Part 1 of this driving primer focused on the confusing lines in the road that run parallel to the road itself. Part 2 focused on those weird color-changing "traffic" lights and two types of lines that run across the road: stop lines and crosswalks.
Part 3: Stop Signs and Unmarked Intersections
If you've driven much at all then you're probably come across one of those weird 8-sided red signs with the enigmatic message "STOP" written on them in white letters. Though many feel that these signs are ambiguous at best, we'll unravel the mystery of what they mean here. We will also tackle the difficult problem of what to do when two streets cross each other but there are no "traffic" lights and none of these "STOP" signs.
- Stop signs "STOP" signs (or simply, stop signs) seem to be everywhere. To many drivers (and to even more bicyclists, but that's another post), they simply have no meaning and can be ignored. Here's a typical stop sign in the wild:
To begin to unravel the mystery of what to do when confronted with one of these signs, I started by trying to find out what the acronym "S.T.O.P." stood for. Much to my surprise, I discovered that it is not an acronym, but an actual English word! The word has many definitions, but the one that seems the most relevant in a driving situation is this: "To cease moving, progressing, acting, or operating; come to a halt." This makes it clear what one must do when confronted by a stop sign; one must come to a halt. But where? Most stop signs come paired with a stop line (see part 2 of this primer).The stop line in the above image is a bit worn, but it's there. When a stop line is provided, treat it just like a stop line at a traffic light: stop there. Not 15 feet before you reach it. Not after your car has crossed it (and therefore entered the intersection). Stop so that the front of your car is at the stop line and the rest of the car has not yet crossed it. If there is no stop line then stop before the front of your car enters the intersection. (I placed emphasis on the word "before" because so many people seem to miss it.)
Once you have stopped your vehicle, it is not necessary to remain stopped indefinitely. Instead, carefully look for the following: (a) other vehicles approaching the intersection whose route will intersect yours and who do not themselves have a stop sign and (b) pedestrians. As much as I joke about things being difficult, this looking for pedestrians bit is extremely important, yet seems to be missed by many, many people. I don't know how many times I've seen a pedestrian hit or nearly hit by a car because the driver was so busy peering around the pedestrian for traffic that they never even saw the pedestrian.
Pedestrians have the right of way at intersections whether there's a crosswalk painted there or not. If someone is crossing the street, don't just stop right in front of them and figure they'll go around you. Stop far enough back that they can safely pass in front of your vehicle, let them do so, then move forward to where you can see oncoming traffic and stop again to look for traffic. (True story: I was crossing a street when a woman pulled up to the intersection, stopped before entering the crosswalk, looked me in the eye, then pulled forward inches in front of me to look for traffic and stopped. She was so close that I lost my balance trying to dodge around the back of her car and accidentally hit it with my hand as she started to drive off. She stopped (in front of oncoming traffic), rolled down the passenger window, and yelled, "That's how people get shot!" By getting cut off by a rude driver and losing their balance? Whatever.) - All way stops Many people are honestly confused about what to do with they approach an all way stop (frequently referred to as a 4 way stop, since most intersections have traffic traveling in four directions).All joking aside, all way stops are clearly very confusing for people, so here are the rules on how to handle an all way stop.
- First, come to a stop just as you would with any other stop sign.
- Look for traffic (and pedestrians!); if there is no other traffic then proceed on your way.
- If another vehicle arrived at the intersection before you then they have the right to go first, so you must wait until they have gone before you go.
- If two (or more) vehicles arrive at the intersection at the same time, then right-of-way is determined as follows:
- The vehicle immediately to your right has right-of-way over you. You must wait until that vehicle has gone before you go.
- It follows from the above that you have right-of-way over the vehicle to your left. Make eye contact with the other driver (if possible) and make sure that they are yielding that right-of-way to you, then proceed if it is otherwise safe.
- If the other vehicle is coming the other direction then right-of-way only matters if one or both of you is turning left (or otherwise crossing the other's path). In that case, any vehicle going straight or turning right has the right-of-way and the left turner must yield.
- Sometimes you come to an all way stop to find that there are lines of vehicles waiting in all directions. This is a situation in which many drivers are confused and don't know what to do. The important thing here is to take turns. To determine who goes next, figure arrival time at the intersection to be when each vehicle reaches the front of the line and use the right-of-way rules described above.
One final important comment related to all way stops: if you come to a traffic light that is either completely nonfunctional (dark) or which is flashing red in all directions then that traffic light is an all way stop. These can be difficult to navigate if it is a large intersection with multiple lanes going in each direction. Here, again, turns should be taken, with all vehicles traveling in a certain direction going at the same time. One vehicle from each lane should go with each "turn". There should not be multiple vehicles from the same lane going through the intersection at the same time, I don't care how frustrated the drivers are or how long they've been waiting; others have also been waiting and are probably just as frustrated. You're all in that situation together, so cooperate to get through it safely. - Unmarked intersections Also known as "uncontrolled" intersections, these are intersections with no stop lights or traffic control signage whatsoever.Having learned the rules for all way stops above, unmarked intersections should be a breeze: the only difference is that you don't have to stop before going through the intersection if there is no other vehicle with right-of-way over you. That emphasized part is the part that a lot of people don't seem to realize. You do need to slow down enough when approaching an unmarked intersection to determine whether or not (a) you have the right-of-way and (b) if it is, in fact, safe to go through the intersection. Not checking for both of these things leads to this:
This accident occurred in an unmarked intersection. None of the three drivers involved was paying attention to cross traffic. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt, but the drivers of the Cavalier and Jeep got free trips to the hospital and the driver of the truck got to explain to his boss why he totaled a company car when he could have prevented the whole accident just by glancing to his right.
There is one important situation in which an unmarked intersection does not have the same right-of-way rules as an all way stop. This is at a "T" intersection (i.e., one of the roads ends at the intersection while the other continues on).In this situation, the car on the road that ends (the red car above) is required to yield to all vehicles on the road that continues through (the blue and yellow cars above).
