After nearly being involved in car accident today, a couple of questions came to mind. First, and most importantly, why are there so many 4-way intersections in Casper that don't have any kind of stops signs? Second, is there a law that governs the right-of-way in these types of situations?

Although I couldn't find an answer for question number one, I did find a lot of information concerning question number two.

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I learned today that a 4-way intersection with no stop signs or traffic lights is called an uncontrolled intersection. They are usually found in residential neighborhoods and/or in rural areas.

I'm not sure why I don't remember this. I'm about 99.99% sure it was in the driver's handbook you have to study before getting your license, but for the life of me, I don't remember. Apparently I'm not alone either. In a story I found from 2017 on WyomingNewsNow, a Cheyenne police officer stated a lot of people don't know (or remember) the proper etiquette in this case.

After a very extensive online search, here is the most updated rules of the road (at least that I could find), for Wyoming on the subject of who has the right-of-way at uncontrolled intersections:

  • When approaching an intersection that has no signals or traffic signs, you must yield the right of way to the first person in the intersection, and then to the motorist on the right.
  • When turning in an unmarked intersection, you must always yield to through traffic.
  • Even if you have the apparent right of way, you must still yield to any vehicle that is close enough that if you fail to yield an accident could occur.

Hopefully that clears things up. If you still have questions, always follow this simple rule: when in doubt, yield.

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