Before stopping on the roadway, what should you do?

Before stopping on the roadway, checking your mirrors for traffic is the most essential action to take. This step ensures that you are aware of your surroundings and any vehicles or obstacles that may be approaching from behind or beside you. By assessing the traffic conditions, you help to prevent potential collisions and ensure a safer stop.

This action also gives you the opportunity to gauge the appropriate time to stop safely, allowing adequate space for vehicles that may be behind you. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of continuously monitoring your environment, which is a critical aspect of defensive driving.

Using the horn might be considered to alert other drivers, but it is not a standard practice for indicating a stop. Turning on hazard lights is generally used during stationary situations or when your vehicle is a hazard on the roadway, and signaling with your hands could be useful in specific situations, but it is less common and not always necessary if your vehicle has functioning turn signals. Thus, checking mirrors is the most effective and crucial step before coming to a stop.