Traffic rules and the bending of those rules vary from country to country and state to state: how far over the speed limit you can go before getting pulled over, whether or not pedestrians get away with jaywalking, what a yellow light really means, the speed limit in farm country…, the list goes on. Some of the traffic laws in California are pretty tight and folks adhere to them, mostly. But there is one practice that has been going on for as long as I can remember and I started driving in 1979 – just a few years ago. It even has a name and you may or may not have heard of it: a California stop.

A California stop is not anything like a bus stop – we have no public transportation worth mentioning unfortunately, and it is not really a stop at all. It is a roll, but not a sushi roll. There has long held a practice that when approaching a stop sign, if one scans the area with a watchful eye finding it to be clear, there is no need whatsoever to actually stop at the sign – you can simply roll through the intersection and, usually, get away with it.

Be wary of school zones though, law enforcement officers do not tolerate roll-thrus in areas where children might be crossing, even if they are crossing illegally – your breakage of the law supersedes theirs. Trust me, I am not condoning this practice, nor can I confirm nor deny that I have participated in any such goings on but I will say this: it is crazy how often I see this cute little stunt performed.

When given the privilege of driving, there are rules and just like any other freedom – we stand to lose that freedom should we choose to violate or bend the rules too much. There is not much care applied to this particular regulation. I don’t think I ever did it again once I had children, too risky, too unsafe. But there are those that disregard safety in order to make it to the other side of town two seconds sooner.

Breaking laws or jumping over them is, unfortunately, standard practice for many in business today. There are the thoughts that “no one will get hurt” or “this will only affect me.” This is never the case, as we have seen in numerous “big name” situations around the corporate globe – most recently with the BP disaster. I have often told me kids, “we have rules for a reason.” Maybe some of these CEOS just need a mommy. I would be open for the job if I could negotiate a few benefits and if corporal punishment became more widely accepted. Personally, that gig wouldn't pay enough.  Besides, I am very happy in my current assignment.  But, if I think of anyone else, I will forward on the job description.