When coming to a stop sign that has both the white line and the stop sign, if the white line is either before or after the stop sign, do you stop at both or just one? I received a ticket for not making a complete stop at the white line. I stopped at the stop sign, pulled up to the white line, stopped and then went. I guess I didn't stop a complete 3 seconds at the white line.

You know, I've been thinking about this because around here, the white line is so far back from the actual intersection that you have to pull up past the white line to see if it's safe to continue. So I guess I should be stopping twice but I think in most cases, not all, I stop at the sign.

We have several intersections in our town that are two-way stops so you really have to be careful that there isn't a car coming from the sides without a stop. To do that, you have to pull way up to see around the parked cars lining the streets. Sometimes that means going beyond the white line and the stop sign and part way into the intersection.

Sorry about your ticket, that stinks especially since you did stop.

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Cecilia

"We must love them both--those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject. For both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in the finding of it."
Saint Thomas Aquinas

I wonder what the laws really are about those. I always learned that you must stop at the sign, not the white light. I'm fighting it, but I just hate going to court and I get really nervous when I have to speak. I could never be a public speaker...lol.

I was taught the white line is the place to stop. The sign is there to let you know you *need* to stop, and the white line is *where* you actually stop. Pedestrians are supposed to stay on the side of the white line that is opposite the cars.

We have an intersection that I really hate. It's controlled by a traffic light, and if you stop at the white line you really can't see to your right very well. Technically, if you have a green it shouldn't matter who is to your right, anyway, because they'll have a red, but from a defensive driving standpoint, I think it's important to look both ways regardless!

If you pull up past the white line or are in a very short car (like my DH's car) the sensor doesn't see you and you'll be stuck waiting there for a long, long time before you get a green. The intersecting street is very busy, while the one you're on w/the bad sensor isn't, so until someone else comes up behind you- which can take a long time - you're stuck!

This, I believe, is the absolute interpretation of the law.

I try to stop at the white line, however, with ice and snow on the roads--it can be difficult.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

At the white line.

I, too, have gotten a ticket for not coming to a complete stop. I never really even thought about it until I got that ticket.

Good luck on your ticket. Let us know how it comes out for you. I am usually of the impression that "you can't fight City Hall".

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I stop at the white line. Unless there is no line (like some residential here) and so I just leave a bit of room in case of a walker.

You stop? (just kidding)

My DH used to think that too but a friend of ours who is a cop in his town said to always fight the ticket. He said that by just showing up to court, your chances of getting the fine reduced and points (in NJ) lowered are pretty good. It worked for DH years ago when he got a ticket for not having his insurance card in the car. He was stopped for speeding because the speed changed from 35 to 50 and DH was going 50 just before the sign. The cop said you have to pass the sign before you can speed up!

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Cecilia

"We must love them both--those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject. For both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in the finding of it."
Saint Thomas Aquinas

I thought you had to stop behind the white line for the sensor to "see" you and cause the traffic light to change...?

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

Lisa, at the intersection I was whining about up above, the white line is way, way back, and it's probably the only intersection where I'm not diligent about stopping right at the white line. I am guessing it's set so far back because to your left is a gas station and to your right is a house, and both sides have sidewalks... and the white lines marking the pedestrian crossing area are matched up with the farthest-back of the two sidewalks.

And that makes it sooooo far back that you can't see past the house that is to your right.

At that particular intersection, I am notorious for coming to a complete stop *past* the white line!

I stop at the line and then creep forward.

When I was first learning to drive my boyfriend told me that the stop signs with the white outline were optinal. One afternoon while driving with my Dad, I yeilded instead of stopping. My Dad starting to freak out, yelling at me. I had no idea why! He asked me what the he!! was I doing?! I told him about the new optinal rule. He laughed his socks off and told me, that my friend was teasing me. I was peeved that I was laughed at by all my friends and family for weeks on end. I still get teased about it.

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You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

My DH is a traffic engineer and he always says to stop on the white line. Otherwise you might not ever get a green light if the signal is actuated.

What about if it is a stop sign and not a traffic light?

It's funny now, but that's a pretty dangerous joke. Hope you didn't marry that guy!

I thankfully did not marry that guy.

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You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one