What does STOP mean to you?

For years I teased the kids as I drove “Mom’s Taxi” and we approached stop signs, spelling out loud “S- T- O- P –then shout GO!” as if that is what stop meant.
Just a funny thing I did which in a way allowed them to learn that we sometimes see what we want to see or we hear what we want to hear.
I’ve been keeping an eye out for the past seven month and it’s down right predictable; when one approaches a stop sign with intent to turn right, it magically becomes a yield sign. The driver approaches the stop sign and usually keeps looking to their left as they turn right at the STOP sign. And some will say, “Well, nothing was coming” And I say, “How do you know a pedestrian was not approaching the crosswalk from the right…or a child on a bike from the right…or someone’s lost pet running into the intersection from the right…What if someone as crossing the street from your right just above the intersection away from the crosswalk…You didn’t even stop to look.”
That’s the whole reason there is a STOP sign because it’s an intersection and you never know “from which way what cometh.”
Kentucky law states, “Except when directed to proceed by a police officer, every operator of a vehicle approaching a stop sign shall STOP at a clearly marked STOP line, but if none, before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection, or, if none, then at the point nearest the intersecting roadway where the operator has view of approaching traffic on the intersecting roadway before entering it. AFTER having stopped the operator shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle in the intersection or approaching on another roadway so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard during the time when such operator is moving across or within the intersection in junction of roadways.”
So…without starting a STOP in Lexington campaign let’s try to remember: STOP means STOP and Yield means Yield and the meaning does not change when turning right.


AND finally a joke for those drivers who say…”Well, I slowed down…”

A car slows down at a stop sign and keeps driving. A cop sees him and pulls him over. The cop asks, "Why didn't you stop?"The man says, "I slowed down." The cop pulls out his nightstick and starts beating him. "Now," the cop says, "do you want me to stop or slow down?"