Stop Signs and Bridges

What sort of person shakes their head when you give them a wave?

c_c™ said :

The OP could see the other vehicle coming and chose to try and beat him. This is no different to the jerk at an intersection who drives across oncoming traffic trying to beat it.

The OP said that he saw the vehicle AFTER he had stopped and started to move. So really he was in the right and there really wasn’t much else he could do, except maybe go the long way round.

I’m going to have to go with the other driver on this one, the OP was in the wrong.

Both signs have equal weight, in that they both require the driver to yield to traffic already in the intersection (or on a bridge in this case).

Just because it’s a bridge and not an intersection should not change anything at all. You would still treat the other traffic the same as you would oncoming vehicles from the side at an intersection. Which is to say that they have a Give Way sign and don’t need to stop, merely slow down, while you are required to stop and therefore your vehicle will require more time to move off.

The OP could see the other vehicle coming and chose to try and beat him. This is no different to the jerk at an intersection who drives across oncoming traffic trying to beat it.

In car camera FTW

Ahh yes, I know, but you would be surprised how many drivers don’t understand. I haven’t been there for quite a while but drivers behind the vehicle at the give way line would regularly get annoyed if they tried to give way to a stopped vehicle opposite.

And what if the opposing car hasn’t yet stopped and the other car is already at or near the give way sign? It seems that right of way there is all about timing, which is quite subjective. Right of way on a roundabout, which I agree with you, is much clearer – although probably still quite hard to prove in an accident.

You would be surprised how

Give way is all about timing and of course judgement in any situation, not just roundabouts and the intersection you are talking about.

It is also very subjective too. For example the other day I was driving along Gininderra Drive in Dunlop at the posted speed of 80km/h when a car decided to turn left out of Lance Hill into the lane I was in. There was no immediate danger but I had to slow down to about 50km/h to avoid giving him the Liberace. I reckon he failed to give way to me, but when you read the definition of give way in the rules (definition below) even in this common situation I wouldn’t be 100% sure. The other driver could well argue it was safe to proceed, even though I had to take action, not immediate of course to avoid hitting them.

The road rules defines give way as:

give way, for a driver or pedestrian, means:
(a) if the driver or pedestrian is stopped — remain stationary until
it is safe to proceed; or
(b) in any other case — slow down and, if necessary, stop to avoid
a collision.

When you figure that one out you can tell me how these sorts of intersections work (eg Southbound car turning right at give way lines and Northbound car stopped or yet to stop at Stop sign).

Stop and give way signs have equal priority, the only difference is with a stop sign you must come to a complete stop before giving way. So really the car turning right even though they have a giveway sign must give way to the car at the stop sign.

Of course the confusion comes about because you could well argue that because the car coming up to the stop sign has to stop the car turning right could well be able to make their turn without taking the other cars right of way. But as innovation said sometimes being right can lead to accidents, and the give way at the roundabout laws are a perfect example.

Strictly speaking if a car pulls up to a t intersection with a stop sign, stops and then proceeds to enter the road from your right as you approach them (and the intersection) then it is you that should give way.

Same thing goes for roundabouts, those entering must give way to any vehicles on the roundabout, so just because your screaming along and planing on straight through the roundabout, you would still have to give way to a car entering the roundabout from your left if they have entered the roundabout before you.

It comes down to fundamental right of way rules for the intersection…having said that there is no point being in the right if you are dead, injured, or total your car when you could have just waited.

Now for the OP, if I was approaching from the south at the same time as someone from the north I would yield….from your distance how could you tell how far away he was from his give way sign and how do you know from his vantage point that he could tell you had completed your stop manoeuvre and were proceeding forward.

As for his response…totally appropriate. Chucking a raging fit behind the wheel would have been childish on his part but I too would shake my head under the same circumstances if someone did that and then gave me what I call the ‘I’m a farkwit’ wave as the went past.

From memory (and it’s been a few months), you can’t see the road immediately on the other side of the bridge from the stop sign on the south side, right? And if this recollection is correct, regardless of what the rules say, a certain amount of judgement is required to determine if it is safe to cross, and a certain amount of tolerance is required if someone misjudges.

If I saw a car approaching south-bound, even if they were some distance from the bridge, I’d wait, but I expect I would be likely to misjudge how long it would take me to cross and how long it would take the other vehicle to arrive at the bridge, so the driver you describe just sounds intolerant to me.

Failing the good judgement and gracious tolerance test, my interpretation of the Give Way sign there is that south bound traffic should give way to traffic already on the bridge. So unless he began to cross prior to the moment when you began to cross, you had the right of way anyway.

The way I see it, both signs require you to give right of way to vehicles that are already on the bridge, the stop sign merely requires you to come to a standstill first.

Having completed your stopping manoeuvre, and conditional on there not being any other traffic on the bridge, you would have had right of way.