On Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 12:12:39 PM UTC-4, Moe DeLoughan wrote:
On 10/6/2015 10:49 AM, Mr.Emann wrote:
On 10/6/2015 10:30 AM, trader_4 wrote:
On Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 10:58:42 AM UTC-4, Ian Jackson wrote:


In the USA, I'm amazed to the no-priority '4-way stop' crossroads. The
rule seems to be that the guy who thinks he got there first assumes he
has priority. That said, when driving over there, driving is
normally a
pleasure, and the drivers tend to be somewhat more considerate than
here
in the UK and in Continental Europe.
--
Ian

AT 4 way stops, it's not no-priority. It's as you described. If a car
gets there first, it has the priority. If they all get there about the
same time, the the driver to your right has the right of way. Same
rule
applies for boats crossing paths, if a boat is crossing your path from
the right, it has the right of way. Boat and aircraft lights are set
up consistent with that, so one craft sees green, the other red.

If they all get there at the same time, how do you determine which is
the "right" one? Everyone has a driver to the right side of them. I
suspect that the driver who has the biggest or most beat up vehicle
gets the right-of-way.

The joke here in Minnesota: What do you get when you have four drivers
at a four-way? Answer: A picnic. That's 'cause we'll spend an
eternity trying to out-polite the others:

"After you."
"No, after you."
"Oh, no, really. I'm in no hurry. You go first."
"But I'm afraid of looking rude. You first."
"Are you sure? Really, you first."
"Actually, I think that guy gets to go first."

And on and on and on and on...cheesus, I could scream. Just GO already.

Roundabouts are FAR better than four-ways. Luckily, Minnesota is
rapidly expanding their use. They make a hell of a lot more sense and
most of the time, they shorten wait times. Of course, you still have
the idiots who insist on treating them like four-ways, stopping at
every exit while they're within the roundabout.

Yeah, we get them on occasion in our roundabouts. Sometimes you can't tell
if they don't understand the ROW process or if they do but they don't trust
the incoming driver. Sometimes it's obvious. You are stopped to give them
the ROW and then they stop and look at you. All you can do is shake your
head and wave them on.

The other situation is when you are in the roundabout and a driver is
approaching too fast. You know that in order for them to give you the ROW
they are going to have to brake hard. The trick there is to keep your speed
up in the roundabout but still leave yourself room to brake and let them
go by if they don't stop.

I get a strong sense of satisfaction when I know that the incoming driver
was trying to bully me by not slowing down and I time it just right so
he has to brake hard. You can tell by their eyes.