QUESTION
I would like to know what rule applies in a situation when three or four cars show up at a four way stop at approximately the same time?
Thanks a lot. Ann McDonald West Vancouver
Dear Ms. McDonald:
Thank you for your question.
Three basic rules apply to four way intersections: 1) If you are the first vehicle to come to a complete stop at the intersection then you may go first.
2) When two vehicles arrive at the same time and are facing each other, and one is signalling a left turn, then the left-turning vehicle must yield to the oncoming vehicle.
3) When two vehicles arrive at the same time and are perpendicular to each other, then the vehicle on the immediate right goes first.
Remember, in this situation, if you have no other vehicle on your immediate right, then you are the vehicle on the right and you may go first.
So what happens in the unlikely event that four vehicles come to rest at a four-way stop at exactly the same moment? Who is on the right? All? None? Perhaps a rift will open in the time-space continuum. Maybe all four cars will suddenly vanish like ships in the Bermuda Triangle.
Likely, four polite Canadians will sit for hours on end, refusing to be the first to breach the code of Canadian manners. To be sure, I can't find any specific rules for such a situation, nor can I envision any that would effectively apply.
In reality, the four drivers will make eye contact, gesture with subtlety, and without doubt come up with a solution.
Which underscores a truth about traffic safety that I've outlined in the past: Road rules only account for most situations. For everything else, there's common sense, patience and good-natured co-operation.
Peter DeVries District West Response Sergeant North Vancouver RCMP Follow Peter on Twitter at www.twitter.com/rcmpdevries
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