During the “Pet Peeves of Driving” series we did last month, one that crept up several times was people who stop short of the white line at a red light. I’m sure you have seen this more than once. Sometimes they can be more than a car length away from the intersection which creates a backup further than normal at the light which, in some cases, can block driveways and businesses.
I understand why this made it to the pet peeve list and congratulations to everyone for NOT pulling in front of those people to “prove a point”. That would just make you the bad guy that everyone else talked about instead of the person that stopped short. The reason why people do this can be as diverse as the drivers themselves.
As we all know, the white line denotes the beginning of the intersection. Go beyond that line and you are considered “in the intersection” and could be ticketed, although that doesn’t happen often. Some people stop short so they do not cross that line; “but a whole car length?” you say. Some may feel, or were taught in driving school, that they need to be able to see the white line when stopped. For shorter people in lower cars this may require them to be farther back in order to see the white line.
Some drivers still believe that they need to be further back to “trip” the red light plate embedded in the road. Some error on the side of caution in case their brakes don’t stop them in time or just stop working all together.
For truck drivers the dynamics of intersections are different then they are for the cars they were designed for and the white line does not define the correct distance for the next action they need to take when the light turns green. Right turns require much different actions by truck drivers than left hand turns but both require a lot of effort and planning to complete. I’m sure you have seen 18 wheelers have to use several lanes to safely make a turn and as non-truck drivers, we need to respect those differences and give the trucks all the room they need.
One reason I believe that some people stop short of the white line at red lights has to do with the style and model of the car. Some of the “retro” designed newer muscle cars (Camaros, Mustangs, Chargers, etc.) for example have windshields with more of an angle or just not as high and these drivers have to stop further back from the white line so that they can see the light.
Whatever the reasons, people have done it for years and there is no reason to believe that it will stop happening. What we need to do as defensive drivers is be ready for it to happen. Don’t tailgate and slow down as you get closer to the light so that if the person in front of you does “short stop”, you won’t have to “panic stop”.
