Stop sign ahead

What it means

This sign warns that a stop sign controls the road within a distance too short for the stop sign itself to be seen in time, which happens where curves, crests, vegetation or lighting hide the junction. The octagon symbol on the warning announces the exact instruction waiting ahead, so you can begin reducing speed long before you see the actual sign. The goal is that you arrive at the stop sign already travelling slowly enough that the stop is firm, legal and unremarkable rather than a panic braking event.

How it gets misread

Some drivers read it as a slow sign rather than a stop warning, and roll to the junction without preparing for a full stop. Others treat the sign itself as the control point, when the stop obligation exists at the junction, not here.

What to do

Begin braking early and reach the junction at a speed from which the stop is trivial. Expect the stop sign precisely where the warning implies it, make your full stop at the line or crosswalk, and remember that the warning does not change the legal requirement; it only gives you the distance to meet it properly.

Practise this rule

• Stop Sign Rules: What an Octagon Means | CO

  A red octagonal sign with white letters is posted ahead of you. What does it require?

More warning signs

• Yield sign ahead →
• Pedestrian crossing →

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