One of my biggest pet peeves is people who do not know how to properly use a four-way stop. I'm not sure if this is a Utah thing, or if people all over the country are unaware of the rules for a four-way stop. It is odd to me that this fairly easy process is either forgotten or not known, because it was emphasized quite often during my driver's training. Before I go over the rules, I want to send a message to a few people I see at four-way stops all the time.
To the lady who waves for me to go when it isn't my turn- Thanks for being nice, but what would be really nice is for you to OBEY THE RULES!
To the dude who doesn't look to see if anyone else is there before going- LOOK! I was here way before you.
To the people who just do a quick pause before gunning through the intersection- It is called a four-way stop, not a four-way pause.
Here now are the rules for how to handle a four-way stop.
A FOUR-WAY STOP sign means that there are four stop signs at this intersection. Traffic from all four directions must stop. The first vehicle to reach the intersection should move forward first. If two vehicles reach the intersection at the same time, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the immediate right if there is one. If a vehicle cannot move because of some impediment—a pedestrian crossing in front of it, for example—or, for some reason, cannot clear the intersection unimpeded, it must await a change in status and should be treated by other motorists as though absent from the intersection until circumstances make it eligible to proceed. A vehicle may not proceed until all vehicles that might have priority have first cleared the intersection. Also, only one car from each side of the stop can go at a time.
There, is that so hard?