Right of Way in Florida

Right of Way in Florida: The Basics

It’s probably safe to assume that you know what to do at a stop sign, but what happens when we throw other things into the equation? Imagine that there is a 4-way intersection with a stop sign at each. In this case, how do you know which vehicle has the right of way? According to the State of Florida, nobody can claim the right-of-way. Instead, the law specifies who must yield.

As you know, when you encounter a stop sign, you are required to come to a complete stop and yield to other traffic which includes bicyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians. You can only move forward once the road is clear. At a four-way stop, the first vehicle to stop is the first one that should move forward first. While this is simple enough, confusion often ensues when two vehicles arrive at the same time. In this case, the driver on the left should yield to the driver on the right—which means that the driver on the right will go.

While it sounds simple enough, it can still be a little confusing in practice. Can you believe that 36% of fatal crashes that occur at intersections are at stop signs? This means that people either aren’t complying with the road rules, or they don’t know what to do in various situations. By learning the proper way of doing things in a 4-way intersection, you can help bring down those statistics.

Watch this video to see how it’s done!

Now that you’re fully aware of 4-way stops and who you should yield to, another situation that you could encounter is a malfunctioning traffic signal. When drivers don’t know how to react in these situations there is pandemonium! Luckily, if you encounter this situation in the future, you will know what to do. It’s as simple as treating it like a 4-way stop.

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