We tend to not take responsibility in obeying and knowing the law. Only after reading posts like this web site do we get an appreciation of the "privilege" for driving.

I have been stopped twice for not stopping at a stop sign. Both occasions were at night.

And on both occasions I politely answered the stop sign "infraction" in a polite, firm manner with these words.

"Officer I think you are making an assumption." In the first instance I pointed out that I came to a complete stop and that I saw his vehicle backing out of a driveway three doors down and to the right of the intersection and could not have determined whether I came to an incomplete stop with his window closed looking through his mirrors. After conferring with his partner he returned my documents and wished me good night.

On the second occasion. "Officer I think you are making an assumption." Your car and the other cruiser were parked side by side with your lights out, one curb side and the other in the roadway. Both license plates were clearly visible to me. No emergency light was visible to indicate that the vehicle on on the roadway was disabled. I am not as familiar to the Highway Act as you are but I believe it is illegal. To my left across the intersection was another cruiser with his flashers on having pulled a car over. Given these facts as I state I clearly stopped at the stop sign. The Officer came back with "Have a good evening."

Obey the law, be polite, and be observant. When stopping at a sign look both ways then count to 2 before proceeding.

If somebody said to me 'Officer I think you are making an assumption', he would be getting a ticket for sure. And I'd be checking that your permit is signed in ink.

If I stop a motorist for some sort of highway traffic act infraction, it's because I have observed that infraction take place. Not because I assumed it took place. The fact that you're assuming that I've made some half-assed assumption about having half-observed an offence take place is hypocritical and maybe a little insane.

Folks: pay no heed to this gentleman's advice.

Slinkey wrote:

We tend to not take responsibility in obeying and knowing the law. Only after reading posts like this web site do we get an appreciation of the "privilege" for driving.

I have been stopped twice for not stopping at a stop sign. Both occasions were at night.

And on both occasions I politely answered the stop sign "infraction" in a polite, firm manner with these words.

"Officer I think you are making an assumption." In the first instance I pointed out that I came to a complete stop and that I saw his vehicle backing out of a driveway three doors down and to the right of the intersection and could not have determined whether I came to an incomplete stop with his window closed looking through his mirrors. After conferring with his partner he returned my documents and wished me good night.

On the second occasion. "Officer I think you are making an assumption." Your car and the other cruiser were parked side by side with your lights out, one curb side and the other in the roadway. Both license plates were clearly visible to me. No emergency light was visible to indicate that the vehicle on on the roadway was disabled. I am not as familiar to the Highway Act as you are but I believe it is illegal. To my left across the intersection was another cruiser with his flashers on having pulled a car over. Given these facts as I state I clearly stopped at the stop sign. The Officer came back with "Have a good evening."

Obey the law, be polite, and be observant.

This is some of the worst advice i've heard. Second of all, to counter a possible charge with "well officer, you're parked side by side with another car without your emergency lights and that's illegal" is non sense. Not to mention it's not true.

Slinkey wrote:

When stopping at a sign look both ways then count to 2 before proceeding.

Please don't. There should be no reason to count to anything. You stop and go when it is safe to do so. There is no countdown involved. You're now impeding traffic.