Whoever stopped first goes first. If two vehicles stop at the same moment, the one on the right goes. If you are facing each other and one of you is turning left, the one going straight goes first.
Those three sentences cover almost every four way stop you will ever meet. The rest of this is the detail: what counts as stopping, what to do when four cars arrive together, who yields to whom, and who is at fault when it goes wrong.
The Rules, in the Order They Apply
- First to stop, first to go.
- Tied arrival: yield to the driver on your right.
- Facing each other: straight ahead beats turning left.
- Pedestrians and cyclists go before any of it.
Work down the list. Each rule only matters if the one above it did not settle the question.
Rule One: First to Stop, First to Go
The order of arrival sets the order of departure. If you stopped before the other driver, you go before them, whatever direction either of you is heading.
What matters is when you stopped, not when you arrived or how fast you were moving. A driver who rolls up and creeps through has not stopped, and has no claim to being first.
In practice the order is often obvious to everyone and settles itself. Where it is close, treat it as a tie and move to rule two rather than insisting you were first.
Rule Two: Tied Arrival, Yield to the Right
When two vehicles stop at the same time, the one on the right has priority. If another car is to your right, wait. If you are to their right, go.
This is the rule people half remember and apply backwards, so it is worth fixing properly: you yield to your right. The driver on your right does not yield to you.
Rule Three: Facing Each Other
Two vehicles opposite each other, stopping together, do not conflict unless one of them is turning across the other.
- Both going straight: both go. Your paths do not cross.
- Both turning right: both go. You each turn away from each other.
- One straight, one turning left: the one going straight goes first. The left turn crosses oncoming traffic and yields.
- One turning right, one turning left: the right turn goes first, for the same reason.
- Both turning left: both go, passing each other on the left in the middle of the junction.
The underlying principle is simple: the vehicle that crosses another path yields to the one that does not. A left turn crosses. Straight ahead and a right turn do not.
Rule Four: Three or Four Arrive Together
Rare, and it causes the longest standoffs.
The usual convention is to start with the vehicle furthest right and continue counter clockwise, each driver yielding to the one on their right as the gap opens. In a true four way tie nobody has a vehicle free on their right, so the rule cannot resolve it on its own.
What actually clears it is one driver going. If everyone has been sitting for several seconds, edge forward, make eye contact and go, slowly, watching the others. Hesitating in turns for another thirty seconds helps nobody, and a slow confident move is far safer than four drivers starting at once.
What Counts as Stopping
A complete stop. The wheels stop turning. Anything less is a rolling stop and a citation in every state.
Where to stop, in order of what is present:
- At the marked stop line.
- If there is no line, before the crosswalk.
- If there is neither, before entering the intersection, at a point where you can see cross traffic.
Stopping past the line is both a citation and the practical cause of many collisions, because your bonnet is already in the path of a vehicle that has right of way.
Pedestrians and Cyclists Come First
Before any of the vehicle rules apply, anyone in or stepping into the crosswalk has priority. It does not matter whose turn it was.
Cyclists on the road are treated as vehicles and take their place in the arrival order. A cyclist who stopped before you goes before you. In the US, cyclists on a crosswalk are usually treated as pedestrians, though the detail varies by state.
The crosswalk on your right is where this goes wrong most often, because drivers look left for cross traffic and move off while someone is stepping out beside them. The NHTSA intersection safety material is blunt about how much of the injury total sits at junctions like these.
Emergency Vehicles
An emergency vehicle with lights or siren takes priority over everything and everybody. Stay stopped and let it through, even if it is plainly your turn, and do not pull into the intersection to get out of the way.
When Someone Goes Out of Turn
Let them.
Right of way is something you give, not something you take. If a driver moves off when it was your turn, braking and letting them go costs three seconds. Asserting your turn into the side of their car costs a great deal more, and the fact that you were right will not undo it.
This is the single most useful habit at a four way stop: decide the order, then watch what the other drivers actually do, and be ready for them to do something else.
Special Cases
A Signal Flashing Red in All Directions
Treat it exactly as a four way stop. Every rule above applies unchanged. There is more on what the different flashing signals mean in this guide to flashing red and yellow lights.
Three Way and T Junctions
The same rules, with one fewer approach. At a T junction with stop signs on all three approaches, arrival order still decides, and the yield to the right rule still breaks ties.
An Uncontrolled Intersection
No signs at all, which is common on quiet residential streets. There is no arrival order to rely on, so the yield to the right rule does the work on its own, and both drivers should approach slowly enough to stop.
Large Vehicles
A truck or bus has no legal priority, and giving way to one is often the sensible choice anyway, because it needs more room to turn and far longer to stop. This is courtesy and self interest, not a rule.
Roundabouts Are Not This
Different rules entirely. At a roundabout you yield to traffic already circulating, which usually means traffic from your left in countries that drive on the right. Do not carry the yield to the right habit into one.
Who Is at Fault in a Four Way Stop Collision?
Normally the driver who failed to yield, which is determined by working through the same rules in the same order. The common findings are:
- A driver who did not stop completely.
- A driver who went when the vehicle on their right had priority.
- A driver turning left who did not yield to oncoming traffic.
- A driver who stopped past the line and was struck.
Fault can be shared where both drivers did something wrong, and most states apportion it rather than assigning all of it to one party. What decides these cases in practice is evidence: the police report, independent witnesses, dashcam footage and the damage pattern on the two vehicles, which shows the angle of impact and therefore who was already in the intersection.
Does It Vary by State?
Barely. These rules derive from the Uniform Vehicle Code and the wording is close to identical across the US. The differences that do exist are in the detail, such as how cyclists on crosswalks are treated and the exact fine for failing to stop, rather than in who goes first.
If you want the exact text, your state vehicle code will have it under right of way at intersections. For an example of how a single state writes one of these rules, see our guide to Georgia and turning right on red.
The Mistakes That Cause Collisions
- The rolling stop. It removes your claim to arrival order and halves your reaction time.
- Yielding to the left. The rule is to your right, and getting it backwards puts two cars into the junction at once.
- Turning left without yielding. The most common four way stop collision.
- Waving someone through. It feels polite and it overrides an order the other drivers were already following. Take your turn.
- Watching only the car you expect to move. At a four way stop, four things can move.
- Moving off without rechecking the crosswalk, particularly on your right.
How to Approach One, Step by Step
- Start looking before you get there. From a hundred feet out you can already see how many cars are waiting and roughly who arrived first. Arriving with that picture is most of the job.
- Slow early rather than late. Braking hard at the line tells the other drivers nothing about your intention and leaves you no time to read theirs.
- Stop at the line, completely.
- Look left, right, then left again, and check the crosswalk beside you.
- Work out your place in the order from who was already stopped when you arrived.
- Signal before you move, not as you move. Other drivers are deciding what to do based on whether you look like you are turning.
- Go decisively when it is your turn. Creeping out slowly is read as hesitation and invites someone else to start at the same time.
- Keep checking as you cross. Your right of way does not stop a car that is not looking.
Why Four Way Stops Confuse People
Three reasons, and recognising them makes the standoffs easier to handle.
The first is that the rules depend on something nobody records. Arrival order exists only in the memory of the drivers present, and two of them can honestly disagree. That is why the tie breaker rule matters so much more than it looks.
The second is that politeness fights the rules. Waving someone through feels generous and breaks an order the other drivers were already following, which is how two cars end up moving at once. The courteous thing at a four way stop is to take your turn promptly.
The third is that four way stops are the only common junction where you negotiate with strangers without being able to speak to them. Everything is communicated by position, timing and eye contact, and all three are easy to misread.
Teaching This to a New Driver
The rules are easy to recite and hard to use under pressure. What helps:
- Have them say the order out loud as they approach, for the first few dozen junctions. “Blue car was first, then the truck, then us.”
- Practise at a quiet one first, then a busy one. The busy one teaches the thing that matters, which is reading other drivers.
- Teach the tie breaker as a physical direction, not a word. “Look right. Anyone there goes first.”
- Tell them what to do when it deadlocks, because it will, and an unprepared new driver will sit frozen. Edge, eye contact, go slowly.
- Be clear that being right is not the goal. The goal is that nobody hits anybody.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has the right of way at a 4 way stop?
Whoever stopped first. If two vehicles stop at the same time, the one on the right has priority. If you are facing each other and one is turning left, the vehicle going straight goes first.
Who goes first at a 4 way stop if everyone arrives at once?
Convention is to start with the vehicle furthest right and work counter clockwise. In a genuine four way tie no rule resolves it, so one driver should edge forward slowly, make eye contact and go.
Do you yield to the left or the right at a 4 way stop?
To the right. If a vehicle stopped at the same moment as you and it is on your right, it goes first.
Who goes first, left turn or straight?
Straight. A left turn crosses oncoming traffic, so it yields. The same applies between a left turn and a right turn: the right turn goes first.
Does a right turn have to stop at a 4 way stop?
Yes. Every approach with a stop sign requires a complete stop, whichever way you are going afterwards.
What counts as a complete stop?
The wheels stop turning, at the stop line, or before the crosswalk if there is no line. Slowing to walking pace is a rolling stop and is a citation in every state.
Who has right of way, a pedestrian or a car at a 4 way stop?
The pedestrian, always, and regardless of whose turn it was in the vehicle order. Anyone in or stepping into the crosswalk goes first.
Who is at fault in a 4 way stop accident?
Usually the driver who failed to yield under these rules, most often a driver who rolled the stop or turned left across oncoming traffic. Fault can be shared, and the police report, witnesses and the damage angle decide it in practice.
Is a flashing red light the same as a 4 way stop?
Yes, when every direction is flashing red. Treat it exactly as a four way stop and apply the same rules.
Do 4 way stop rules change between states?
Hardly at all. They come from the Uniform Vehicle Code and are close to identical across the US. Differences are in details such as fines and how cyclists on crosswalks are treated.
Stop completely, note who was already waiting, yield to your right when it is close, and remember that the left turn is the one that gives way. Then watch what the other drivers actually do, because the rules tell you what should happen and the drivers decide what does.
This is general information about US traffic rules and not legal advice. Check your own state vehicle code, and speak to a lawyer if you have been involved in a collision.