Comment by ssl-3
2 days ago
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.