Blogtrek

Four-way Stop Syndrome

Today in my office, my supervisor came out and asked everyone to answer the phones (any phone) if they ring. I replied that that means that if a call comes in, all of us will answer. That will cause mass confusion, and the more people in the office, the greater that confusion will be. The problem was that phones weren't being answered. I call this Four-Way Stop Syndrome, because it reminds me of that horrendous traffic situation, the intersection with stop signs on all four ways. I don't know why they put these up. Four-way Stops can cause accidents. Car A arrives at the intersection and stops. Car B, from a different direction, comes to the intersection and stops. A waits for B to cross. B waits for A to cross. A, not seeing B cross, figures that B has yielded to him and therefore he can cross. B, at the same time, figures that A has yielded to him and therefore he can cross. A crosses. B crosses. Crash. To me the solution is the ordinary two-way stop sign. Select some way to be the one with the right of way, usually the way with more traffic. Then put stop signs on the other way. The people stopping at the stop sign then will yield until there is no cross traffic, and then will cross. There will be no confusion about whether we can go, because the sign directs that. In the case of the phones, a priority order needs to be put on the phones, so that everyone knows exactly who is supposed to answer which phone. So if you are thinking of making an intersection a four-way stop, don't. Yield the right of way to one side or the other.