When the lights are out..
 

we all know when the traffic lights are out the intersection defaults to a 4 way stop.

4 way stops work fine when each approaching road only has one lane in each direction. In fact, I can't think of any regular 4 way stop signs installed in anything but a simple intersection.

It gets trickier at larger intersections where there are two or more through-lanes entering the intersection plus dedicated left-turn lanes.

We all know the basic rule of a 4 way stop. If two cars approach at the same time, yield to the car on the right. If two cars approach facing eachother and one is turning, the car going straight through has the right of way.

But at large intersections things get complicated quite quickly. I'll use the numbers on a clock to make things simple.

If you approach from the 6 o'clock position at the same time a car approaches from the right at the 3 o'clock position, you yield to the car on the right.

But when the car approaching from the 3 o'clock position begins to move forward, inevitably the car approaching from the 9 o'clock position feels he should go too. Making things worse, a second car approaching from the 9 o'clock position feels he can make a left turn when the car next to him moves forward.

Adding to the confusion, not all cars approaching from one direction will arrive at the stop line at the same time and quickly the intersection becomes a big discombublated mess.



What if instead of using the 4 way stop method drivers were to take turns in a counter-clockwise fashion? The first car from each row approaching from the 3 o'clock position would go, including the ones turning left and right. As the cars behind them queue up to the stop line, the cars approaching from the 12 o'clock position would move through the intersection. And so on.

Just a thought...

This would never work coz there are alway impatient fuckers that try to sneak in with the guy ahead of them... then others who just dont look and go...


i always wait and watch carefully and react accordingly.. theres a reason why i dont have accident in my 13years of driving..

I think the rule of thumb if you're confused is to go at the same time as the person in the lane adjacent to you.
If you're turning left and it's your turn, make sure you put yourself in the middle of the intersection so people can see you and are aware you're about to make your move. People will try to cut in line but if you're already in the middle they will have to wait for you.

I'm glad we usually bring out stop signs at intersections with broken lights/flashing reds to remind drivers scenarios have changed. I've seen my fair share of drivers on auto-pilot who blow through the intersection without realizing it's a 4-way.

Whatever happened to common sense?

Revscene killed it.

There is a busy four way stop that has 4 lanes and a left turn lane on all sides in Abbotsford, aside from the occasional impatient driver who skips ahead it seems to work very well. In cases where the lights are out at large intersections I believe the issue has less to do with people's inability to follow and understand the rules and more to do with peoples' inability to cope with unexpected conditions.
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Actually, RS enables certain posters to drive without it, get caught, then come here and whine. :fullofwin:

^zulu finally learned how to use quoting properly?? :D

I just learned how to turn the cap lock off...gimme a break !!!!:whistle: