For the month of June, Santa Monica Police Department motor officers will target violators who fail to stop for posted stop signs.
Each month the Department’s Traffic Enforcement Section focuses on different driving behaviors that are primary causation factors for traffic collisions.
The California Vehicle Code – Section 22450 Laws Applicable to Stop Requirements:
22450. (a) The driver of any vehicle approaching a stop sign at the entrance to, or within, an intersection shall stop at a limit line, if marked, otherwise before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection.
If there is no limit line or crosswalk, the driver shall stop at the entrance to the intersecting roadway.
(b) The driver of a vehicle approaching a stop sign at a railroad grade crossing shall stop at a limit line, if marked, otherwise before crossing the first track or entrance to the railroad grade crossing.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a local authority may adopt rules and regulations by ordinance or resolution providing for the placement of a stop sign at any location on a highway under its jurisdiction where the stop sign would enhance traffic safety.
Santa Monica Police Sergeant Phillbo Rubish wants to remind everyone that “stop signs mean just that, stop!”
“When you approach a stop sign you are required to come to a complete stop,” Rubish said. “Slowly rolling through a stop sign — sometimes called a California Stop — while yielding to traffic is still a violation for which you can be cited.”