Without googling...At a four-way stop, if 2 cars reach the intersection simultaneously,

[ecstatic]

which of the following options is the correct action?

51 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Flash headlights or wave to let the other driver go first
	0 (0%)
	Wait for a second to see what the other driver does, then go if s/he doesn't move
	0 (0%)
	The vehicle on the left must yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right
	47 (92%)
	The vehicle on the right must yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on left
	1 (2%)
	Whoever stopped first should go first
	2 (4%)
	None of the above
	1 (2%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

1. I don't get why you have this option:

Whoever stopped first should go first, after saying both arrived at the same time, which suggests both stopped at that same time. If not, seems you ought to put that in the question.

[ecstatic]

3. Hmm, I guess I was thinking both arrived at same time but one

driver is slower at coming to a COMPLETE stop? I don't recall ever being in a fully simultaneous stop situation.

[a kennedy]

45. and since when do people even really stop........oh they'll slow down, but that rolling thing

Last edited Thu Sep 14, 2017, 11:40 AM - Edit history (1)

so many people do, does not constitute a STOP. JMHO. Drivers manual does say the vehicle on the right gets the go ahead when two cars enter the intersection at the same time.

[tblue37]

51. Vehicle on the *right* goes first if stops are simultaneous.

[a kennedy]

61. You're right......

Guess I'm just showing my allegiance to the left side of the spectrum. Will change my entry, and thanks.

[DetlefK]

2. Let me guess: Someone has faulted you.

[ecstatic]

4. No. A tweet by the police department

I pride myself on being a safe driver but I honestly don't recall this rule and I've never seen it done in practice. But I guess I'm all alone on this one. Lol

Link to tweet

[pangaia]

25. I learned that 58 years ago.

More and more bad drivers today

[brooklynite]

36. That's a fairly universal rule worldwide.

[Kleveland]

54. Agreed, and also applies to boating!

Substitute portside, and starboard.

[Bettie]

39. New drivers in my family

so I got reminders of all of those kind of rules.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

5. Do you know the John Prine song The Accident?

This is how I remember you're supposed yield to the right. I do, but since most people don't seem to know, if they hesitate more than a few seconds, I just go. Not lettin' the yield go around and around.

Last night I saw an accident
On the corner of Third and Green
Two cars collided and I got excited
Just being part of that scene
It was Mrs. Tom Walker and her beautiful daughter
Pamela, was driving the car
They got hit by a man in a lite blue sedan
Who had obviously been to a bar

They don't know how lucky they are
They could have run into that tree
Got struck by a bolt of lightning
And raped by a minority

It was a four way stop dilemma
We all arrived the same time
I yielded to the man to the right of me
And he yielded it right back to mine
Well, the yield went around and around and around
Till Pamela finally tried
Just then the man in the light blue sedan
Hit Pamela's passenger side

They don't know how lucky they are
They could have run into that tree
Got struck by a bolt of lightning
And raped by a minority

Pamela hit her head on the mirror
Mrs Walker got a bump on the knee
The man hit himself in the face and said
"Why does this happen to me?"
The neighbors came out
And they gathered about
Saying "Hey! who hit who anyway?"
And the police arrived at a quarter to five
And pronounced all the victims "Okay"

They don't know how lucky they are
They could have run into that tree
Got struck by a bolt of lightning
And raped by a minority

[ecstatic]

9. Never heard of him or the song until now.

Based on the lyrics, I assume he's a parody singer like "Weird Al" Yankovic??

[GoneOffShore]

10. Okay - John Prine - definitely not a parody singer, though he writes some funny songs.

Here's his Wikipedia entry - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Prine

And here are a couple of songs -

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

11. Not really. Folksy-rootsy Americana genre. Not everyone's cuppa, but

he's highly respected in the folk scene. He does funny, but not in the Weird Al Yankovic way. Also does serious. Wrote Angel From Montgomery, a very well known non-parody song covered by Bonnie Raitt. Also the poignant Hello in There.

"Hello In There"

We had an apartment in the city,
Me and Loretta liked living there.
Well, it'd been years since the kids had grown,
A life of their own left us alone.
John and Linda live in Omaha,
And Joe is somewhere on the road.
We lost Davy in the Korean war,
And I still don't know what for, don't matter anymore.

[Chorus:]
Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger,
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day.
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello."

Me and Loretta, we don't talk much more,
She sits and stares through the back door screen.
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream that we've both seen.
Someday I'll go and call up Rudy,
We worked together at the factory.
But what could I say if asks "What's new?"
"Nothing, what's with you? Nothing much to do."

[Chorus]

So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello."

[GoneOffShore]

14. And don't forget 'Sam Stone' which I posted above.

All about Viet Nam vets.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

18. Yes!

Sam Stone is a great one!

[kentuck]

33. One of Prine's greatest.

imo

[Bob Loblaw]

23. Thank you

I sing this song to myself every time I experience a tie at a four way stop. I've seen John Prine live 7 or 8 times, he's a national treasure. And this will be the song in my head for the rest of the morning, commuter traffic notwithstanding.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

24. Lucky you! I've only seen him once, ages ago.

My husband and all our other musician friends have always done his songs. So many good ones.

Did you hear him on NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me? He was a fantastic guest. http://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/530229196/wait-wait-for-may-27-2017-with-not-my-job-guest-john-prine

[Bob Loblaw]

26. I'll save that for later

I do several of his songs too, Dear Abby is among my favorites. He's a friend of a friend of a friend as is his guitarist Jason Wilbur. I'm always pleased to see Prine recognized on DU. I've referenced Flag Decal here before.

[SharonClark]

44. Agree - He is a national treasurer.

[TexasTowelie]

6. Whoever has the bigger vehicle goes first.

I know the correct answer, but Texas rules apply.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

15. What if...

the two pickups are the same size and have equally huge wall-of-chrome front bumpers?

Then, do you go by color, or hold up the biggest gun you have?

In KY, it's whoever has the most bashed-up front end. That's always a good reason to yield!

[TexasTowelie]

16. Roadside rochambeau at the corner.

[annabanana]

7. There are a LOT of 4-ways by me.

Def. the car on the left yields. Or else.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. This is presumably for "when both cars want to go straight on"

because, for instance, if they approach from opposite directions, there is no 'left' and 'right' you can apply to them, and you have to use a different set of rules. In that, a car that wanted to turn left would have to give way. If both want to do that, they should both advance enough so that they can pass behind the other.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

19. It's not the direction they approach from.

It's to the right from your position in the rectangle or circle, however you think of it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. OK, so 1 car approaches from the north, 1 from the south

Which one are you saying is "to the right"? Obviously, neither is. So there have to be different rules for cars coming from opposite directions.

And, using the diagram in reply #4, if car 'B' (ie "the car on the left" ) is turning right, it doesn't need to yield to car A, since their paths will never cross.

[hlthe2b]

38. Yeah, this is my concern. I guess that is why we are seeing so many traffic circles pop up...

Last edited Thu Sep 14, 2017, 07:50 AM - Edit history (1)

I never understood who was supposed to go when they encounter each other "head on" and simutaneously at a four way stop.

[anneboleyn]

52. See my post. Rarely are cars going parallel (North - South) approaching each other head-on

so they simply drive past each other while in different lanes (while obviously taking appropriate measures to be sure that the other driver doesn't decide to turn suddenly after all). If the road doesn't have lane designations, then the parallel cars simply allow each other enough room to move as one car sitting there blocking the road would accomplish nothing. The rule is clearly to prevent the most obvious and frequent problem of cars hitting each other in a perpendicular manner.

[hlthe2b]

59. Of course... the issue is head on meeting simultaneously with one wanting to make a left turn

Last edited Thu Sep 14, 2017, 10:53 AM - Edit history (1)

(or both wanting to turn left). I guess I thought that would be assumed to be the case.

[anneboleyn]

49. In most cases those cars would be in different lanes, so it's a non-issue. Car from North would

drive straight past car going South (or if on a residential road give each other room). There are very few cases in which both cars approaching each other head-on would be in the same lane.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

53. Again. It does not matter where you approach from.

You're sitting in your car, stopped at the stop sign look to the right. If there is someone in the car there, you yield to them.

Only if you got there and stopped at the same time, of course, which is the question at hand. The only confusion should be in the unlikely even all arrived and stopped at the exact same time. In which case, the yield goes around and around, as noted in the song I posted above.

[muriel_volestrangler]

60. But you do need a rule for when it is 2 cars arriving from opposite directions

If they're both going straight on, they can both proceed without waiting for the other. If one is going straight on, but the other is turning left, then the one turning left should wait for the other to go before doing the left turn. If they both want to turn left, then either one signals to the other they they should go first, or they attempt to do it at the same time, passing behind each other (which, however, there may not be much room for - it depends on the size of the junction).

It would be incorrect to say "if you arrive at a 4 way stop, and there's no car immediately to your right, you can do what you want at once".

Would you say that a car turning right at a 4-way stop should yield to a car on the right, even if there's clearly enough room to make the turn without impeding that car?

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

69. Ahh, of course. Sorry!

I think that's right. Though, no one seems exactly positive. I wonder if the laws vary by state. I guess I'd better look up my state driver's rule book.

[pangaia]

27. In the southern hemisphere, of course, it would be car on left with right of way

[fierywoman]

12. Obviously none of you guys lives in WA state ...

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

20. Arrrrghhhh! This is why I don't support anarchists.

We freakin' need rules.

[rurallib]

40. We have a 4 way stop just down the street from us. I have witnessed

such a scene a couple of times - one night with 4 cars lurching, stopping, lurching, stopping. One of the funniest damn things I ever saw. Small town. Slow motion near collision.

[bluecollar2]

13. depends...

The rules do not apply in Miami.

Never assume the other driver is competent.

[Amishman]

17. The tiebreaker must be a burnout contest

I thought everyone knew this

[Warren DeMontague]

21. THE ONE WITH THE BIGGEST "TRUCK NUTZ" GOES FIRST!

[Orrex]

29. What if four cars reach the intersection simultaneously?

Everyone is to the left and right of someone else. ANARCHY!

[ProfessorGAC]

41. Leave It To You, Orrex!

OK, now what's the probability that all four actually come to a simultaneous stop? Gotta think about it now, don't ya?

[Nay]

46. There's one busy 4-way in our area at which this happens constantly. We just nod/wave

each other through politely if no one knows who really got there first. It's definitely a politeness contest, which beats a "truck nutz" contest every time!

I learned the "yield to the righthand car" 50 years ago, but since few people nowadays seem to know it, I always rely on either waving someone through or them waving me through after we peer at each other through our windshields. I never rely on somebody else knowing that rule . . .

[ProfessorGAC]

50. I'm A Waver, Too

Rather than two of us both thinking it's ok to go, i just tell someone to go first. I drive a ragtop for 7 months of the year, so i can just put my hand up over the windshield bar. They can't miss the signal that way.

[Major Nikon]

63. There's all sorts of unwritten rules that happen in local areas

I was traveling one time and ran across a busy intersection where several people would follow through at once until those on the perpendicular would ease out and then the right of way went the other direction for a few cars. The end result was traffic moved much more efficiently. I suspect it was the local folks idea of dealing with rush hour traffic without a stoplight.

I've also seen some folks go two at once through an intersection after the first driver stops past the stop sign and the following driver stops (correctly) before the stop sign.

[unblock]

30. There's only one sure-fire way to resolve this:

Alphanumeric order of license plates

[mwooldri]

31. What if there are no front license plates?

So we can't use this rule in NC...

[kentuck]

32. If two cars are on opposite sides of a stop sign.

They are both on the other's left.

[Lars39]

34. The trick is to ease up to the line so that there

is no doubt as to who goes next.

[Ohiya]

35. That was easy...

What if four cars arrive simultaneously?

Four car collision imminent!

[samnsara]

37. except in my town we have the 'wave'..the driver on the right...

..smiles and waves the driver on the left to go on thru. yeah but if theres an accident the driver on the left gets the ticket! you go first...no you go first...no YOU go first..NO YOU GO FIRST DAMMIT ITS THE LAW

[melm00se]

42. people struggle with the simple concept of the turn signal

and you expect them to answer who has the right away at a 4 way?

[OnDoutside]

43. Embrace Modernity....

[left-of-center2012]

47. Why not google to find the correct answer?

It could educate someone

[haveahart]

48. If they all arrive at the same time, everyone is on everyone else's right.

First on to blink lights goes first and sets the position for who is on the right. The car to the right of the blinker goes next and so on.

[MineralMan]

55. Actually, it is the car coming toward the 4-way stop that has

a driver looking at his or her cell phone who should be given the right of way. That driver won't stop anyhow.

That's how it works in Minnesota, anyhow. Here, the first person to wave the other driver on yields to the driver who waves you on later.

For me, personally, I never insist on the right of way at any time. I hate going to body shops.

[3catwoman3]

56. I detest 4 way stops.

Everybody thinks they got there first.

[JoeStuckInOH]

57. Other: I go first.

I contend that I got there first.

[Brother Buzz]

68. You don't even have to get there first with namby-pamby drivers

You just make up your mind, and you make up everyone else's mind. Simple.

[n2doc]

58. Turn off your car and walk away.....

There is no winning the carbyoshi maru simulation....

[Mr. Ected]

62. Could someone please answer definitively, soon?

I've been sitting at this 4-way stop for a day and a half now and nobody's moving.

[maveric]

64. Quite often three or four cars at a four-way stop...

It's like no one knows how to negotiate this. Everyone stops and acts clueless. I just go first regardless.

[Kaleva]

65. A woman went off on me at a 4 way stop

We arrived at the stop simultaneously from opposite directions. She signaled that she was going to turn left. As I was heading straight, I felt I had the right of way and took off. She thought she had the right of way and took off too and began her turn but hit the brakes to avoid hitting me. She was screaming at me as I drove by.

[Orsino]

66. The car with the popular vote must yield to the one with the Electoral College. n/t

[DiverDave]

67. didn't have to google

Been driving a truck for 24 years.