Four-Way Stop With Conflicting Claims
You are stopped northbound at a four-way stop on a two-lane residential street in clear daylight. Three other road users are present. A car traveling eastbound came to a complete stop roughly two seconds before you arrived. A second car sits southbound, directly opposite you, with its left turn signal flashing. You intend to turn right onto the eastbound street. A pedestrian has just stepped off the northeast curb into the crosswalk on your right and is walking across your path from right to left. Meanwhile a cyclist is riding up behind you in the marked bike lane on your right and intends to continue straight through the intersection. There is no stop line paint left, no traffic signal, and no crossing guard.
1. In what order should the road users clear this intersection, and which single move in your plan carries the most risk?
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Order: pedestrian, eastbound car, cyclist, you, southbound left-turner.
- Pedestrian first. They are already in the crosswalk and inside your intended path. Crosswalk occupants have the right-of-way; nothing else happens until they are clear of your path.
- Eastbound car next. At a four-way stop the first vehicle to come to a complete stop goes first, and it stopped about two seconds before you.
- Cyclist before your turn. A vehicle turning right must not cut across a cyclist proceeding straight in a bike lane alongside it. The bike lane is to your right, so your right turn crosses it.
- You before the southbound left-turner. A driver turning left must yield to traffic approaching from the opposite direction that is going straight or turning right. You are turning right, so the left-turner waits.
The riskiest move is your right turn. It is the only maneuver that crosses two separate paths - the crosswalk and the bike lane - and the cyclist is in your blind spot to the right rear. Shoulder-check the bike lane, not just the mirror, before the wheels move.
2. The southbound driver waves you through, then lets the car creep forward anyway. How do you handle it?
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A wave is a courtesy, not a transfer of right-of-way. Two things are true at once: you probably have the legal right-of-way as the right-turning vehicle, and the other driver is physically moving into the space you would occupy. Right-of-way is something you yield, never something you take.
- Watch the southbound car's wheels, not the driver's hand. Wheels tell you whether it is actually stopping.
- Do not start your turn until the crosswalk is clear and the bike lane is clear and the southbound car has stopped rolling.
- If there is any ambiguity, let the left-turner go. The cost is a few seconds; the cost of being wrong is a driver's-side impact.
- Never assume the wave means the other driver has checked for the cyclist or the pedestrian on their side.
3. The pedestrian stops mid-crosswalk on your left, outside your path, and gestures for you to go. Do you turn?
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Yes, you may - but the gesture is not what authorizes it. Two independent facts do:
- The pedestrian is no longer in your intended path, so yielding to them no longer requires you to stay stopped.
- The bike lane and crosswalk are clear of other traffic.
Before releasing the brake, re-scan all three zones: the crosswalk ahead of you (another pedestrian may be stepping off the far curb), the bike lane to your right, and the southbound lane. A pedestrian who has stopped once may start again, and a pedestrian's wave does not tell you anything about the cyclist behind you.
If you cannot verify all three, stay put. A stopped car is never the wrong answer at an intersection; an assumptions-based turn frequently is.