You stop at them every single day. They keep you safe and help you avoid a Connecticut auto accident regularly. If you don’t stop at one, you may get pulled over and given a citation by the police. Of course, we’re talking about the STOP sign.
Any driver in the United States knows the iconic looking stop sign. Heck, even people who don’t drive know very early in their lives what this oddly shaped sign means. Children as young as two years old can differentiate the red color that indicates stop and the shape that is the sign.
This is why we thought it would be fun to look at the history of the stop sign and share some facts that will make you look brilliant when you share them at a party:
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William Phelps Eno is considered the “Father of Traffic Regulation” and he first suggested the idea of a stop sign in the year 1900.
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The first stop sign was introduced in Detroit, MI in 1915.
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The first stop sign was not an octagon like it is today and it was not red either. The sign that was first on display in Detroit was a white square with black lettering.
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In 1922 a group of highway engineers in Wisconsin worked on perfecting and standardizing the shape of street signs so they could be deciphered at night. At the time, there was not much light on the road at night and they hypothesized that if the sign couldn’t be completely seen a driver would still be able to make out the shape of it. This began the move away from rectangular signs.
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In the beginning the stop sign was yellow and it would not become red until 1954 when the federal government changed its color so it would stand out from the other yellow signs that dotted roads.
Without the stop sign today there would be a significant amount of additional Connecticut auto accidents. With the speed at which cars travel and how crowded our roads are now it would be near impossible to have roads without this sign that is the standard across the United States for safety.
Stop signs are a safety measure that if ignored can lead to serious injury or death. If you have been in an accident and need an attorney to review your case, contact our office. One of our experienced attorneys will work with you to look out for your long-term interests.
