October 11, 2015

Was the “California Stop” Really Invented in California?

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On my way home from lunch today I saw the billboard on the right. Seems like it should be “California Alto” or something, shouldn’t it? I guess “California Stop” is one of those things that’s famous enough that it’s always rendered in its native language.

But I’m curious: where did “California Stop” come from, anyway? I won’t claim that I have a ton of experience driving all over the country, but I’ve driven in plenty of places both east and west, and it seems to me that people are pretty casual about stop signs everywhere. Sure enough, on a message board that posted a question about this, various folks said that in their neck of the woods it was called a:

  • St. Louis Stop
  • New York Stop
  • Hollywood Stop
  • New Orleans Stop

This suggests that it really is common everywhere, but it’s equally common to think it’s unique to your own city/state/region. But if that’s the case, why is it so common to call it a California Stop? Did we do it first? Is it related to California pioneering the right-on-red rule? Anybody know what the deal is?

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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