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4-way stops are terrible in general. They train people to think "I stopped, now I can go", which is dangerous when someone confuses a normal stop for a 4-way st
by digiown 9mo ago
4-way stops are terrible in general. They train people to think "I stopped, now I can go", which is dangerous when someone confuses a normal stop for a 4-way stop. It also wastes a good bit of energy.
- c22 9mo agoWeird, I was taught that I can only go after yielding to the right.
- seanmcdirmid 9mo agoThat isn’t the rule either, I guess parent made their point. The first person who stops goes next, right away only matters if their is ambiguity in who stopped first.
- arcanemachiner 9mo agoTo your first point, "the rule" is location-dependent. And to your second point, that was obviously (to me, at least) implied.
- seanmcdirmid 9mo agoI’ve never seen a four way stop in a region that had traffic on the right can always go regardless of stop time. But I’ve only seen four way stops in a few countries.
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- arcanemachiner 9mo agoThe implication from the comment was (had to be) that you yield to the right if both cars stop at the same time.
- bschwindHN 9mo ago> right away right of way
- brewtide 9mo agoOr maybe they were going right away, taking the initiative and removing the ambiguity from the situation. =)
- reactordev 9mo agoThis is not correct. There are clear instructions on how a 4-way stop should operate and its yielding to the right, if opposite cars are both moving forward, both can go, otherwise the car who has initiative has the right of way. Every driver must come to a complete stop. This is true in every state. https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/rightofwayrules.pdf https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/rightofwayrules....
- fc417fc802 9mo ago> This is not correct. It is correct and is literally the first bullet on the pdf you linked. First to stop is first to go.
- naasking 9mo ago> This is not correct. There are clear instructions on how a 4-way stop should operate and its yielding to the right Yielding to the right only applies if you stop at roughly the same time, otherwise first to stop goes first. It's the first bullet point in your link.
- seanmcdirmid 9mo agoI've met people like you at 4 way stop signs. It is never a fun time.
- james_marks 9mo agoThe point is, if many 4-way stops don’t have traffic at them, a stop/start becomes a perfunctory, dangerous habit.
- ebiederm 9mo agoHaving moved between states and taken a lot of drivers tests. I can say the exact rules are something that vary between states and over time. Including how it was taught. My first drivers test was yield to the right. Later it was fifo order of who made it to the stop. My running interpretation is fifo order with yielding to the right in case of ambiguity.
- XorNot 9mo ago4 ways stops should be roundabouts, but the US is allergic to them for some reason.
- cucumber3732842 9mo agoRoundabouts excel when traffic volumes on the intersecting are comparable. They are crap when traffic volumes are highly disparate
- XorNot 9mo agoRight but it's not like a 4 way stop is going to perform better. In the same case you'd expect it to be a 2 way stop.
- cucumber3732842 9mo ago>In the same case you'd expect it to be a 2 way stop Which is what it was for the first 70yr... And what most of them in this particular neighborhood still are, with a 0-6mo intermission.
- josephcsible 9mo ago> Right but it's not like a 4 way stop is going to perform better. A 4 way stop does perform better than a roundabout given highly disparate traffic volumes, because roundabouts suffer from resource starvation in that scenario, but 4 way stops are starvation-free.
- lillecarl 9mo agoIf this is the case you can install stop lights and traffic sensing at roundabout ingress points, you can also provide a "turn right" lane that bypasses the roundabout entirely. Intersections are dangerous.
- josephcsible 9mo ago
- nunez 9mo agoAgreed. Four way stops are infinitely worse than roundabouts or a traffic light.
- kevin_thibedeau 9mo agoRoundabouts with high traffic flow in one direction can lock out other low volume approaches. 4-ways enforce equitable access.
- olyjohn 9mo agoYeah maybe for a few moments. So what? It's a low volume approach. Sometimes people gotta wait and sometimes waiting to let a massive traffic flow get through quickly is the better way to prevent larger traffic problems.
- kevin_thibedeau 9mo agoYou've apparently never been stuck at a roundabout with non-stop commuter traffic streaming through.
- tonyedgecombe 9mo agoWe have roundabouts everywhere in the UK and that almost never happens.
- nkrisc 9mo agoFour way stops are good, in my experience, at intersections with roughly equal (low) traffic load on both (two-lane) roads and relatively high pedestrian traffic. Like in a dense residential urban neighborhood between major commercial thoroughfares, side streets. Traffic is mostly people going to residences with people out and about walking. If it’s only a two way stop drivers will often not yield to pedestrians on the free flowing road. Four way stops on intersecting four-lane roads are awful for the reason you stated. To use Chicago as an example because I know it, typically major roads are spaced every four blocks (half mile) with smaller roads in between. The mid-point roads (two blocks from each major one) is often a little wider than the other two side streets on either side, and those intersecting mid-point roads usually have a four way stop while the two smaller ones will have stops signs where they cross a mid-point road but the mid-point road will not. You end up with a nice, overall hierarchy that generally works well.
- doubled112 9mo ago> If it’s only a two way stop drivers will often not yield to pedestrians on the free flowing road. I’m up in Ontario, Canada. You’re not supposed to yield to pedestrians on the free flowing road. The pedestrian at the stop sign stops and waits for a break in traffic.