The in basket: Tony Busch asks, “At a 2-way stop at an
intersection, if you want to turn left, and there is another car
opposite of you, do you have to wait for every car that pulls up to
the stop sign opposite of you, even though you were there
first?
“It is not explained clearly in the Washington State Drivers
Guide,” he said.
The in basket: Tony Busch asks, “At a 2-way stop at an
intersection, if you want to turn left, and there is another car
opposite of you, do you have to wait for every car that pulls up to
the stop sign opposite of you, even though you were there
first?
“It is not explained clearly in the Washington State Drivers
Guide,” he said.
The out basket: The letter of the law says, yes, all straight ahead
traffic has the right of way over a left turner, so a succession of
drivers wanting to go straight have the right of way. There is no
first-come, first-served rule.
As a practical matter, left turners and those going straight
normally do take turns, and since all those behind the first car in
line are supposed to stop at the stop sign before proceeding, there
is usually enough time for the left turner to get through,
providing no cross traffic is coming on the main line. But were
there to be a collision in that inexact process, the left turner
would be at fault.
