Americans: Explain Stop Signs At Intersections To Me

[daizeUK]

I'm unfamiliar with US traffic laws and the idea of stop signs at intersections is mystifying me, especially 4-way stop signs.  If more than one car is stopped, who has right of way to proceed first?

 

[l_l_l]

Fun question, even as a Canadian I am wondering why they exist when there are a few other alternatives that are much less time consuming.
 
To answer the question, if there are more than one person that stops at a 4 way stop sign at the same time, the ones who have no other car on their right have the right of way!

 

[daizeUK]

To answer the question, if there are more than one person that stops at a 4 way stop sign at the same time, the ones who have no other car on their right have the right of way!

 
That's odd, because we would use the same rule if more than one car reaches a mini-roundabout at the same time.  We give way to the right, but then we drive on the left, so I'd expect you guys to give way to the left...

 

[TwoTankAmin]

If it is a four-way stop, you go in the order that you came to a stop. It is extremely rare that all 4 vehicles arrive simultaneously.
 
In a traffic circle, aka round-about, the rule is people in the circle have the right of way over those entering.
 
If it is a merging of two lanes, the car on the right has the right of way, but normally if there is a regular flow of traffic in both lanes, people alternate.
 
And, of course, where ever I drive I always have the right of way

 

[techen]

US roads are insanely strange. I went to canada and loved the roads. Crossed thr border and it was a nightmare...

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Who let you into America, I want to have a word with them
 
I refused to drive when I visited the UK. I drove all over Italy though.
 
You have the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car which probably explains why you drive on the wrong side of the road .........

 

[Ch4rlie]

I refused to drive when I visited the UK. I drove all over Italy though.

 
Driving in the UK is a real picnic compared to driving in Italy
 
have driven in Toronto and in Vancouver, Canada as well, not that bad at all actually.
 
I have driven in Milan, Italy, never again!
 
Also have driven in Paris, France, never again!
 
Spain, Germany and the rest of Europe pretty much a doddle ,especially in countrysides.
 
 

You have the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car which probably explains why you drive on the wrong side of the road .........

 
Wrong, we in the UK drive on the correct side of the car and on the correct side of the road  
We've had this argument in chat before

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Well I spent the better part of 18 months in the1970s driving in Saudi Arabia. They may be the worlds worst drivers. Here are three factoids that applied back then at least, I can't say since.
 
First, a Saudi living in his tent in the desert gets enough money from the government to buy a home or a car. So he jumps on his trusty camel, rides to the local Mercedes dealership and , having never driven before, drives off the lot in a shiney new car.
 
Second. I pull up to an intersection with 3 lanes. One is for right hand turns, one is for lefts and the middle one for going straight. Because the light is red I stop in the center lane. A Saudis is stopped on either side of me when the light changes, having been in country and driving a while as the light changes, I do nothing. But the guy on my left makes a right and the guy on my right turned left. Had I gone and been hit by either or both of these cars, under Saudi law, the accident was deemed to be my fault since it would never have happened had I not been in their country.
 
Third, one of our employees was an Italian mechanic. He needed to get his Saudi driver's license as did all expats. He came to me and explained he was worried he would not pass the eye test as he was blind in one eye. My assistant, a Sudanese gent, who was familiar with how the license test was conducted told him not to worry. They would ask him to put his hand over one eye and read some letters and then tell him to put it over the other eye and do the same. What the mechanic was told to do was to cover his blind eye with his left hand and when they told him to switch, that he should take his left hand down and put his right hand over the same eye. He got his license.
 
The only place in the world I have ever seen worse driving than in S A back then is in a demolition derby.

 

[daizeUK]

If it is a four-way stop, you go in the order that you came to a stop. It is extremely rare that all 4 vehicles arrive simultaneously.

 
Ah so there is no priority to left or right at these junctions.  I imagine that the more ballsy or impatient drivers just go first if there is a tie.  I know I do this if there is hesitation at a small roundabout/circle junction here.
 

Wrong, we in the UK drive on the correct side of the car and on the correct side of the road

 

 
Absolutely right.  That's because in a gear shift car it's better to use your left hand for operating the gear stick and keep your right hand on the steering wheel, for most drivers.  You don't need precision movements to operate a gear stick so it's better to have it on your left because 90% of people are right handed.  Our way just makes better sense.
 
 

Second. I pull up to an intersection with 3 lanes. One is for right hand turns, one is for lefts and the middle one for going straight. Because the light is red I stop in the center lane. A Saudis is stopped on either side of me when the light changes, having been in country and driving a while as the light changes, I do nothing. But the guy on my left makes a right and the guy on my right turned left. Had I gone and been hit by either or both of these cars, under Saudi law, the accident was deemed to be my fault since it would never have happened had I not been in their country.

 
Holy cow...
 
At least in the UK we tend to obey traffic laws (apart from liberal interpretation of speed restrictions).

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I am right handed and most of the time I drive with my left and have my right resting on the gear shift even though I have not had a car with a clutch since the early 1970s. Both hands are on the wheel when needed such as for high speed driving or 90 degree type turns.

 

[daizeUK]

Now I can't get visions of TwoTankAmin doing high speed 90 degree turns out of my head!
 
Actually I think you're right after all - driving on the right would make it much easier to operate my ipod.

 

[Mamashack]

Wait til the hands-off cars come along then you'll be able to do your knitting too, daize!

 

[the_lock_man]

 
I refused to drive when I visited the UK. I drove all over Italy though.
 

 
Driving on the, shall we say, unfamiliar side of the road is easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy, I have spent the last week driving in France, and it's a doddle. What is difficult is to drive on the unfamilair side of the car - you are so used to being at a certain point in your lane, you automatically put yourself there - and the other side of the car into the next lane, or maybe the ditch.