
the stop sign, which is usually a few feet back from those other
points.
She wrote, “I was taught, years ago, as was my daughter just
recently in driver’s ed
school, that one must stop BEFORE the stop sign and inch out to
have
unobstructed visibility. Not the case, anymore?”
The out basket: I checked with Tabatha Meadows at Northwest Driving
School and Mike Cassidy at Diamond Driving School and both said
they teach that the stop bar or crosswalk , whether marked or
unmarked, is the place to stop, not the stop sign or before it.
Both use the term “creep” to describe the gradual advance to get
adequate visibility after stopping if one can’t yet see oncoming
traffic clearly.
In any event, state law calls for stopping at the stop bar or
crosswalk, not the stop sign.
While Mike had me on the line, he commented on another past Road
Warrior, about hand signals, which the law requires be used when
other drivers can’t see your electronic signals or brake lights. I
wondered in that March 8 column when that might be.
Mike said the most common situation is when pulling out of a
parallel parking space when the car behind you might hide the back
of your car from the view of approaching drivers.
