GREENSBORO, N.C. — What happens when the power knocks out the traffic lights and you're there with other drivers on the opposite roads?
It’s a common question, and a lot of drivers don’t have the correct answer. A website that helps would-be drivers pass their test gives you these answers:
A) Park your car off the road and wait for power to be restored.
B) Use hand signals to indicate your intentions to other drivers.
C) Turn on hazard lights and proceed through the intersection without stopping.
D) Treat the intersection as a four-way stop.
The answer is D.
“You allow the person from the right to proceed thru then it kind of goes around. Vehicles should approach the intersection and proceed through the intersection as though it's controlled by a stop sign,” said Corporal Daniel Battjes of the Winston-Salem Police Department.
Just to be clear, everyone stops. If you get to the intersection at the same time as others, you yield to the person on the right.
Will this possibly take some time? Is it a little frustrating if people are slow? Answers to both are, yes, but keep this in mind.
“It’s important to now lose sight that everybody out on the road has someone who cares about them and loves them. And is trying to get somewhere as well to conduct their own personal business and really what goes into everything is a little bit more thought about ourselves and a lot more thought about everybody else.”
He adds, put the phone down, drive slow and give other drivers a little more space.