This sign (stop sign) means:
- Slow down and prepare to stop only if cars are approaching you
- Come to a full stop, then go when it is safe to do so ✓
- Proceed carefully through the intersection, not always stopping
- Stop only for traffic on an intersecting road
Answer: B. Come to a full stop, then go when it is safe to do so
A stop sign means you must come to a full stop, then go only when it is safe.
Why this is the answer
The handbook describes the red stop sign as a regulation sign: you stop completely, give way to vehicles and pedestrians already in or approaching the intersection, and then proceed when it is safe. It also says where to stop: at a stop line, before a crosswalk, or before entering the intersection when neither is present. That matches the full-stop choice. The sign does not make stopping conditional on traffic, so slowing down or rolling through is not enough.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Slow down and prepare to stop only if cars are approaching you — This is wrong because a stop sign requires a complete stop even when no cars are approaching; traffic is not the condition for stopping.
- C. Proceed carefully through the intersection, not always stopping — This is wrong because the sign calls for a full stop, not just extra caution or a rolling pass through the intersection.
- D. Stop only for traffic on an intersecting road — This is wrong because you must stop for the sign itself and yield to pedestrians as well as vehicles, not only to traffic on the crossing road.
Remember it
Think of the red sign as a command to halt before you look: stopping comes first, judging safety comes second.
Official handbook: New York State Driver's Manual (MV-21), Chapter 4: Traffic Control – Signs