Drivers need to stick to the rules at four-way stops

I AM a cyclist. I obey traffic laws to the extent that it is possible, but that is not always the case. The worst example of this is in trying to negotiate a four-way stop intersection on a bicycle.

The rule I have been taught is that whoever stops first goes first. In case of a tie, the driver on the right goes first. If only this same rule were actually obeyed when one of the vehicles is a bicycle! At least a couple of times every day, some well-meaning driver who has the right of way does not enter the intersection, but yields to the bicycle. This puts the cyclist in an extremely dangerous situation. The cyclists gets the go-ahead from one driver, but not from the other drivers waiting at the same intersection. This guarantees that the cyclist will be facing angry drivers if he goes, or other angry drivers if he does not go. Either way, the cyclist is in a dangerous situation.

Suppose that the driver who has the right of way changes his mind and decides to go, at the same time that the cyclist decides to risk it. They will both enter the intersection at the same time, but the motor vehicle has the advantage of acceleration, stopping distance and steering time. Even if neither the driver nor the cyclist has any evil intentions, the cyclist runs an extremely high risk of getting killed. If you’re in one of the other vehicles and you wish that the cyclist would go ahead and take that chance, consider what you would do if you were caught in the same impasse. First, you might try to make eye contact with the driver. That is not always possible because of the heavy dark tint in the side windows of most cars. The driver can always see the cyclist; therefore, it should be the responsibility of the driver to break up the impasse at a time when he can see the cyclist’s face.

If the cyclist is in the rightmost lane, it would be wise to turn right, then do a uey and then a second right turn. But if the rightmost lane is a right-turn-only lane, and the cyclist is in the thru-traffic lane, the cyclist is trapped.

I am not a typical cyclist. I’m not fast, but over my lifetime I have logged over 100,000 miles in a half dozen states. In the year of my 81st birthday, I rode a minimum of 25 miles every day for 365 days. Cycling is my life. I work as a volunteer mechanic 20 hours a week repairing bikes for other people. The point is this: I know what I’m talking about. If you do not go when it’s your turn to go, you are risking somebody else’s life.