You’re approaching an intersection, and the traffic lights are out—completely out. What should you do?

 

If you think the answer lies in whether you’re on the main road, you’re wrong. It makes no difference which drivers are on the main, more heavily travelled road, or a side street.

 

When a traffic signal isn’t functioning, all drivers should treat the intersection as if it had  a stop sign on all approaches. So, for a typical intersection of two two-way streets, this means approaching the intersection as if it were a four-way stop. Not only will you have to check for other cars approaching the intersection before you can safely proceed, you’ll also need to watch out for pedestrians crossing the street.

 

Day or night, main drag or side street, all drivers should stop at any intersection with faulty traffic lights—unless, of course, fire or police personnel are directing traffic while the light is being repaired.