Ponder this!

[xXCloudXx]

Ok, here's a question for you. You are walking down the side walk and you come to a fourway stop with no red lights. On one road you have an ambulance with it's sirens on going to a car wreck. At another road you have a police car going to a homicide. At the third road you have a fire truck going to put out a fire at a burning meth lab, and at the fourth you have a U.S. mail truck delivering mail. Which one has the right of way??

[Meier Link]

OK this one is simple even though it is completely improbable. You do, pedestrians ALWAYS have the right away in any instance. It is improbable because stoplights are not designed to have 4 solid red lights at any point.

But out of the 4 other options you have listed I would say.

Ambulance - possibility of survivors
Mail Truck - Might be carrying the $1,000,000.00 Sweepstakes prize you have been waiting for
Fire Truck - a possibility of suvivors, yet highly unlikely. Meth labs not only burn but tend to explode. If the druggie that is making the meth made it out he should be hit by the fire truck. If this is the case then the fire truck takes priority over the mail truck.
Police Car - The guy is already dead, what is the rush? It's not like he is going anywhere.

As for reality how knows, the laws change depending on what area of the world you are from.

[RagnaToad]

Is it really that important who goes first? They all get their chance to go on their way, only 5 seconds later or so. You should have said 'only one can pass' or something.

But if you're asking what would be the priority (not that it matters that much):

U.S. mail is not a matter of seconds/minutes, if you don't let it pass now, someone's mail will still be delivered the next day. The homicide thing can wait too. For days even, since the person is already dead. Just make sure no one messes up the crime scene.

The only two things that could be a matter of seconds are the fire truck and the ambulance.

Since the fire truck is just going to a place, and you're not sure if there are people involved, the ambulance is the priority.

Easy enough...

[Dodie16]

I would say that the ambulance would have the right of way. There might be someone in critical condition that needs help ASAP. It doesn't take long for a situation like that to become serious.

For the police officer, I think that since the person is already dead, there's not much else that can be done. All I can think of would happen next is to question people and gather evidence and stuff.

The firetruck one, I would need more info about. Are there people inside? I guess you wouldn't really know until you got there.

Uhh? Mailtruck? I think that would be last.

[xXCloudXx]

All of you have very good answers. But none of you are right. Going by law, which has the right of way. I know that priority is a huge thing in todays society but they say law comes first. So going by LAW which has the right of way?

[Meier Link]

Which "law" are you refering to? As I stated in my first post, law varies world wide.

But in the states, pedestirians ALWAYS have the right away, even if they are jay walking. I am curious as to what laws you are refering to?

[Pete]

It depends on if turns are being made and if there are sirens. It also depends on if your 4 way stop is governed by actual stop signs or if it's just an intersection, AND which direction each is facing. If the ambulance and fire truck are facing each other, and each have a lane to drive in, then they both clearly go.

Since you said only one has sirens on, it'd be the ambulance. Sirens are the universal "get the **** outta my way, I'm allowed to disregard traffic rules."

The firetruck would also have the right of way because it's going to a legit emergency, however, if it's sirens aren't on, how are we to know? It would have to obey traffic laws.

The police car isn't in an emergency situation, and I can tell you that police don't haul ass to a homicide unless it's a fellow cop/ friend/ family, or if the call just came in with a witness seeing the entire thing happen within moments of calling. Normally, the cops don't get right of way unless responding to an emergency. No right of way.

The mail truck. No shot.

In a normal situation, with no emergencies, you get the right of way. However, you'd also get right of way depending on if you were crossing alongside anyone blowing the stop sign, unless they were turning.

Maybe I'm being too technical here, but some more info on the roadways and directions would help a shit ton.

Meier is also right. Technically pedestrians do have the right of way. Common sense also dictates that you shouldn't walk in front of a fire truck just to prove you're right.

[xXCloudXx]

I am refering to the federal roadway laws. Laws do vary from place to place but every country has a govornment. And govornment always comes before state or region. Thats a huge hint right there.

[Dodie16]

Well, I guess it's whoever made it to the stop sign first. Isn't that how it goes? There really isn't much information to make an accurate assumption.

Also, it's been forever since I took my driving test, so some of the rules of the road are kind of fuzzy to me. (comforting thought, isn't it?)

Edit: since you said it was Federal laws that you were talking about, then maybe the Mail Truck would have the right of way. If that's the case, then that's pretty messed up.

[Pete]

I also want to know more about these roads and who is going in what direction.

I'd also like to see the law that says this, because I can understand that the mail is the technically highest ranking authority, but I'd say any first responder has right of way. I mean we also have laws saying you can't eat an ice cream cone on a Sunday or some such bullshit. I'd much rather have the paramedics, firefighters, or cops get to my house when I need them, over my bills or magazines.

[Meier Link]

I am refering to the federal roadway laws. Laws do vary from place to place but every country has a govornment. And govornment always comes before state or region. Thats a huge hint right there.

So you are speaking US limited only then, well once again pedestrians have the right of way. There is no agurment there, none what so ever. Federal Regulations of the US give right of way to pedestrians before any other. You can try to argue that the mail truck has the actual right of way but even in a jay walking situation a pedestrian still has the right of way.

You did not limit it down to the the 4 Vehicles on the road way. The 5th option is "you" and it is the clear and viable option.

[MagitekElite]

Ambulance would be the safe way, or maybe the mail truck....hmmm.

[Joe]

Ambulance Always has right of way, followed by fire trucks, police officers, and mailmen. End of story.

Ambulance has right of way first because the victim is usually not dead yet, so there's hope. Firetrucks are usually first on the scene, since there are far more fire stations than hospitals, but Firetrucks have limited paramedic training, if any, so the ambulance goes first. Then go police officers, if there's a robbery, or something like that, there usually isn't bodily harm being done. If there was, there'd be an ambulance on the way. Mail Trucks are just delivering mail. Thoroughly boring, and unimportant, because really; who wants another bill?

EDIT: Concerning the possibility of Federal Law. Unless I miss my guess, Police Officers, even at the state level, ultimately still fall under federal jurisdiction, hence there are federal officers and state officers. The two are very closely related, as often SBI's and the FBI work together on cases. However in a life or death situation, I still believe that the ambulance has right of way.

[RagnaToad]

The law?

Fuck the law. There's an ambulance going to a car accident, what more do you need?

[Josh_R]

I honestly dont know I always thought ambulances had the right of way but now I honestly dont know...

[Sasquatch]

The United States Postal Service is funded by the Federal government, but it is a private contractor service -- it switched back in the 70s or so, prompting violent outbursts from some employees that lost their government pensions, and that's what created the stereotype that postal workers are violent ("going postal", "disgruntled postal workers", etc.). So, by law, the mail truck wouldn't have any special rights.

As has been pointed out, the only truck with right-of-way would be the ambulance. It has its sirens on. All other vehicles are required to yield right-of-way to it.

After the ambulance goes, it's simple -- right-of-way travels clockwise. The vehicle to the left of the ambulance then has right of way. Then the vehicle to the left of that. And finally, the vehicle that was to the right of the ambulance is there all alone, and it can go when it wants.

That's assuming, of course, that all four vehicles approached the four-way stop at the same time.

It doesn't matter where they're going, anyway. The cop could be chasing down a suspect or getting a doughnut, and the firetruck could be getting some old lady's cat out of a tree or putting out a burning orphanage. If they don't have their lights on, they have to follow the same rules as everybody else.

[Cheesevixen]

The United States Postal Service is funded by the Federal government, but it is a private contractor service -- it switched back in the 70s or so, prompting violent outbursts from some employees that lost their government pensions, and that's what created the stereotype that postal workers are violent ("going postal", "disgruntled postal workers", etc.). So, by law, the mail truck wouldn't have any special rights.

As has been pointed out, the only truck with right-of-way would be the ambulance. It has its sirens on. All other vehicles are required to yield right-of-way to it.

After the ambulance goes, it's simple -- right-of-way travels clockwise. The vehicle to the left of the ambulance then has right of way. Then the vehicle to the left of that. And finally, the vehicle that was to the right of the ambulance is there all alone, and it can go when it wants.

That's assuming, of course, that all four vehicles approached the four-way stop at the same time.

It doesn't matter where they're going, anyway. The cop could be chasing down a suspect or getting a doughnut, and the firetruck could be getting some old lady's cat out of a tree or putting out a burning orphanage. If they don't have their lights on, they have to follow the same rules as everybody else.

Your words of wisdom are like music to my ears dear sassy. :-) I'm just going to go with the smartest man alive on this one. *Poof*

[Che]

The law?

Fuck the law. There's an ambulance going to a car accident, what more do you need?

/thread

[Clint]

The right of way either resides with the ambulance or the fire truck, due to the fact that both are going to potentially save lives. The ambulance would be going to take the injured to the hospital so that they won't die, however, the fire truck has to put out the fire in order for people not to die.

The police car going to the scene of a homicide, although an important procedure, isn't necessarily an emergency. The mail being delivered isn't cause for an emergency, either, and therefore, these two situations can be taken out of the equation.

[Sasquatch]

The issue is that it doesn't matter where they're going. What are they going to do, all get out, discuss where each of them is going, then get back into their vehicles and continue on their merry way? No -- that's why there are laws that govern right-of-way. There's no way for the police officer to know that the firetruck is on its way to an actual emergency or not ... actually there is, they're called lights and sirens. If it doesn't have them on, it gets no more rights than any other vehicle on the road.

The only vehicle with a law-provided right-of-way is the ambulance with its lights on. After that, the vehicle to the farthest right (left of where the ambulance was) has the right-of-way, then the next-farthest right (across from where the ambulance was), then the least-farthest right (right of where the ambulance was).

[Clint]

The only vehicle with a law-provided right-of-way is the ambulance with its lights on. After that, the vehicle to the farthest right (left of where the ambulance was) has the right-of-way, then the next-farthest right (across from where the ambulance was), then the least-farthest right (right of where the ambulance was).

Nobody ever said if the fire truck had it's lights on or not. Assuming that it's going to a fire, and considering that going to a fire, fire fighters typically put lights on in the truck, then it's safe to assume that the fire truck has it's lights on, putting the fire truck and the ambulance in the exact proportion of importance, giving right of way to both of them.