Traffic rules
Four-Way Stop Rules
The order
A four-way stop is not an unsigned crossroads. The stop signs have already changed the rule. You cannot roll in because your side looked empty, and you cannot claim the "I did not see a sign" exception.
- Stop behind the line, wheels still.
- If another vehicle stopped before you, it goes before you.
- If you stopped together, the vehicle on your right goes first.
- Then move only into a gap that is actually there. Pedestrians still come first if they are crossing.
The usual wrong answers
"The car going straight has priority over the car turning." Not at a four-way stop. "The bigger road has priority." Not if all four arms have stop signs. "I only need to stop if something is coming." That answer belongs nowhere near a stop sign.
Compare this with the unsigned junction, where there is no stop and the right-hand car goes first even if you think you arrived earlier.
Free practice question
These are PassDrive practice examples, written so you learn the rule. The VID screen randomises its questions, so the wording on the day will be different.
Practice
At a four-way stop you and the car on your right stop at the same moment. Who proceeds?
- You, because you are going straight
- The car on your right
- Whoever hoots first
- The car that is on the busier road
Show the answer
B. The car on your right. Same-time arrivals fall back to giving way to the right, after both of you have stopped.
Questions people ask
Is a four-way stop common in the diagram paper?
The test may show four stop signs or simply say "all approaches have stop signs". Read the signs in the picture before you apply the right-hand rule.