Stop sign

A traffic-control sign requiring drivers to stop completely before entering an intersection or crossing and proceed only when safe.

Stop line: A marked line indicating where vehicles must stop at an intersection or crossing. It specifies the stopping point when a stop sign controls the approach.
Detroit traffic sign system: A 1920s system for standardizing traffic signs developed by Detroit traffic engineers. Its early design work helped establish the stop sign’s distinctive shape and color.
All-way stop: An intersection control in which every approach is required to stop. This arrangement applies stop-sign control to every approach rather than selected roads.
Traffic collision: An event in which a road vehicle collides with another vehicle, person, animal, or object. Stop signs aim to reduce certain intersection conflicts, but do not eliminate collisions.
Yield sign: A traffic sign requiring road users to give priority to conflicting traffic when necessary. Unlike a stop sign, it generally requires stopping only when yielding cannot occur while moving.
Right-of-way: The legal priority to proceed among road users at a conflict point. After stopping, drivers yield according to right-of-way rules before proceeding.
American Association of State Highway Officials: A United States organization that developed national highway standards and later became AASHTO. Its committees helped coordinate the national standardization of traffic signs.
Two-way stop: An intersection control requiring stops on selected approaches while other traffic proceeds without stopping. It shows how stop signs assign control selectively at an intersection.
Rolling stop: An illegal or noncompliant passage through a stop sign without coming to a complete halt. It is the common behavior that directly violates the sign’s central requirement.
Traffic signal: An electrical device that assigns movement rights through colored lights or other signal indications. Signals allocate intersection movements over time rather than relying on a fixed stop instruction.

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Traffic lightCompared with: Stop signs provide a simpler form of intersection control than an active signal.