Comment by amonroe805-2
3 days ago
Is this not how four way stops work everywhere? I live in Kansas and have previously lived in Chicago, and I feel like both places follow this custom. Only thing that’s different is the laws are followed slightly more rigorously in low traffic areas, but the customary rules are definitely still in play.
That's how any relatively busy 4-way stop works in Ohio, too. The law says to do it one way (first to arrive, yield-to-the-right, wait for intersection to clear before entering).
But in practice what happens is an unscripted ballet where other things happen instead, like: Like, 4 cars can turn right simultaneously, and this works fine.
People know it's "wrong," but they also know it works. It's normal, expected, and a bit weird.
The weird part is something I've only ever really observed when I've driven cop cars around the block and had to traverse a 4-way stop. Other drivers stop the ballet immediately and get all timid and stuff -- like they're waiting for me (just someone being a lowly radio tech today, not a cop at all) to give them direction or something. It's bizarre.
I had a classmate in the military whose old car got t-boned and so he went and bought a used white Ford Crown Victoria (for the non-US folks, used to be the most common US police car ~10-15 years ago).
He had funny stories about people slowing down to the speed limit and pulling over to the right lane on the freeway.
> Other drivers stop the ballet immediately and get all timid and stuff
I can personally attest as to why I suddenly get weird when at a 4-way with a cop: I don’t remember exactly what the rules are, what’s “ok” as in not technically illegal (ie 2 cars crossing at the same time?), etc, and the panic of getting pulled over because of some minor detail makes me just wait however long I need to to get a clear turn. It’s silly, I know how it works, and when that authority figure is present I just want to avoid any and all interaction.