Yielding after stopping once?

Question

Someone told me that in many states if two people come to a stop sign together (one behind the other) and the first person does a complete stop so the second person also has to stop completely, that the second person can then roll through the stop like it was a yield since he already stopped once. I have a feeling the person misunderstood or its one of those weird laws from 20+ years ago. (They got a ticket for it) Has anyone ever heard of this? Is it just an old law or only in certain states or something?

Answer 1

The law says that you must stop at the stop line if one is present, if it is not present then you must stop before the cross walk if one is present, if it is not present then you must stop before entering the intersection. So if there are two cars in line the second car is considered to be approaching the intersection independantly and still has to stop as prescribed.

Answer 2

both must stop and the car on the right traditionally proceeds first

Answer 3

The concept is often refered to a "right-of-way". As others have said- EACH car MUST stop at the edge of the intersection, this is universal across the US and to my knowledge the all of the developed world. I almost hit an idiot that did what your friend suggested. People who do this often don't realise that there may only be enough room for the car infront to make it out safely, this is what happend to me- the first car had room to make a left turn infront of me onto my road, but the second one didn't. As a result I had to stop quick, the other driver even had the nerve to yell words to the effect of "Watch where you're going." out his window.

- David

Answer 4

Stop means stop. It is not ambiguous.

Answer 5

The 2nd car deserved the ticket.  You're supposed to stop AT the stop sign...stopping behind the other car doesn't count.  If he just rolled past the stop sign, another car could have come from the other direction and crashed into him.  He needs to stop and look both ways before proceeding.