"I go first, you go second, everyone else
hesitates"
The four-way stop is a drivers' IQ test, that many drivers fail. It would
seem to be a maneuver of approximately Blue-Angel caliber. But, it is really
very simple, if you follow these few rules.
Case I - one car
You are the only one at the intersection. This is the simplest case. First
you stop [complete stop (in or out of the crosswalk), rolling stop, 25 mph
stop, etc.], then you have only five options:
1. Go.
2. Hesitate, then go.
3. Wait for 3 more cars to come along.
4. Wait for 2 more cars.
5. Wait for 1 more car.
A true Driver (with a capital "D", master of four-way stops)
would choose option #3. After all, they do call this a four-way stop. Most
drivers modify option #3 by adding a time limit, like 30 seconds: "Wait
for 3 cars or 30 seconds, whichever comes first." This 30-second wait has
degenerated into option #2, "Hesitate, then go."
Case II - 2 cars
There are a few permutations here:
1. You got there first. See below, "Complication #3, who
got there first?" In this situation, just go, unless you are a
disgustingly polite driver (Complication #1).
2. He or she is on your right and you're turning right. Go.
3. He or she is on your right and you're not turning right. Wait.
4. He or she is straight ahead; and he or she is going straight or turning
right; and you're going straight or turning right. Go.
5. He or she is straight ahead and he or she is turning left or you're
turning left. Wait.
6. He or she is on your left and he or she is turning right. Go.
7. He or she is on your left and he or she is not turning right. Wait.
Case III - 3 cars
If it's your turn, go. If not, try to imagine what can go wrong if you do
go, and then go if you didn't just imagine your own death. Actually, this case
is a simplification of case IV - 4 cars.
Case IV - 4 cars
There are hundreds of permutations here. But, actually, it's pretty simple.
Go it it's your turn, or if you're turning right and nobody else is headed for
that lane.
Complication #1 - the disgustingly polite driver
A disgustingly polite driver will wait for you even though you both know
that it is his or her turn to go. I can imagine him or her stopping for a
child, and waving the child into the path of a speeding semi. Such politeness
confuses any driving situation. It can hopelessly muddle a four-way stop
situation, unless you follow this advice: Flip him or her the appropriate
salute, and go.
Complication #2 - which way will they turn?
Cases II through IV depend upon which way the other drivers are turning.
Their turn signals may offer a clue:
1. Some people do not signaling
2. Some people will turn the same way that they are signaling
3. Some people will not turn the same way that they are signaling
There are six principles which will help you sort these out:
1. You can legally assume that people will turn the same way
that they are signaling, or that they are not turning when they are not
signaling.
2. You can legally ram them if they are lying.
3. No witness will stick around to back up your story about whether or not
anybody signaled.
4. Drivers (capital "D") do not signal.
5. drivers (small "d") do not signal.
6. All other drivers signal.
Complication #3 - who got there first?
"Who" got there first, "what" got there second, "I
don't know" got there third. Sorry, that was merely an allusion. In
theory, a four-way stop is simple. The cars stopped in a certain order, and
they go in the same order. In reality:
1. Some people don't exactly stop. So, when did they arrive at
the four-way stop?
2. Some people stop one or two car-lengths behind the stop sign. When did
they arrive at the four-way stop?
3. Sometimes two cars really do stop simultaneously.
4. Driver A thinks that driver B got there first, and driver B thinks that
driver A got there first. This is a simplification of the next situation.
5. Driver A thinks that driver B got there first. Driver B thinks that
driver C got there first. And driver C thinks that driver A got there first.
From experience, I would say that this, along with various 4-car permutations,
is a very common situation.
6. At least one driver has no clue. This has probably happened before he
reached the four-way stop.
So, when there's doubt about who got there first, who should go first?
Here's a handy rule: "I go first, you go second, everyone else
hesitates." My car is the one with the dents in each door.
Complication #4 - pedestrians
Any of the above situations can be further complicated by the intrusion of
any number of pedestrians. You won't see them lining up and going one at a
time. They just keep walking right on through the intersection, dodging cars.
While pedestrians slow down the normal clockwork of the four-way stop, they
also introduce a logical puzzle to the situation. If you are about to go, and a
pedestrian walks in front of you, how does that affect the order of who goes
when? Do you get to go first once the pedestrian is out of your way? Should all
the other cars wait for you? Or, have you lost your place and must wait for 3
more cars to go. This guideline should help: "If you have to wait for a
pedestrian, you are now a time bomb waiting to go off. To minimize the loss of
life, you should be allowed to go first."
Complication #5 - the four-way stop starburst maneuver
This is when all four cars go at once. All four cars stop, nearly touching,
nose to fender. And, nobody can go forward. The driver who backs up loses all
respect from his or her family. Besides, the next four cars have gone forward
by now. So no one can back up, if he or she wanted to. The four-way stop has
now achieved critical mass. The only solution is for one car to be removed,
sideways, by a forklift. I'm sorry to say that I've never seen this done.
four-way stop theory
Einstein's theory of Special Relativity says, among other things, that two
observers, travelling at different speeds, cannot agree on when something
happened. In fact observer A may say that event X occurred before event Y,
while observer B may say that event Y happened first. And both observers are
right. This leads to the "four-way stop paradox."
- courtesy of Jim Loy