An example method includes determining a path to be followed by a vehicle through an environment. The path includes an ordered sequence of positions. The method also includes determining an intersection between a first object in the environment and a first area planned to be occupied by the vehicle while moving along the path and, in response, sequentially testing the ordered sequence of positions to identify a first ordinal position in the ordered sequence of positions, where the first ordinal position corresponds to a second area planned to be occupied by the vehicle while moving along the path, and where the second area is within a threshold distance of the first object. The method further additionally includes trimming the path to remove (i) the first ordinal position and (ii) any positions subsequent thereto and causing the vehicle to stop at an end of the trimmed path.