The Courtesy Wave at an All-Way Stop
You are westbound on a two-lane county road in Colchester County, travelling at the 50 km/h limit, and you intend to turn left at a four-way stop beside a country store. You reach the line and stop at the same moment as a one-tonne farm truck approaching from your right (northbound). A small SUV approaches from the opposite direction, straight through, with no signal. A fourth car pulls up behind you, edges forward, then taps the horn. The SUV driver flashes the high beams and waves you through the intersection. Meanwhile a person pushing a stroller is walking toward the crosswalk on the far corner, and the farm truck has begun to creep forward. Your left signal is on, your wheels are straight, and you have a clear view about 200 metres in each direction.
1. Who has the right of way among the three vehicles, and in what order should they move?
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At an all-way stop the rule is first to stop, first to go, and when two vehicles stop at the same moment you yield to the vehicle on your right. The farm truck is on your right, so it goes first. The truck and the oncoming SUV are travelling in opposite directions on the same road, so they do not conflict with each other and the SUV can proceed once the truck has cleared. Your left turn ranks last, because a left-turning driver must yield to oncoming traffic going straight or turning right. You move only after the truck has cleared the intersection, the SUV has passed, and the crosswalk is empty. Note what does not matter here: the size of the truck, the honking behind you, and who waved first. If all three had arrived at exactly the same instant, the tie-breaker would still be the vehicle on the right.
2. The SUV driver waves you through. Should you take the offer?
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No. A wave is information, not a transfer of right of way. The SUV has the legal right of way as a through vehicle; if that driver waves, then changes their mind, looks down at a phone, or simply does not see the pedestrian with the stroller, you are the one who turned left across a through vehicle, and that is the movement a collision report will focus on. The wave also hides what the other driver cannot see: the truck on your right, the pedestrian, and the car behind you. The correct response is to stay stopped, keep your wheels straight, make eye contact if you can, and treat the gesture as a courtesy to acknowledge rather than permission to move. Proceed only when the intersection is legally and physically clear, which here means the truck and the SUV are gone and the crosswalk is empty.
3. Suppose instead the SUV is still rolling toward the line at 30 km/h when you stop, and you stopped first. Does that change the order?
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It changes who has priority over whom between the two of you, but not over the truck. First to stop is first to go, so if you were fully stopped before the SUV arrived, you are ahead of it in the queue even though you are turning left; the SUV must stop and then yield to you. However, priority is worthless if the other driver does not give it. You must watch the SUV actually decelerate and stop before you commit, because a driver who has not yet stopped may not have seen you at all. Your turn still has to clear the crosswalk and the pedestrian, and you still yield to the farm truck on your right. The judgement is to hold the legal priority but verify it physically before moving.