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A stop sign in Australia

A stop sign is a traffic sign designed to notify drivers that they must come to a complete stop and make sure no other road users are coming before proceeding.^[1]

Specifications

The 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals allows for two types of stop sign as well as three acceptable variants. Sign B2a is a red octagon with the inscription "STOP" in white. Sign B2b is a red circle with a red inverted triangle with either a white or yellow background, and the inscription "STOP" in either black or dark blue. The Convention allows for the word "STOP" to be in either English or the national language of the particular country. The finalized version by the United Nations Economic and Social Council's Conference on Road Traffic in 1968 (and in force in 1978) proposed the standard stop sign diameters of 600, 900 or 1200 mm.

The United Kingdom and New Zealand stop signs are 750, 900 or 1200 mm, according to sign location and traffic speeds.^[2][3]

In the United States, stop signs have a size of 750 mm across opposite flats of the red octagon, with a 20 mm white border. The white uppercase letters in small caps forming the .mw-parser-output .smallcaps{font-variant:small-caps}stop legend are 250 mm tall.^[4][5] Larger signs of 900 mm (35 in) with 300 mm (12 in) legend and 25 mm (⅞ in) border are used on multilane expressways. Regulatory provisions exist for extra-large 1,200 mm (47 in) signs with 400 mm (16 in) legend and 30 mm (1 ¹⁄₄ in) border for use where sign visibility or reaction distance are limited, and the smallest permissible stop sign size for general usage is 600 mm (24 in) with a 200 mm (7.9 in) legend and 15 mm (⅝ in) border.^[6] The metric units specified in the US regulatory manuals are rounded approximations of US customary units, not exact conversions.^[5][7] The field, legend, and border are all retroreflective.
In the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals of the UN, the instruction on the sign to stop is specified to be either in English as stop or written in the local language. Some countries use both. The sign's distinctive design was developed and first used in the U.S., and later adopted by other countries and by the U.N. Despite this, the US is not a signatory to this UN Convention.

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  B2a
  

  
  

  
  


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  Acceptable variant of B2a
  

  
  

  
  


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  B2b
  

  
  

  
  


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  Acceptable variant of B2b
  

  
  

  
  


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  Acceptable variant of B2b
  

  
  

  
  


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  Acceptable variant of B2b
  

  
  

  
  

Placement and standardization

Stop signs are used globally. However, most countries see fewer of them than North America and South Africa, because all-way stops are never used and may even be legally prohibited.^[8] In a majority of European and Central Asian countries, as well as Cuba in North America, junctions without traffic lights or roundabouts are controlled by stop signs on minor roads and by white, yellow and black priority diamond signs on the major road. In the UK, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, New Zealand and Australia, stop signs are restricted to situations wherein coming to a dead stop is actually necessary because of severely limited sight lines. At the vast majority of minor intersections in these countries Give Way signs and/or equivalent road markings are used. Finally, at the busier crossing streets, Give Way signs may be replaced by (mini) roundabouts, which also work on the give way (rather than stop) principle.

In North America

Stop signs are often used in North America to control conflicting traffic movements at intersections that are not busy enough to justify the installation of a traffic signal or roundabout. In the United States, the stop sign is not intended for use as a traffic calming device;^[6] it is intended to be installed mainly for safety and/or to assign right-of-way for a certain direction. Nevertheless, in the United States, Mexico and Canada, stop signs are commonly deployed as supposed safety measures in residential areas and near places where children play or walk (such as schoolyards), or that experience frequent automobile collisions, making extra precautions necessary. Stop signs may be erected on all intersecting roads, resulting in three- and four-way stops.^[6] However, studies have confirmed that stop signs do not offer measurable safety benefits over the Yield approach adopted in the countries listed above based on original European research dating back many decades.^[9][10]

More recently, Georgia Traffic Engineer Martin Bretherton Jr. reviewed over 70 technical papers to find that multiway stop signs do not typically control traffic speeds, and can create a variety of problems, including liability issues, traffic noise, pollution, enforcement problems, and poor stop compliance when drivers feel that the signs have no justification. Fifteen studies found that unwarranted multiway stops actually increased speed away from intersections as motorists try to make up lost time spent at "unnecessary" stop signs. Multiway stop signs impose high vehicle operating costs, longer than needed travel times, excessive fuel consumption and increased vehicle emissions.^[11]

Researchers also found that safety of pedestrians (especially small children) may sometimes be actually decreased. Pedestrians expect vehicles to stop, but many drivers run the "unnecessary" signs. Engine exhaust, brake, tire and aerodynamic noise may all increase as cars brake and then accelerate up to speed. While the initial cost of installing stop signs is low, enforcement costs can be prohibitive, and one 1990 study estimated extra travel costs per intersection as $210,061/year.^[12] Finally, where unwarranted multiway stops have been successfully removed with public support, results have included improved compliance at justified stop signs.

Another major issue surrounding the use of stop signs pertains to the public's variegated understanding of their meaning. One prolific source of crashes is the misconception of law that every motorist who attempts to enter a main highway from a side road, does so at his or her peril. Such motorists usually have very definite rights granted by provisions of state vehicle codes, which provide that after the driver has 'yielded' by stopping at an arterial sign he or she may proceed and the drivers of all other vehicles approaching the intersection on the through highway shall yield the right of way to the vehicle crossing the through highway.^[13] Where a car has actually entered an intersection before the other approaches it, the driver of the first car has the right to assume that he or she will be given the right of way and be permitted to pass through the intersection without danger of collision. He or she has a right to assume that the driver of the other car will obey the law, slow down, and yield the right of way, if slowing down be necessary to prevent a collision.^[14] In order to be able to fulfil the duty of yielding to entering motorists who have established control of the intersection, the through driver must travel no faster than permitted by the assured clear distance ahead.^[15][16]

Vehicles that are approaching an intersection from beyond the subtended angular velocity detection threshold (SAVT) limit may be perceived with subjective constancy by the stopped driver;^[17] which means the oncoming vehicle cannot be reliably distinguished between moving or parked or give insight to time-to-collision, though they may be travelling at such an imprudent speed as to pose an immediate hazard.^[18] An entering driver must have fair notice that his or her contemplated conduct is forbidden by such hazard for it to be illegal.^[19]

Stop sign placement can pose an additional challenge to users. There is a tradeoff between the salient visual cues provided by increased limit line setback, and the crucial time that is lost in approaching the intersection from behind that line; being closer can provide a few additional seconds requisite for safe transit. However, common creeping into the intersection past the limit line causes drivers to lose the invaluable perspective of the visual acuity of lateral motion,^[20] crippling them to the more dangerous SAVT.^[18] This makes it very difficult to estimate the movement of oncoming traffic.^[18][17] As intersections are not engineered to be used this way,^[21] the traffic flow ideals have broken down when drivers consistently choose this method as the safer alternative. Stop signs are accompanied with a limit line,^[22] which has a mandatory setback distance^[23][24][25] which is often not less than 15 feet.^[25] While it may be negligence per se to prematurely pass the stop limit line,^[22] drivers may be unfairly denied sufficient time gap or opportunity to enter otherwise because of the through-traffic flow and speed; the inherent problem with this traffic control device. While stop signs are a relatively inexpensive method of traffic management, they can be expensive from perspective of the damage they cause users. Pricey but safer traffic signals, roundabouts, and traffic circles are alternatively used where traffic flow dictates it is inappropriate to use a stop sign. It is just as crucial for law enforcement to regulate traffic through-speed that is above the assured clear distance ahead ahead as it is to cite stop sign runners for this device to be a viable option.

On school buses

An American school bus displaying front and rear folding stop signs

A pivoting arm equipped with a stop sign is a piece of equipment required by law on North American school buses. The sign normally stows flat on the left side of the bus, and is deployed by the driver while picking up or dropping off passengers. Some buses have two such stop arms, one near the front facing forwards, and one near the rear facing backwards. The stop sign is retroreflective and equipped either with red blinking lights above and below the stop legend or with a stop legend that is illuminated by LEDs. Unlike a normal stop sign, this sign requires other vehicles travelling in both directions to remain stopped until the sign is retracted.

United Kingdom

In the UK, stop signs may be placed only at sites with severely restricted visibility, and each must be individually approved by the Secretary of State for Transport.^[26] Section 79 of the Highways Act 1980 enables the government to improve visibility at junctions, as by removing or shortening walls or hedges, in preference to placing a stop sign. The former UK practice of using "Halt" or "Slow" at Major Road Ahead signs was discontinued in 1965 at the recommendation of the Worboys Committee.^[27] Instead of replacing all the old "Halt" signs with the new Vienna Convention "Stop" sign, "Give Way" became the standard sign at UK priority junctions.^[28]

In Europe

In Europe, stop signs aren't used as often as North America does, and they are generally placed at sites where visibility is severely restricted, or has a high crash rate. In some European countries, stop signs are placed at level crossings to mark the stop line. For most situations, Europe uses the "Give Way" sign.

Compliance requirements

Laws and regulations regarding how drivers must comply with a stop sign vary by jurisdiction. In the United States and Canada, these rules are set and enforced at the state or provincial level.^{[citation needed]} At a junction where two or more traffic directions are controlled by stop signs, generally the driver who arrives and stops first continues first. If two or three drivers in different directions stop simultaneously at a junction controlled by stop signs, generally the drivers on the left must yield the right-of-way to the driver on the far right.

In all countries, the driver must come to a complete stop before entering a stop-controlled intersection, even if no other vehicle or pedestrian is visible. If a stop line is marked on the pavement, they must stop before crossing the line.

However, some drivers slow but don't come to a complete stop. This maneuver is called a rolling stop or nicknamed after a city or region regarded as somewhere it is commonplace (e.g., "Rhode Island roll" or "California stop"^[29]) – slowing down significantly but not stopping completely at the sign.^[30] This partial stop is not acceptable to most law enforcement officials, and can result in a traffic citation.

Bicycles

In some jurisdictions, most notably Idaho, the traffic code allows for cyclists approaching a stop sign to slow to a "reasonable speed" and yield to conflicting traffic, but does not mandate a full stop unless "required for safety".^[31] This is commonly known as an "Idaho stop" or "stop-as-yield". The Idaho law has been in effect since 1982 and has not been shown to be detrimental to safety.^[32] Cyclist advocacy groups have sought similar laws for other jurisdictions in the United States.^[33][34]

History

Yellow 1924–1954 stop sign. Mounting height is typical.

Stop signs originated in Michigan in 1915.^[35][36] The first ones had black lettering on a white background and were 24 by 24 inches (61 cm × 61 cm), somewhat smaller than the current sign. As stop signs became more widespread, a committee supported by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) met in 1922 to standardize them and selected the octagonal shape that has been used in the United States ever since. The unique eight-sided shape of the sign allows drivers facing the back of the sign to identify that oncoming drivers have a stop sign and prevent confusion with other traffic signs. It was also chosen so that it could be identified easily at night since the original signs were not reflective. The National Conference on Street and Highway Safety (NCSHS), a group competing with AASHTO, advocated a smaller pink-on-yellow stop sign.^[35] These two organizations eventually merged to form the Joint Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which in 1935 published the first Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD) detailing the stop sign's specifications.

The MUTCD stop sign specifications were altered eight times between 1935 and 1971, mostly dealing with its reflectorization and its mounting height. From 1924 to 1954, stop signs were made with a black stop legend on a yellow field. The reflective sign, initially yellow, was developed by the reflective applications division of 3M spearheaded by Joseph E. Van Kirk, Sr. Red signifies stop on traffic signals, so this specification unified red as a stop signal whether indicated by sign or by light. The original decision to use a yellow background for the stop sign was based “largely on the unavailability of red pigments that would not fade on exposure.”^[37][38] The mounting height reached its current level of 7 ft (2.13 m) in 1971;^[35] previously, stop signs were typically mounted 2–3 feet (0.61–0.91 m)^[vague] above the ground.^[39]

An older, snow-covered stop sign in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. Note the street name sign mounted atop the sign

The already widespread use of the MUTCD stop sign became law in the United States in 1966.^[35] In 1968, this sign was adopted by the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals as part of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's effort to standardize road travel across borders. The Convention specifies that 'stop' be written in English or the national language and allows an alternative circular yellow sign. Many European countries are party to the Convention. English-speaking countries, the exception being India, are not party to the Convention but usually use the red octagonal stop sign per their own standards, like the MUTCD. Even in countries not associated with either standard mentioned above, the red octagonal stop sign is often used. Unique types of stop signs may still be observed in countries like Japan.

Sign variants

Although all English-speaking and many other countries use the word stop on stop signs, some jurisdictions use an equivalent word in their primary language instead of or in addition to it. Israel uses the image of a hand in a "stop" gesture.

In some Caribbean and South American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, and Venezuela), signs bear the legend
pare ("stop" in Portuguese and Spanish). Mexico and Central American countries bear the legend
alto ("halt") instead.

Bilingual stop sign in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

In the Canadian province of Quebec, modern signs read either
arrêt or stop;^[40] however, it is not uncommon to see older signs containing both words in smaller lettering, with
arrêt on top.^[41] Both stop and arrêt are considered valid French words and the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) notes that the use of "stop" on stop signs is attested in French since 1927.^[42] At the time of the debates surrounding the adoption of the Charter of the French Language ("Bill 101") in 1977, the usage of "stop" on the older dual-word signs was considered to be English and therefore controversial; some signs were occasionally vandalized with red spray paint to turn the word stop into "101".^[43] However, it was later officially determined by the OQLF that "stop" is a valid French word in this context, and the older dual
arrêt + stop usage is therefore not considered bilingual but merely redundant and therefore deprecated (à éviter). All newly installed signs thus use either one word or the other, but not both. In practice, the vast majority of signs use "arrêt" in the province of Québec. The "stop" word is usually seen in predominantly English-speaking areas.

Blue stop signs are used on private property in Hawaii

The province of New Brunswick has bilingual
stop arrêt in English-speaking areas. Acadian regions of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island also have bilingual signs. Some areas in Manitoba and Ottawa, Ontario also have bilingual signs, as do entrances to the country through Canada Customs. On First Nations or Inuit territories, stop signs sometimes use the local aboriginal language in addition to or instead of English, French or both. Other parts of Canada use stop. The use of native languages is also commonplace on U.S. native reservations, especially those promoting language revitalization efforts.

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  Arabic-speaking countries use قف qif (except for Lebanon that only uses "
  stop")


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  Armenia uses ԿԱՆԳ kang
  


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  Cambodia uses ឈប់ chhob
  


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  Greater China (including Taiwan) uses 停 tíng
  


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  Ethiopia uses ቁም ḳumə
  


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  Iran and Afghanistan use ایست ist
  


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  Japan uses 止まれ tomare
  


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  Laos uses ຢຸດ yud
  


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  North Korea uses 섯 sŏt
  


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  South Korea uses 정지 jeongji
  


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  Malaysia and Brunei use
  berhenti
  


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  Mongolia uses ЗОГС zogs
  


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  Myanmar uses ရပ် raut
  


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  Thailand uses หยุด yùd
  


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  Turkey uses
  dur
  

Almost all of Europe uses the word STOP in Latin letters; the only exception is Turkey, while Armenia uses a bilingual sign.

The white text on red background appearance is usually the same. Exceptions include Japan, which uses an inverted solid red triangle, and Zimbabwe, which (until 2016) used a disc bearing a black cross.

Stop signs around the world

The red octagon with "STOP" in the English language has become the most common version of the stop sign used around the world because STOP is the international standard. However, many countries use different variations.

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  Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela
  

  
  

  
  


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  Armenia
  

  
  

  
  


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  Bhutan
  

  
  

  
  


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  Brunei
  

  
  

  
  


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  Cambodia
  

  
  

  
  


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  Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama
  

  
  

  
  


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  Cuba
  

  
  

  
  


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  Mainland China (a similar but different sign is used in Taiwan)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan
  

  
  

  
  


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  Hong Kong
  

  
  

  
  


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  Iran, Afghanistan
  

  
  

  
  


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  Israel
  

  
  

  
  


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  Japan
  

  
  

  
  


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  Laos
  

  
  

  
  


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  Malaysia
  

  
  

  
  


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  Mongolia
  

  
  

  
  


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  Myanmar
  

  
  

  
  


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  Nigeria
  

  
  

  
  


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  North Korea
  

  
  

  
  


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  Pakistan
  

  
  

  
  


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  Province of Québec, Canada
  

  
  

  
  


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  South Korea
  

  
  

  
  


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  Thailand
  

  
  

  
  


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  Tonga
  

  
  

  
  


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  Turkey
  

  
  

  
  


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  Vanuatu
  

  
  

  
  

Historical gallery

Below are some older stop sign designs, used before the widely-applied standardization from before the Vienna road traffic convention.

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  Germany (before 1937)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Germany (1938-1953 for BRD/1956 for DDR)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Finland (1957-1971)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Italy (before 1959)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Romania (1957-1961)
  

  
  

  
  


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  United Kingdom (1965-1975)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Sweden (1951-1976)
  

  
  

  
  


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  United States (before the 1950s)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Ethiopia
  

  
  

  
  


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  Libya
  

  
  

  
  


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  Zambia
  

  
  

  
  


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  North Korea
  

  
  

  
  


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  Japan (1950-1960)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Japan (1960-1963)
  

  
  

  
  


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  Thailand
  

  
  

  
  


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  Australia (1940-1956)
  

  
  

  
  

See also

• All-way stop


• Assured Clear Distance Ahead


• Octagon


• Road traffic safety


• Roundabout


• Rules of the road


• School bus traffic stop laws


• Stopping sight distance


• Traffic circle


• Traffic psychology


• Traffic sign


• Warning sign


• Yield sign

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stop signs (gallery).

• History of Stop Signs


• Stop Sign Photo Gallery


• A Collection of Stop and Yield Signs