Always a full stop for stop signs?

Pretty 50-50 for me. If I can see well, and nothing is there, I yield. All others are a stop. I can't do the stop and balance well enough to do that routinely, so it is foot down.

After the motorcyclist rolled thru the stop in front of the oncoming automobile, he said to St. Peter, "I just didn't see him coming."

Rolling through a clearly visible intersection at 1 or 2 mph is about the least of my worries. Of all the many, many laws I don't obey, this one is pretty low on the list!

Feet on pegs complete stop if no other vehicles aroiund with clear liones of sight. Otherwise, full stop with at least one foot down to see who is going to try and kill me first. I have 2 stop signs close to home where there is rarely another vehicle, and I can see clearly for a 1/2 mile in both directions at both, so I feel comfortable keeping my feet up on the pegs. I, too, like to practise slow riding skills and will count to myself when stopped to see how long I can stay upright. Someday I'll probably just fall over...........

walterK75 said:

Full stop; foot down. The first time I simply slowed to almost stationary a school bus blasted through the intersection from behind some bushes. I was able to lock the brakes and stay vertical. Not worth the risk. Full stop; foot down.

Click to expand...

I always stop, but don't necessarily put my foot down. The habits you develop may save your butt when riding when you are fatiuged...

An attorney

This is why I have an attorney. I ride safely and do not worry about such minor things. If i speed and get a ticket; I send the ticket to the attorney and it is "handled". Same with all citations. I have had plenty of citations; NO CONVICTIONS.

Imagine that this is the Wild West. To stay safe, you need a good hired gun. I have one and I use him to keep me safe from harm.

Foot down and watching the cagers decide if they should turn here, hang up the phone, check the lipstick application, put the blinker on for the corner beyond you, yell at the kids, and my favorite, I don't need my turn signal on, I know where I'm going and I can't stop talking to Mary now!

I vary it, most often, if I have scanned the stop before getting there and all is clear, then its a feet up, stop, and roll.

Other times its the usual full stop left foot to the ground, then go.

MSF Pause-Go is to develop balance skills in stop and go traffic. But for stops MSF teaches a full stop/left foot to the ground first.

Scott C said:

Funny Story.... One day I wrote a guy a speeding ticket for doing 38 in a 20 mph clearly marked zone.

He didnt pay the ticket by mail and decided to show up in court with his lawyer. When the judge asks how do you plead, the lawyer gets up and says "not guilty your honor". The judge says to the lawyer "are you sure you dont want court supervision"? The lawyer says no so we proceed with a little trial and the judge finds the guy "not guilty". Some judges will find someone not guilty for minor traffic offenses if they show up with a lawyer because the judge knows the lawyer cost alot of money.

I really didnt care either way but after court when I am walking out, the guy I wrote the ticket to comes up to me in the hallway with a big smile and says " officer I beat you". I said "yes you did but can I ask you a question"? He said sure so I asked him if he knew what "supervision" was and he said "no". I then asked him what the lawyer cost and he said $450.00. I then told him that supervision would have cost him $125.00 with no mark on his license but if the lawyer cost him $450.00 then who really beat who?



DUH !!!

Click to expand...

Ditto! If I had a dime for every "penny-wise, dollar-foolish" guy who 'lawyer'ed up,' during my career, I've have airfare to Europe and back by now.

The correct choice

Scott C said:

Funny Story.... One day I wrote a guy a speeding ticket for doing 38 in a 20 mph clearly marked zone.

He didnt pay the ticket by mail and decided to show up in court with his lawyer. When the judge asks how do you plead, the lawyer gets up and says "not guilty your honor". The judge says to the lawyer "are you sure you dont want court supervision"? The lawyer says no so we proceed with a little trial and the judge finds the guy "not guilty". Some judges will find someone not guilty for minor traffic offenses if they show up with a lawyer because the judge knows the lawyer cost alot of money.

I really didnt care either way but after court when I am walking out, the guy I wrote the ticket to comes up to me in the hallway with a big smile and says " officer I beat you". I said "yes you did but can I ask you a question"? He said sure so I asked him if he knew what "supervision" was and he said "no". I then asked him what the lawyer cost and he said $450.00. I then told him that supervision would have cost him $125.00 with no mark on his license but if the lawyer cost him $450.00 then who really beat who?

DUH !!!

Click to expand...

I think the man made the correct choice. "Supervision" is on your record as such, and can be used by the insurance company to raise your rates. Or that is the way it is here.

I do not mind paying the state for my offense; but the cost in higher insurance premiums, which continue for at least 3 years, makes a lawyer a great investment.

I'm really glad this thread is getting so many responses. It has changed my riding habits, and today on the way to breakfast with my wife as pillion I made sure to come to a complete, foot down stop at every stop sign. It definitely gives the driver a much better chance to check for traffic. Thanks, y'all!

If there's nobody else at the intersection I rarely come to a complete "foot on the ground" stop at stop signs. I do slow down to the point where there is barely measurable movement, but my feet remain on the pegs. I've done that with police officers near me and nothing has ever come of it. Naturally, if somebody's already at the stop sign I come to complete stop with my foot down until they move on.

BCKRIDER said:

About a year ago I violated one of those stop signs in the car. You HAD to roll past the stop sign and line to see if there was a vehicle approaching you under the overpass where I was making a left turn. Legally, I should have made the full stop at the line, then crept forward to see if it was safe to make my turn or I needed to stop again. The hidden cop let me off with a warning, which I found surprising - a mis-placed stop line means numerous violaters and revenue. (Here, I always adhere to the letter of the law, and twice more have found cops in place.)

Click to expand...

When I was in college I got a ticket at such a stop sign. I saw the police officer and remembered from driver's education to stop at the line of the stop sign, which I did, then I moved forward through the intersection. The officer gave me a ticket. He told me that I needed to stop both at the stop sign and at the edge of the street, and that failing to stop at the edge of the street was unsafe and that he'd ticket me on that basis. I actually took that one to court, and (surprise, surprise), the judge found me guilty.

closely related topic

Next time you are at a red light behind traffic, watch the driver's head in the car in front of you.

You'd be amazed at how few turn their heads left and right before proceeding when the light turns green.

This is a sure-fire way to identify poor drivers: they just go when the light goes green without ever checking for red-light runners.

Harry

AKsuited said:

Next time you are at a red light behind traffic, watch the driver's head in the car in front of you.

You'd be amazed at how few turn their heads left and right before proceeding when the light turns green.

This is a sure-fire way to identify poor drivers: they just go when the light goes green without ever checking for red-light runners.

Harry

Click to expand...

Pavlov?!

When in urban environments I pretty much do at least a toe down. When out in rural land ( picture Cary Grant in N by NW and the airplane scene) I do a balance stop and go. In some blind intersections, I may stop a few times to stick my nose out and left-right-left until I feel it's good to go. If I know the local LEO's are bored or sticklers and watching I do a three count foot down.
No one size fits all and it's the various LEO's interpretation of a full stop. MSF has to teach a standard, I typically put my right foot down ...have for many years. Depends on lane position and how much oil or A/C drippage is on the surface I need to put a foot on. My right index is covering my ft brake, other fingers ready to roll throttle in an escape maneuver. YRMV and that's fine with me.
.
I can stop most of my bikes almost as well as my road bicycle doing a track stand and hold it for a few seconds. Have done that in front of small town and larger cities LEO's and given a pass.

And yes, most folks act like the trafic light is a staging light on a dragstrip...Green and hammer down without any form of a head check. Have seen so many t-bones, especially in Austin,TX, red light running capital of TX ...I count to three and after the wreck ahead of me move on. Have stopped to render aid a few times when I was the only witness or the wreck was serious. Got to be a weekly thing when I was commuting...then I retired

Glad I started this thread!

In my closest little town there is T - intersection with a stop line just before a crosswalk. If there are pedestrians, I of course do the legal thing. When there aren't, I advance beyond the crosswalk and then come to a full stop always. That is the only way to see if there is oncoming traffic from the left because of parked cars.

Just wondered if any of you have ever received a ticket for that particular offence? I think the ex-officers on this forum would be unlikely to ticket me, assuming I didn't see their presence and make the first stop, because I was driving/riding safely.

These are hard times financially for all levels of government. Just wondered if the level of enforcement has gone up on these "violations" that are, in fact, just a common sense way to ride?

mistercindy said:

If there's nobody else at the intersection I rarely come to a complete "foot on the ground" stop at stop signs. I do slow down to the point where there is barely measurable movement, but my feet remain on the pegs. I've done that with police officers near me and nothing has ever come of it. Naturally, if somebody's already at the stop sign I come to complete stop with my foot down until they move on.





When I was in college I got a ticket at such a stop sign. I saw the police officer and remembered from driver's education to stop at the line of the stop sign, which I did, then I moved forward through the intersection. The officer gave me a ticket. He told me that I needed to stop both at the stop sign and at the edge of the street, and that failing to stop at the edge of the street was unsafe and that he'd ticket me on that basis. I actually took that one to court, and (surprise, surprise), the judge found me guilty.

Click to expand...

Is that the day you decided to become a lawyer?!

BCKRIDER said:

In my closest little town there is T - intersection with a stop line just before a crosswalk. If there are pedestrians, I of course do the legal thing. When there aren't, I advance beyond the crosswalk and then come to a full stop always. That is the only way to see if there is oncoming traffic from the left because of parked cars.

Just wondered if any of you have ever received a ticket for that particular offence? I think the ex-officers on this forum would be unlikely to ticket me, assuming I didn't see their presence and make the first stop, because I was driving/riding safely.

These are hard times financially for all levels of government. Just wondered if the level of enforcement has gone up on these "violations" that are, in fact, just a common sense way to ride?

Click to expand...

No ticket from me. Good decision making on two wheels.

Just one man's view

I used to make many no-foot down 'pauses' at stop signs. I started to notice that some of my closest calls were in that scenario.

I think (and am not certain) that planning to just pause at a stop changes my mentality in favor of greater threat to myself. If I plan to just pause, my body, and the bike, are poised to just pause. My perception of oncoming traffic is blurred by my intention to just keep going.

If I just catch a glimpse of something moving toward me, I and the bike are not really set up to stop, and conscious efforts and everything in my riding position and the bike's position, must change. This cannot be done instantly.

The result is a powerful mind set to pause, not stop, and it has caused me some near fatal near misses.

I know that you all write much better than you ride, but I expect you aren't so different.

So, I stop, foot down, and look both ways -twice- because that driver coming at you at the speed of sound is a lot easier to notice on the second look.

I put a foot down.. and... make sure the bike "rolls" backward a bit... and look in all directions for a "problem"... especially when in front of a LEO... so far no ticket...