STOP signs look like this everywhere - well everywhere I've been, and I have driven across Europe. I assumed they all mean stop.
Recently overheard in a conversation on our balcony, the subject of which was whether Mr B should or could do a Greek driving test:
Mr B: "Is it part of the test to put the hazards [lights] on, park in the middle of the road, and go for a coffee?"
Visitor (Greek): Wry smile..."When I did my driving test, I stopped at a STOP sign and the tester asked me what I had done that for. I said 'there was a stop sign', to which he responded 'but there was nothing coming. It's only indicative. You only need to stop if there is something to stop for."
So STOP doesn't really mean stop then?
STOP is optional?
Merely a suggestion?
Should I be letting F go out there on a bicycle?
Hari OM
ReplyDelete....eeerrrrrrr.... hmmmm.... yeah. Something broken in the interpretation! If in doubt, follow instruction I say. Stop means stop. Not slow, or creep, or 'can you see anything'. Just stop. Then again, what do I know? If I were you, Tigger, I'd get F to wear double hi-viz vests and helmuts and maybe some safety padding. You know. In case the 'not stop' training means also the 'not seen'... Hugs and whiskeries, YAM-aunty xxx
In Germany if the police catches you... fine, as in a fine you pay for. Not optional. But sometimes really dumb.
ReplyDeleteSame in UK, and sometimes you don't have to be caught by police because they are building traffic cameras into some 'controlled' intersections. Automatic fines. The dumb bit there is that in many places is just looks suspiciously like a way to collect more taxes.
DeleteThat's just like speed limit signs. Most people consider them an indication of the minimum speed not the maximum 😄
ReplyDeleteSurely not on 'sleepy' Isle of Man! (Mind you, I suppose you have TT mentality to contend with.)
DeleteOH MY, here Stop means if you don't stop, you get a big amount ticket. even in the middle of the night when you can see there is nothing coming. my uncle got a ticket for what they called a roll through, midnight stop, but the cop said you did not really stop, you were rolling slowly looking both ways. it would be a challenge driving in other countries. also that is interesting that stop is in all countries. humm
ReplyDeletein USA each state has different laws and though we drive on a FLORIDA license we must obey their laws that we might not know about.
I don't suppose anyone can 'book' you for actually stopping at a STOP sign, but to be told by a driving tester that you didn't need to is a bit scary.
DeletePrompted by comments, we've just looked up STOP signs around the world because F sort of recalls Russian stop signs saying STOP too. It turns out there is a Vienna Convention for road signs. Only 15 countries are signatories, but a huge number apply the principles anyway, or adhere to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)
Which is why STOP signs are generally octagonal and say STOP (rather than Arrete, or Stasi for example)
My dear hubby always says the stop sign is just a suggestion. Like the double white lines where, in some countries, you can't overtake.
ReplyDelete