Four-Way Stops
 

Hey folks,

I know this is Drivers Ed 101 but seriously, I need some good reassurance because I've been encountering some bad drivers out there.

When there's a four-way stop and two cars just so happen to stop at the same time, the car on the right always gets right of way, correct? Lately, I've been noticing a lot of drivers not abiding to this rule. They just take off and go thinking they were simply there first.

Is this right-of-way rule still applicable? :confused:

car on right goes first.

Yep and if they arrive from opposite sides, left turn yields to straight through or right hand turn.

I love the 4-way stops where it is one lane leading up to the stop sign but it is wide enough for two cars to squeeze in with one always making a right-turn out of turn..

Yes the rule is applicable. Most people just forget about it.

You're right, if you're on the right you get right of way. And if you're opposing each other, one that wants to go straight and one that wants to turn left, the one who wants straight gets right of way.

Other drivers are just bad.

/thread

Speaking of 4-way stops, I really hate how most mall parking lots just put a stop sign on all 4 sides and expect everyone to know it's a 4-Way stop. I see people ignoring the stop signs all the time in there too.

If I get there at the same time as another car, I generally will wave them through.

Why? Because in short, people are stupid and the 3 seconds it takes to wave them through is well worth it compared to the time and hassle of dealing with an accident (never mind the risk).

:)

People in North America seem to not understand the right of way concept and they also seem to have a hard time counting to 4 at a 4 way intersection...

I hate when people don't come to a complete stop and are still rolling forward slowly. I make a complete stop, and then I proceed because they havent stopped yet (so it's my turn), and then I get the finger or something stupid. Turkeys....

Given the problems people have with the concept of a four-way stop, which we've had for decades, I'm amazed at the rush to more roundabouts and traffic circles we're seeing now on major commuter routes. These things have never been taught outside of a brief mention of their use for traffic calming on small residential streets in the rules-of-the-road booklets. Nobody knows how to use them properly, yet we're seeing more and more of them - many two lanes - on major routes. The roads around the new Golden Ears and Pitt River bridges will be rife with them, and all the traffic relief afforded by the bridges will be negated by the chaos created by the traffic circles... [/rant]

People don't know how to use these. Yield to traffic in the circle, not run through and take right of way. I've had many close calls in here. Almost had a head on with an ambulance turning LEFT in it.

Ambulances and other emergency vehicles have the right of way and get to do whatever the f*** they want. It's a damn ambulance man.

They really need a bit of an education campaign about how roundabouts work. They are building a number in Kitsilano and taking out stop signs. People blaze in there with no regard for whats going on ...

Has any of you encountered those situations where you're on the left side, and the person on the right doesn't go first? Then you decide to go since the other persons an idiot, then they decide to go at the same time.

I keep seeing people already in the roundabout, stopping for cars waiting to enter. They don't seem to understand that once you're in there, YOU have the right of way. It's seriously fucked up.

Doesn't help that most of the ones I've seen so far (particularly on Mt. Lehman Rd. on both sides of the freeway) have the lines completely worn away and poor signage, so you get people in the inside lane trying to go straight through when the person in the outside lane is trying to curve around... and stupid shit like that.

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread, but it's on topic:

What I call the second round or busy 4 way etiquette. After the first car goes, or in case of a 'tie' the car on the right (or the car not turning left if across) then what happens. I was debating this with my wife but could not make a reference to back up my claims.

I always treated it as though everything resets after the first car goes. So today, 3 cars get to the 4 way stop pretty close together. I'm going straight through, but I got there last. There's a car to my right which got there first, and a car across which beat me to the stop sign. Both other cars are signaling turning left. I'm yielding expecting the guy on my right to go, then back to ground zero, so I'm going to go before the guy across turns left. This is not what the car across from me thought was correct, as he turned left in front of me after the guy on the right did; chronological order.

Maybe I picked this up as a bad habit from busy 4 way stops or maybe I'm right. I'm still looking for where it's written in the law or bylaw.

Generally, at busy 4 ways, I'll move up to the stop line after the car in front has entered the intersection, wait for the cross traffic to go, then assume I have the right of way if I'm going straight or turning right, else I will yield if turning left. I'm always expecting the driver across from me turning left to yield because we were both at the stop signs when the cross traffic went through before us and when they got through the right of way 'reset'. Should I be watching the entire intersection for pure chronological order instead?

I'm almost 100% sure I'm right on this one, but I have a bad feeling I just got into this habit because it's more efficient and maybe most people have just let me get away with it. So am I a jerk or what? I haven't found much but it looks like I'm a jerk.

You're not a jerk, you're just wrong. First come, first serve. The order of arrival and precedence continues once the first car has made it's move.

If four cars (each with more cars behind them) arrive at the stop signs the same time, one will have to go first, and from then on, there will be an order for all subsequent cars who arrive at the intersection.

The rules of 'car to the right goes first' or 'car going straight goes first' only apply when conflicting traffic arrives at the exact same time, once they've gone, it's back to order of arrival.

Go through this every day since there's a 4 way stop by my house. If I hit the sign at the same time I usually just give the wave even if I have the right of way. With all the idiot drivers out there I don't want to risk getting hit by a dumb ass even if I'm 100% correct in the eyes of ICBC. Not worth the hassle and I can wait a few seconds for me to go.

I'm the same way. If I get to a 4 way stop sign at the same time with someone else, I'll just wave them through. Makes things so much easier, for their lack of driving sense.

One time I was behind a car turning at a four way stop and he got their at the same time as the car to the left of him. He inched, the other guy inched forward. They kept breaking, inching forward, breaking inching forward until both were like half a car length from each other. I couldn't stop laughing!

the rules for a 4-way stop are pretty clear cut I don't understand how you can possibly think everything resets after the first car goes.

When i took a defensive driving class for work we were told never to wave another car through an intersection, If an accident results from them taking your directions you can be found liable. I don't know if that works out legally but it does make some sense.

I always thought that if people arrive at 4-way stops at different times (say 0.5s between each car), the order that people go is ALWAYS the same as the way people came in, regardless of who's to the L/R of who.

OP, are you sure the car on your left arrived at EXACTLY the same time as you did, and not say 0.5s sooner? If a car arrived on my L before I did, even if it was before, I just let them go, and usually they do go. ;)

Not sure if that move is 100% legal but personally I don't see what the problem is if the guy turning R goes right when (and not before) the guy beside him also goes. It's not like he's taking up any more space or blocking someone's way.

The best roundabouts for racking up our insurance premiums are the ones put at the intersection of major and minor streets. Blenheim comes to mind. Pretty much EVERYONE on Blenheim just blows through them, cutting off/smoking anyone who inches out from the side streets. I know someone (Personal Injury lawyer) who makes a killing off of these.

Cops would have a field day there filling their quotas. And the worst part is, they were measuring traffic speeds with those cables across the road. I think the City will find that roundabouts don't exactly make people slow down or lower accident rates.

I generally find that the doofus turning is making an illegal pass on the right, pulls up past the person in front and blocks that person's view of whatever is to the right forcing him to wait longer than he would have to make sure that the way is clear.

I spent 25 years in policing without a ticket quota. In fact, the one restriction I did have was a limit on the number of speeding tickets I wrote. Let's put this stupid idea to bed once and for all.

Although these devices can measure speeds, they are generally there to do traffic counts and see how the roads are being utilized by traffic.

I have seen two types of those in place, single ones which must just be counting cars and double ones which must be counting and taking speed records, otherwise why not just use a single ?

My guess is the double ones are for determining the direction of the counted vehicle.