Intersections — Colorado Permit Test

At a four-way stop you must yield to the vehicle that reached the intersection first.

First to arrive is the one rule everybody can see from their own seat. Anything else needs two drivers to agree about something they cannot measure.

to the vehicle that reached the intersection first

Where more than one vehicle reaches a four-way stop at the same time, the vehicle on the left must yield and let the vehicle on the right go first.

When nobody was first, the tie has to break the same way every time. Right before left is the rule both drivers already know.

When more than one vehicle reaches the intersection at the same time, the vehicle on the left must yield the right-of-way and allow the vehicle on the right to go first

An uncontrolled intersection has no control devices such as stop signs or traffic lights, and where two vehicles reach one at the same time the vehicle on the left must yield to the vehicle on the right.

With nothing to tell either driver what to do, the rule has to come from memory. It is the same rule as the four-way stop tie.

An uncontrolled intersection is an intersection that does not have control devices such as stop signs or traffic lights

Regardless of who has the right-of-way, you are always responsible for avoiding a crash.

Being in the right is no help at all afterward. The only question that matters at the moment is whether the crash can still be avoided.

Regardless of who has the right-of-way, you are always responsible for avoiding a crash

Before turning left you must yield to all oncoming traffic, unless you have a green arrow or arrived first at a four-way stop.

A left turn crosses the path of everybody coming at you. Only a green arrow takes them out of the picture.

You must yield to all oncoming traffic, unless you have a green arrow or arrived first at a four-way stop

Before proceeding through a left turn, look for and yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk and to smaller oncoming vehicles such as bicyclists and motorcyclists, and judge their speed and distance properly.

A motorcycle coming toward you looks further away and slower than it is, because it is narrow. Drivers turn in front of them for that reason.

take time to properly judge their speed and distance

Do not change lanes if another vehicle must slow down for you.

If they have to brake, you took their space rather than finding one. The driver behind them has no warning that any of it is happening.

Do not change lanes if another vehicle must slow down for you

When merging you must yield to all vehicles on the roadway you are merging with, and must not merge if another vehicle has to slow down for you.

Traffic already on the road cannot see the end of your lane coming. Fitting into a gap is your job, not theirs.

You must yield to all vehicles on the roadway you are merging with

When reversing you must yield to all vehicles close enough to be a hazard.

Backing up is the movement other drivers least expect, and the one you can see least of. Everything near you counts as a hazard.

You must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles close enough to be a hazard

Where vehicles meet on a steep narrow road not wide enough for two, the vehicle going downhill must yield by backing up to a wider place or stopping, unless it is more practicable for the uphill vehicle to back up.

A car rolling backward downhill is under control in a way one reversing uphill is not. That is why the downhill driver is the one who yields.

When vehicles meet on a steep, narrow road that is not wide enough for two vehicles, the vehicle going downhill must yield the right-of-way by backing up to a wider place or by stopping, then leaving enough space for the vehicle going uphill, except where it is more practicable for the vehicle going uphill to return to a wider space or turnout.

Two cars reach a four-way stop, one clearly first. Who goes?

The one that arrived first. First to arrive is the one rule everybody can see from their own seat. Anything else needs two drivers to agree about something they cannot measure. Colorado Driver Handbook, p.11: “to the vehicle that reached the intersection first”