Intersections
You’re familiar with the word “intersect”, yes? We thought so; you look like a smart cookie. An intersection is a place where any two roadways intersect, or join together (but you already knew that).
Forty five percent of crashes and 21 percent of accident-related deaths occur in intersections. Which begs the question: shouldn’t we just avoid these treacherous deathtraps? Oh, if only it were that easy. Unfortunately, we need to pass through intersections to get just about anywhere, so unless you’re content to simply drive back and forth between home and your next-door neighbor’s house, you’re going to have to learn some intersection safety.
Even if there is no stop sign or yield sign at an upcoming intersection, be prepared to stop anyway, just in case. You should always yield to anyone who arrives at the intersection first; if they arrive at the exact same time that you do, the right-of-way belongs to the vehicle on the right. If you are not quite sure who arrived at the intersection first, simply call a time out and send it up to the booth to review the tape. Or, to save time, you can simply wave the other driver through.
If you come to a “T” intersection (that’s an intersection that looks like the letter “T”—see how that works?), you should yield to those traveling along the through road (the top of the “T”). If you come to a “Q” intersection, move over to the side of the road, because you are probably drunk.
When you’re turning left, it’s something of a judgment call; just be sure that there are no oncoming vehicles that are close enough to cause a problem. Once you’re certain that you have plenty of room and time to make your turn, you can go ahead and do so. When turning either right or left, check for crossing pedestrians and cyclists before you initiate the turn. If maneuvering a flying car, please also check for pedestrians beneath you.
The Wheels They Are A-Turnin’
When preparing to turn left in an intersection, keep your wheels positioned straight ahead until you’re actually in the process of making your turn. If your wheels are turned and some goober smacks into you from behind, you’re going to slide out into oncoming traffic. And guess who’s going to pay the price? Hint: Not the goober.
If you come to an intersection with stop signs on all four corners, come to a full stop, and if anyone arrived there before you did, allow them to proceed. Once it is your turn, you may continue forward. If you were daydreaming and cannot recall in what order everyone arrived, just sit tight and wait for a lot of honking and yelling, at which point you can be pretty sure that it’s your go.