Left Yields to Right, Right?
June 22, 2017 10:40 AM Subscribe
At a four-way stop, if multiple vehicles approach the intersection at the same time, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right. This is indisputably correct in the State of Florida where I reside. My question is, is "left yields to right" a universal rule throughout the United States? What about the rest of the world? More details:
Yesterday I was involved in a heated "somebody is wrong on the Internet" discussion, in which some dude mansplained to my wife in great detail about how the driver on the right yields to the driver on the left, and all of the Very Good Reasons this is the case.
The problem being, that is certainly not the case at least in the State of Florida (Florida Statute 316.123 (2)(b) - "If two or more vehicles reach the four-way stop intersection at the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right."
When confronted with this fact, he then proceeded to insist that the law must have changed in the last ten years. When then shown the very same unchanged statute from 1998 (the furthest back that Florida Statutes are readily available online), he continued to deny reality, insisting that he had passed driving tests with a 100% score on two different occasions, both of which asked that question, and both times he answered that right yields to left.
So, to be charitable: Are there other states in which the rule is "right yields to left?" If so, can you give me a link to the relevant statute? More broadly, I would guess that the same rule applies anywhere that vehicles drive on the right-hand side of the road, but that is only a guess. Is that correct?
I desperately need to know, because someone is still wrong on the internet.
Yesterday I was involved in a heated "somebody is wrong on the Internet" discussion, in which some dude mansplained to my wife in great detail about how the driver on the right yields to the driver on the left, and all of the Very Good Reasons this is the case.
The problem being, that is certainly not the case at least in the State of Florida (Florida Statute 316.123 (2)(b) - "If two or more vehicles reach the four-way stop intersection at the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right."
When confronted with this fact, he then proceeded to insist that the law must have changed in the last ten years. When then shown the very same unchanged statute from 1998 (the furthest back that Florida Statutes are readily available online), he continued to deny reality, insisting that he had passed driving tests with a 100% score on two different occasions, both of which asked that question, and both times he answered that right yields to left.
So, to be charitable: Are there other states in which the rule is "right yields to left?" If so, can you give me a link to the relevant statute? More broadly, I would guess that the same rule applies anywhere that vehicles drive on the right-hand side of the road, but that is only a guess. Is that correct?
I desperately need to know, because someone is still wrong on the internet.
Does he maybe not understand what the phrase "yields the right of way to" means? ("Doesn't get to go first")Maybe he thinks it means the opposite? That or he doesn't know his left from his right. Or he's slipped into our universe from a mirror dimension. I think those are the possibilities in decreasing order of probability.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 11:00 AM on June 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 11:00 AM on June 22, 2017 [5 favorites]
Best answer: I was taught that left yields to right around 2000, in New Jersey.
I live in Georgia now and am annoyed by people who can't seem to get this correct, so I just checked the Georgia driver's manual (link goes to large PDF). On page 22 (which is the first page that talks about traffic law), it says:
"At a four-way intersection where all drivers are faced with stop signs, all drivers must yield to pedestrians; otherwise the vehicles should proceed through the intersection in a “first to arrive, first to proceed order.” If two vehicles reach the intersection at approximately the same time, yield to any vehicles on your right."
Of course, this manual also says that you have to use your headlights when it's raining. Just because the manual says you have to do something doesn't mean people do it.
posted by madcaptenor at 11:06 AM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
I live in Georgia now and am annoyed by people who can't seem to get this correct, so I just checked the Georgia driver's manual (link goes to large PDF). On page 22 (which is the first page that talks about traffic law), it says:
"At a four-way intersection where all drivers are faced with stop signs, all drivers must yield to pedestrians; otherwise the vehicles should proceed through the intersection in a “first to arrive, first to proceed order.” If two vehicles reach the intersection at approximately the same time, yield to any vehicles on your right."
Of course, this manual also says that you have to use your headlights when it's raining. Just because the manual says you have to do something doesn't mean people do it.
posted by madcaptenor at 11:06 AM on June 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
I took driver's ed in Massachusetts in the 90s and passed my driving test in Virginia in 1999; the right-most car goes first in both those states and I have actually found this to generally be the case in practice. Like, I wouldn't charge ahead assuming that the car to my left is going to yield to me, but I would proceed with caution as in other cases where I have the right of way but someone could still hit me.
posted by mskyle at 11:09 AM on June 22, 2017
posted by mskyle at 11:09 AM on June 22, 2017
Best answer: I was taught in US high school that while each state has its own laws governing things like passing, headlight use, and right-on-red, one of the universal laws in every American jurisdiction is that "left yields to right" as you state above and as madcaptenor elaborates (first to arrive, first to proceed; if simultaneous, yield to any vehicle on your right; if all vehicles arrive at an uncontrolled intersection from every possible direction simultaneously you're on your own).
posted by infinitewindow at 11:09 AM on June 22, 2017
posted by infinitewindow at 11:09 AM on June 22, 2017
In Ontario (Canada) the car on the right goes first as well.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:16 AM on June 22, 2017
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:16 AM on June 22, 2017
This was true at least 25 years ago in California as well. The reason for the standard is pretty simple - it's just faster that way. When the car on the right goes first, it only has to cross one lane of traffic for the way to be pretty much clear for the car on the left. If the car on the left goes first, the car on the right has to wait for it to clear at least two lanes.]
posted by LionIndex at 11:28 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by LionIndex at 11:28 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Best answer: New York, Section 1140.
And that's what I was taught in Illinois back when there was a separate section on yielding to dinosaurs.
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:29 AM on June 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
And that's what I was taught in Illinois back when there was a separate section on yielding to dinosaurs.
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:29 AM on June 22, 2017 [4 favorites]
Best answer: "In the United States, if vehicles arrive at approximately the same time, each driver must yield to the drivers on their right" - if Wikipedia says it, it must be true, right? (note: no citation)
posted by beyond_pink at 11:37 AM on June 22, 2017
posted by beyond_pink at 11:37 AM on June 22, 2017
Maybe he was confusing a 4-way stop with a roundabout?
posted by czytm at 11:40 AM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by czytm at 11:40 AM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (applicable to 74 countries but unfortunately not the US) stipulates (Article 18.4.a) that the driver of a vehicle is required to give way to vehicles approaching from the right at intersections. This applies to all intersections where it is not overridden by priority signs (uncontrolled intersections), including side roads and roundabouts. This has been in effect since 1977.
posted by ubiquity at 11:40 AM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by ubiquity at 11:40 AM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: What about the rest of the world?
All way stops are largely confined to North America. Pretty much everyone else tries to design traffic flow to avoid it. That said, Priority to the right is
posted by zamboni at 11:41 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
All way stops are largely confined to North America. Pretty much everyone else tries to design traffic flow to avoid it. That said, Priority to the right is
stipulated in Article 18.4.a of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic for countries where traffic keeps to the right and applies to all intersections where it is not overridden by priority signs (uncontrolled intersections), including side roads and roundabouts (but not paths or earth-tracks).
posted by zamboni at 11:41 AM on June 22, 2017 [3 favorites]
Best answer: In British Columbia, Canada, left yields to right at a four way stop. Yeah, that guy is just wrong and can't admit it.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:41 AM on June 22, 2017
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:41 AM on June 22, 2017
For what it's worth, in the UK--where we're driving on the left like all civilised human beings :-) one still yields to cars coming from one's right at roundabouts. Having driven in more countries than I care (or nowadays am able to) remember I have always yielded to cars coming from my right.
posted by Parsnip at 12:07 PM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Parsnip at 12:07 PM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Here in Australia we drive on the left hand side of the road, and at all uncontrolled intersections we give way to cross traffic coming from the right. That said, the only uncontrolled intersections I have ever seen in the last twenty years are on unmade (dirt) roads in the bush.
On metalled roads there is always a Stop or Give Way sign on the terminating road at a T intersection, and four-way intersections always have one of the through-ways designated as the priority route and have Stop or Give Way signs on both approaches of the intersecting through-way. Even some dirt roads have Stop or Give Way signs at crossroads, though obviously no painted lines.
When I first learned to drive, if two cars approached simultaneously from opposite sides of a crossroad, and one was turning right and the other turning left, the car turning left had to give way to the opposing car turning right into the same lane. That got switched over twenty? years ago: cars turning right, which because we drive on the left are the ones taking the wider sweep through the intersection, now have to give way both to opposing cars going straight through and to opposing cars turning left.
It would make sense to me to find the newer version of our rule for turning cars mirrored in the US, where the wider sweep will be performed by the car turning left; if I'm right, that car would need to give way to a right-turning opposing car. Since both cars approaching from opposite sides of an intersection will be on each other's left in the US, this would be a situation where one is required to give way to a car to one's left. Could this perhaps be the situation that Mr. Mansplainer had in his inarticulate little mind?
posted by flabdablet at 12:13 PM on June 22, 2017
On metalled roads there is always a Stop or Give Way sign on the terminating road at a T intersection, and four-way intersections always have one of the through-ways designated as the priority route and have Stop or Give Way signs on both approaches of the intersecting through-way. Even some dirt roads have Stop or Give Way signs at crossroads, though obviously no painted lines.
When I first learned to drive, if two cars approached simultaneously from opposite sides of a crossroad, and one was turning right and the other turning left, the car turning left had to give way to the opposing car turning right into the same lane. That got switched over twenty? years ago: cars turning right, which because we drive on the left are the ones taking the wider sweep through the intersection, now have to give way both to opposing cars going straight through and to opposing cars turning left.
It would make sense to me to find the newer version of our rule for turning cars mirrored in the US, where the wider sweep will be performed by the car turning left; if I'm right, that car would need to give way to a right-turning opposing car. Since both cars approaching from opposite sides of an intersection will be on each other's left in the US, this would be a situation where one is required to give way to a car to one's left. Could this perhaps be the situation that Mr. Mansplainer had in his inarticulate little mind?
posted by flabdablet at 12:13 PM on June 22, 2017
Response by poster: Parsnip - a few years ago my wife and I visited Great Britain (we made it to England, Scotland, and Wales but never to Northern Ireland so I can't properly say we visited the United Kingdom), and we had a tour guide who made a point of stressing that although we Americans drive on the right side of the road, the English drive on the correct side of the road.
posted by Lokheed at 12:16 PM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Lokheed at 12:16 PM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
in the UK--where we're driving on the left like all civilised human beings :-) one still yields to cars coming from one's right at roundabouts
Same in Australia. You don't have to give way to another car that's approaching the roundabout from your right at the same time as you are, only to one that's already in the roundabout before you; in peak times it's pretty common to see roundabouts operating at full capacity, with sets of four cars all entering at the same time from all four directions.
posted by flabdablet at 12:17 PM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Same in Australia. You don't have to give way to another car that's approaching the roundabout from your right at the same time as you are, only to one that's already in the roundabout before you; in peak times it's pretty common to see roundabouts operating at full capacity, with sets of four cars all entering at the same time from all four directions.
posted by flabdablet at 12:17 PM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I got my license in Wisconsin, and remember learning that the left yields to the right. It still appears to be this way https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/346/III/18 .
I'm currently in Ontario, Canada. It mostly appears to be that way, however stereotypic over-politeness leads to enough people inappropriately yielding their right of way that I can't be 100% on that :)
Yeah, said mansplainy dude doesn't know what he's talking about. This is not a berenstain bears situation.
In roundabouts in Canada, pedestrians at a cross walk in theory get right of way over everyone else. Otherwise, the person in the roundabout has right of way, and someone attempting to enter the roundabout yields to those already in. During high volume this tend to result in the most busy road having non-stop 2-way traffic, and the less busy road (or more likely the base of a T intersection) gets stuck waiting for a break in flow. Because pedestrians cause the flow in the roundabout to stop (E.G. the pedestrian is crossing where someone wants to exit) they're pretty bad for traffic flow. Oddly most of the accidents I've seen around roundabouts aren't due to someone stopping suddenly for a pedestrian, but they seem to occur about 10-20 feet before the roundabout.
posted by nobeagle at 1:39 PM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm currently in Ontario, Canada. It mostly appears to be that way, however stereotypic over-politeness leads to enough people inappropriately yielding their right of way that I can't be 100% on that :)
Yeah, said mansplainy dude doesn't know what he's talking about. This is not a berenstain bears situation.
In roundabouts in Canada, pedestrians at a cross walk in theory get right of way over everyone else. Otherwise, the person in the roundabout has right of way, and someone attempting to enter the roundabout yields to those already in. During high volume this tend to result in the most busy road having non-stop 2-way traffic, and the less busy road (or more likely the base of a T intersection) gets stuck waiting for a break in flow. Because pedestrians cause the flow in the roundabout to stop (E.G. the pedestrian is crossing where someone wants to exit) they're pretty bad for traffic flow. Oddly most of the accidents I've seen around roundabouts aren't due to someone stopping suddenly for a pedestrian, but they seem to occur about 10-20 feet before the roundabout.
posted by nobeagle at 1:39 PM on June 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
In Illinois in the 1970s, I was taught that left yields to right.
When a friend from Germany was driving in the US, I explained the rule to him, and he said they couldn't have four-way stops in Germany because they would all just run into each other. This was in the 1980s.
posted by FencingGal at 3:30 PM on June 22, 2017
When a friend from Germany was driving in the US, I explained the rule to him, and he said they couldn't have four-way stops in Germany because they would all just run into each other. This was in the 1980s.
posted by FencingGal at 3:30 PM on June 22, 2017
Right, outside The States even more so, where intersections are usually more loosely regulated. Navigating most intersections relies on everyone following the yield to the right rule. Plus: Shark's Teeth.
posted by humboldt32 at 3:36 PM on June 22, 2017
posted by humboldt32 at 3:36 PM on June 22, 2017
Fwiw, the same right of way applies at sea among boats of the same category and in the skies with the same provision. Those are likewise international standards.
posted by meinvt at 5:14 PM on June 22, 2017
posted by meinvt at 5:14 PM on June 22, 2017
Every state I've lived in, which is many. Same at sea, the vessel to port is the give-way vessel and yields to the vessel to starboard. I do wish sometimes the concept of the stand-on vessel applied to cars too. Meaning, even if you have the right of way, you don't get to do whatever the fuck. You maintain course and speed and/or be as predictable as possible until the situation is over.
posted by ctmf at 7:58 PM on June 22, 2017
posted by ctmf at 7:58 PM on June 22, 2017
Buffalo ny has an interesting (weird? Bad? ) variation: a traffic circle/ roundabout that also has stop signs at each entry point. I treat it like a circle, and yield to traffic coming from the left, but I have gotten nasty looks from drivers who arrived at the stop sign to my right at the same time I did when I proceeded into the circle first because no traffic was coming from the left! So, in summary, we drive in a land of contrasts
posted by gorbichov at 8:55 PM on June 22, 2017
posted by gorbichov at 8:55 PM on June 22, 2017
Maybe he was confusing a 4-way stop with a roundabout?
Yes! Left yields to the right... Unless it's a roundabout, then it doesn't.
We're all clear on that, okay?
I'm currently in Ontario, Canada. It mostly appears to be that way, however stereotypic over-politeness leads to enough people inappropriately yielding their right of way that I can't be 100% on that :)
Those annoying overly-polite people who try to wave others through against the flow of traffic often cause problems and injury, it's a peculiar Canadian affliction.
nobeagle mentioned some of the technical issues with roundabouts. They can be confusing, but statistically they're safer.
posted by ovvl at 10:57 PM on June 22, 2017
Yes! Left yields to the right... Unless it's a roundabout, then it doesn't.
We're all clear on that, okay?
I'm currently in Ontario, Canada. It mostly appears to be that way, however stereotypic over-politeness leads to enough people inappropriately yielding their right of way that I can't be 100% on that :)
Those annoying overly-polite people who try to wave others through against the flow of traffic often cause problems and injury, it's a peculiar Canadian affliction.
nobeagle mentioned some of the technical issues with roundabouts. They can be confusing, but statistically they're safer.
posted by ovvl at 10:57 PM on June 22, 2017
The same rule applies in Italy, as long as there is no specific signage determining right of way for one road over another. At roundabouts, however, as long as they are specifically signposted (with the "three arrows chasing themselves in a circle on blue background), entering traffic gives way to traffic already circulating.
Confusion reigns when a crossroads has a circular format but is not specifically classifed as a roundabout with those signs. Then the "left yields to right" rule applies, with predictably Italian results: whoever is more assertive "wins".
posted by aqsakal at 11:24 PM on June 22, 2017
Confusion reigns when a crossroads has a circular format but is not specifically classifed as a roundabout with those signs. Then the "left yields to right" rule applies, with predictably Italian results: whoever is more assertive "wins".
posted by aqsakal at 11:24 PM on June 22, 2017
I'm currently in Ontario, Canada. It mostly appears to be that way, however stereotypic over-politeness leads to enough people inappropriately yielding their right of way that I can't be 100% on that
Speaking of Canadian....
posted by basalganglia at 3:34 AM on June 23, 2017
Speaking of Canadian....
posted by basalganglia at 3:34 AM on June 23, 2017
I was taught that left yields to right in the mid-90s in Mississippi. I always remembered it with "the right has right-of-way."
posted by solotoro at 7:31 AM on June 23, 2017
posted by solotoro at 7:31 AM on June 23, 2017
You might just enjoy the John Prine song The Accident , which describes the 4-way stop scenario.
posted by Miko at 11:06 AM on June 23, 2017
posted by Miko at 11:06 AM on June 23, 2017
Michigan, drivers ed in the 90s. Tie goes to the driver on the right.
posted by getawaysticks at 4:41 PM on June 23, 2017
posted by getawaysticks at 4:41 PM on June 23, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
When I took my driving test in California in the mid 2000s, it was also left yields to right. California statutes: "When two vehicles enter an intersection from different highways at the same time and the intersection is controlled from all
directions by stop signs, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on his or her immediate right."
posted by zsazsa at 10:53 AM on June 22, 2017