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I'm searching for a short label (preferably one word or a few short words) on a computer interface which simulates a traffic control. If a car is in front of a traffic light and the traffic light turns green, there is an option to delay the car for a few seconds so that it doesn't drive off immediately (to simulate the driver's reaction time).

It would be a nice and simple checkbox, but unfortunately in English the term "drive off" contains the word "off", which might confuse users:

[ ] delay driving off

It might also seem that checking this checkbox turns an option off. It's especially annoying because there are other checkboxes nearby which contain the word "off" for exactly this purpose: for example, "turn lights off after (some event)".

In other languages this interface is shown in, it's not a problem, because their translations of "driving off" don't contain the equivalent for "off".

My problem is that other synonyms don't unambiguously mean the same. Just "departure" seems forced, isn't it mostly for trains or buses leaving a station?

"delay driving away" might be a compromise, but I have never heard it in the context of a car driving off in an intersection after the lights turn green. Merely "starting" is not good, as the engines are already running, there is nothing to start.

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    delay departing
    – GEdgar
    Jun 10, 2020 at 13:22
  • the term "drive off" contains the word "off", which might confuse users: You are worrying unnecessarily, I don't think it will, but even if it does, having ticked the box once or twice, they will learn what it does.
    – Greybeard
    Jun 10, 2020 at 13:32
  • @Greybeard : In itself it wouldn't be really that bad, but there are other checkboxes which turn off things when checked (and they need to, it wouldn't be logical to invert them to checked = active).
    – vsz
    Jun 10, 2020 at 14:59
  • Just delay or pause would be enough. Everyone will understand what is being delayed.or paused.
    – Robusto
    Jun 10, 2020 at 20:40
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    The option should be “Simulate driver reaction time.”
    – Jim
    Jun 11, 2020 at 0:20

2 Answers 2

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The words "stop" and "proceed" were used for what is considered the first automated traffic signal, and the Wikipedia article about traffic lights talks about traffic "proceeding" through the intersection.

So perhaps your checkbox could be labelled something like "delay proceeding on green" (or "...from green"), or just "delay proceeding".

"[ ] driver hesitation" is another way to think about it, and could also apply to entering roundabouts or proceeding through stop signs.

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How about [ ] delay going? In the U.S. anyway, what you do when you're stopped at a stop light and that stop light turns green is "go". If there's someone stopped in front of you and they don't "go" promptly, you might swear to yourself while saying something like "Go already!" One wouldn't use the term driving off in place of going with regard to stop lights. One certainly wouldn't say, "Drive off already!" One would use "drive off" to describe a hit-and-run accident, in which a motorist, after striking another car, a pedestrian, or a cyclist, simply "drives off".

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  • There seems to be an American/British difference - " it doesn't drive off immediately" sounds normal. The "already" sounds strange - perhaps a New York dialect? How about [ ] realistic mode ?
    – Greybeard
    Jun 10, 2020 at 15:11
  • @Greybeard Thanks for the comment. Good to know. Go seems rather natural to me in that RED means STOP and GREEN means GO, and, of course, there will always be at least a short delay. Re already, some people use it to express impatience in a variety of contexts. I included it for amusement purposes. When someone stopped ahead of you doesn't go promptly, you might also exclaim, “What are you waiting for, an engraved invitation???!!!”
    – Richard Kayser
    Jun 10, 2020 at 17:30

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