How long do you have to stop at a stop sign?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What, if any, is the required amount of time for a car to be stopped at a stop sign?

My neighbor says it’s a 1-2-3 count, and the crew who installed the stop sign camera on the end of our street told another neighbor that you must be stopped for a full 5 seconds, which seems totally implausible to me. Bit I’ve never gotten a stop sign ticket, either.

But what is the actual amount of time you have to wait at a stop sign before proceeding?



This is in upper NW DC btw.

There is no time that couldn't result in a traffic violation.

I have been ticketed for "not wafting long enough", and also almost ticketed for "waiting too long" at a stop sign and that stop resulted in an attempted search which I refused of course.

Cops will lie to get you to submit so they can make quotas and advance in their career as money-generators for the government system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no legal requirement other than coming to a complete stop. Driving schools offer a safe rule of thumb. But the law is full stop and proceed when it is safe to do so.

This. Your wheels have to come to a complete stop behind the line. Once you’ve done that if nothing is coming you can go.
I work in LE in a jurisdiction that has red light cameras. Tickets don’t get processed as long as you came to a complete stop. The exact time doesn’t matter.

[Anonymous]

You just stop- ie not forward momentum and wheels have stopped moving. We have a stop sign camera near our house in NW. There is no time limit.

[Anonymous]

I call BS on 5 second stop sign cameras; they don’t exist. That’s not the law. Every ticket would get thrown out.

[Anonymous]

I come to a complete stop. I don't sit there any longer and count to a certain number.