Q: There is an intersection that I often use which is a two-way stop, where the arterial cross-street does not stop. Often cars are stopped at both stop signs waiting for the arterial to clear. Normally at a stop sign, the car that arrives first goes first. However, at this intersection, one of the stopped cars is almost always turning left, and the turning car usually yields to the opposing car going straight, regardless of who stopped first. Can you confirm that a two-way stop is governed by the first-stopped, first-going rule?
A: There’s a moment in Back to the Future Part 2, when Biff’s thugs confront Marty, saying, “Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Then they knock him unconscious, in what they call the easy way. I promise, the easy way to answer this question does not involve getting clubbed in the head. But the hard way will make you a better driver.
We can find the easy way in the Washington Driver Guide. It states, “Drivers turning left must yield to oncoming vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists.” But wait, you say. What about the “first-stopped, first-going” rule? According to the driver guide, that only applies to four-way stops. Here’s what it says: “At a four-way stop the driver reaching the intersection first, goes first (after coming to a complete stop).”
Now for the hard way. You won’t find what I quoted from the driver guide in the Revised Code of Washington, at least not word-for-word. Those instructions in the guide are a simplification of the actual law.
Here’s the law on left turns (abbreviated): “The driver of a vehicle intending to turn to the left within an intersection shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction which is within the intersection or so close thereto as to constitute an immediate hazard.” The driver guide is close on this one. If you were at an intersection without stop signs, of course you’d yield to an oncoming car before taking a left. But does a car at a stop sign on the other side of an intersection constitute an “immediate hazard?”
Before I answer that, let’s look at some similar language in the law about vehicles entering a stop or yield intersection. The law states that after stopping, the driver “shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle in the intersection approaching on another roadway so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard.” This is the law that we’ve simplified into “first-stopped, first-going.” Note that the law doesn’t specify a four-way stop.
I suppose you could interpret the law to mean that if you pull into the intersection before the car across from you does, they now have to yield to you. But if the car across from you doesn’t share your interpretation and the two of you collide, the interpretation that really matters is the one that the investigating officer and the judge hold. I’ve talked with officers about this, and they agree that, barring some extraneous circumstance, in a crash the person turning left is going to be the one at fault.
We often want our rules to be clear and absolute, like what we find in the Driver Guide. That’s a good place to start, but the laws I referenced are more than just driving instructions. They share an underlying theme: doing what it takes to avoid a crash. Yes, follow the instructions in the Driver Guide. That’s the easy part. But the hard part is even more important; as you drive, thoughtfully consider the ultimate goal – arriving safely.
Is there a “reaching first” rule? I’m not finding it in the RCWs and it seems like it would be impossible to enforce in the event of a collision absent someone having a dash cam. (I’m thinking more of cars coming from perpendicular directions.)
There is a car on the right has the right of way rule (RCW 46.61.180) which could be enforced easier.
Anyway, just curious that the Driver Guide refers to a rule I cannot find in the statutes.
It’s the worst when you’re trying to find something that doesn’t exist. I’ve looked and, to quote U2, I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. We’ve turned the “yield to any approaching vehicle that presents a hazard” into a simplified rule that says the first to arrive is the first to go at a four-way stop. It works because we all agree on it, but it’s a simplification of a more complex and thoughful law that requires drivers to continuously evaluate their driving environment and respond appropriately.
Then, just to confuse the issue, there’s the intersections on Freeway ramps where the car exiting the freeway has a stop, the arterial going across the freeway has a stop on both sides – but, since it has on oncoming traffic, the ramp entering the freeway has no stop (eg Northbound I-5 at Birch Bay Lynden). Technically, it’s NOT a 4 way stop, but the 4 way stop rules would still apply, nes’t ces pas?
If the person turning left proceeded before the oncoming car came to a stop, the other car isn’t an immediate hazard yet. Once both cars come to a stop, the oncoming car is now an immediate hazard and you must yield to them. If both cars come to a full stop, it doesn’t matter who was there first; avoiding the hazard, which has now become the oncoming car you intend to turn in front of, means you yield the right of way and they go first. They reason they are an immediate hazard is you don’t really know which way they are going, as they may not be using or have a working signal. Just my interpretation and opinion.
I have never found the answer to this – even in the DMV book.
If two cars coming from opposite directions on the same street want to turn onto the same side street, who has the right of way to make that turn first? Thank you!! Beth
Beth, I believe the car turning left has to yield. RCW 46.61.185
if both cars are making a left turn in a parking lot with no stop signs who has the right away.. if these two cars wreck who is at fault… the second car hit the back rear of the car..I say the second car should have saw the first car before hitting it… what you think
Is sounds like this isn’t a theoretical question; maybe you were in the first car? Most traffic laws in the Revised Code of Washington don’t apply on private property (see here for more: https://www.thewisedrive.com/turn-signals-in-parking-lots/) but the insurance companies will have an opinion on who is at fault. I’m not in a position to determine who was at fault in a specific situation, but generally speaking, if a driver hits the back end of another car in an intersection, it’s a clue that they should have yielded, and are likely at fault.