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At 4-way stops in heavy traffic, it's difficult at best to tell the order in which people should go. If there's more than one lane in each direction, it becomes
by lutorm 12y ago
At 4-way stops in heavy traffic, it's difficult at best to tell the order in which people should go. If there's more than one lane in each direction, it becomes practically impossible.
Imho, 4-way stops are terrible no matter how you slice it: in heavy traffic they're really inefficient not to mention difficult to navigate, and should be replaced with a traffic light. In light traffic they're also inefficient, and should be replaced with a yield from the non-dominant direction.
In Sweden the default rule at an unsigned intersection is that you yield to the right. This means there's a well-defined algorithm for conflict resolution without putting stop signs at every little intersection. Apparently the idea that you could possibly navigate an intersection without signage is absurd to Americans, though.
- HeyLaughingBoy 12y agoActually I'm impressed at how people negotiate when the signs break down. A few days ago, the traffic signals at a major intersection (a heavily trafficked US route and a Minnesota route) on my way to work went completely dark, both roads normally having 55mph speed limits. The intersection had two lanes of traffic on each road plus left turn lanes. Somehow traffic kept flowing. Traffic slowed way down and there were a few hairy moments, but by and large people treated the lights out situation as a stop sign and responded appropriately.