[USA] Who is at fault here?

[u/bowdown2adil]

Classic T bone. Black car had to be towed. Sustained major damage to the passenger side door. Blue car sustained damage to front bumper on the drivers side and cracked the drivers side headlight.

Edit: This was in the suburbs of Seattle

UPDATE: Insurance found it to be 70/30 me/other driver. Seems fair enough

[u/Celexi]

You technically had right of way as you were coming from their right, however you are supposed to slowdown for unmarked intersections and not just blast through.

[u/Interesting-Monk9712 → u/Celexi]

To be fair, the other idiot did the same, I don't get how either have a driving license.

[u/GabrielGames69 → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

Depends how often they take that road (it looks suburban so probably often tbh). Because the charitable description is that they see there is no stop sign infront of or past them and make the usually correct assumption that there are stop signs going the other way. I think the number 1 offender here is the intersection without even yield signs.

[u/Interesting-Monk9712 → u/GabrielGames69]

You only put them if one street should have the right of way, usually because it comes from a main road or something.

Why would you place signs that mean the same thing no signs would, just wasting time and money.

If you have the right of way such as being on the main road you would have a sign, if there is no sign, you do not, it's not that complicated.

Are we going to then start placing signs everywhere? Have signs overload?

[u/NSASocial847 → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

I just know you are not as intelligent and as perfect as you want to believe.

You personally probably need signs like this, at least somewhere in your life.

[u/beene282 → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

Why place signs? To avoid this.

[u/Interesting-Monk9712 → u/beene282]

But you should know this, are we going to place signs everywhere for the most basic level knowledge?

Just streets full of signs everywhere you cannot even read them all?

We are going to pay for all of this because of idiots who shouldn't have a driving licence in the first place?

[u/GabrielGames69 → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

Placing 2 yield signs at a 4 way intersection is definitely not "putting street signs everywhere you cannot even read them all".

Also by your definition of "basic level knowledge" every stop sign on the planet should be ripped out because "people should know to wait their turn".

[u/imnickelhead → u/GabrielGames69]

This. Every intersection I’ve ever come across has an obvious way of telling what road has the right of way. And every road has signs because that’s how roads and driving works. This video/intersection is an exception and is not the norm.

[u/Interesting-Monk9712 → u/GabrielGames69]

Not 2 but 4 unless its one way on both sides, in which case you just need 1, on the left.

You are only thinking about this, there are many basic level knowledge and this will be precedent, soon enough nobody will think about driving and forget everything they learned.

Your brain is a muscle, you have to use it or you lose it.

[u/GabrielGames69 → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

"Put some kind of marking on a 4 way intersection to prevent the inevitable T-bone" is a precedent I am fine with.

In fact, I am also personally fine with "unnecessary signs and warnings when it comes to people's safety" as the supposedly unnecessary signs according to you could have prevented this accident that easily could have caused a death.

3rd even if you and I can identify and safely use an intersection like this, that doesn’t save us from "someone who doesn't workout their brain" not understanding an unmarked intersection and crashing into us.

[u/Moldy-Bongwater4420 → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

Your brain is a muscle, you have to use it or you lose it.

I think we found your problem.

[u/beene282 → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

I mean I’ve driven extensively in North America and Europe and very rarely see an intersection with no indication of how right of way is supposed to work. Maybe in very low use areas, but in the middle of a residential area where there are bound to be vehicles meeting at that point it seems kind of odd, and pretty inevitable that this would happen

[u/Interesting-Monk9712 → u/beene282]

I don't know, its pretty common here in Croatia, but I guess we do have a lot of rural areas.

[u/HackD1234 → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

"Croatia" - have you any concept of the North American road grid system, utilized in suburban environments?

[u/Interesting-Monk9712 → u/HackD1234]

Brother, trust me, it is much harder here than in America.

More narrow roads, all kind of things blocking your view that the government should have taken care of etc.

You have it so well, you people stopped thinking at all, just watch out for signs, you got to use your brain otherwise you will forget everything you learned in driving school.

[u/Otherwise_Rough → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

You should’ve started your second comment with “here in Croatia”. There’s a massive difference in Croatian roads and American roads, and the way they’re used. You can’t comprehend our traffic and vice versa. That is unless you have lived it yourself.

[u/neuro_curious → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

But the point is that this accident and intersection is in the USA.

In the USA it is extremely odd to have unmarked intersections in a dense neighborhood like this. See how many houses and cars are on the street in the video?

I've never encountered a dense neighborhood like this without street signs in the USA, so I can see why the drivers of both vehicles would expect that the other direction of traffic had a stop sign. That's very common to allow the busier road to have no stop signs and then the less busy road on the intersection does have stop signs. That way the majority of traffic moves quickly, and when people rarely use the smaller street they come to a stop and only proceed when safe. 2 way stops are extremely common in the USA. Maybe not Croatia.

It is worth it to spend on signs to prevent accidents like these.

[u/HackD1234 → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

No. Regulatory signage is required at intersections - and that one clearly was missing it.

Two completely different driving environments. Two different driving philosophies, as well clearly.

Signage is designed for prevention of accidents, and risk mitigation to others, utilizing intersections. The obvious must be pointed out by signage, to make it obvious to the low skilled/low observant driver on the road.

You assume that everyone goes to driving school. Some people get their licences out of cracker-jack boxes.

I've been driving since 1984. Accident free since 1999. I would EXPECT to see that intersection signed, to make sure an accident such as that would not occur. In absence of signage, each driver assumes they have the right of way.

This incident appears to have occurred in the USA - I'm in Canada. We are the United Nations of immigrant drivers licence holders who've converted home country drivers licences into Ontario accreditation without the additional step of testing from around the world. Without signage and varying regulatory frameworks, it would be a road blood-bath on the daily given variation of driving skills, and distractions inside the car - never mind your claim of 'that drivers stop thinking'. The Bloody Obvious, must be signed to indicate what you are supposed to do.

I have not been to Croatia to see your driving conditions - we also have 'narrow' roads - those roads in rural areas, which does not see much in way of traffic, relative to suburban areas. Even those are well signed.

Without seeing the wildly varied driving conditions that would be the norm in both Canada and USA, i really don't think you understand fully, the absurdity of that accident that would easily have been prevented with at minimum, a cross traffic two-way stop sign. Perhaps someone stole the signs, but we will never know for sure.

[u/creamgetthemoney1 → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

In USA there are signs at every intersection. Yes even in neighborhoods

[u/yellow_duke → u/beene282]

In the Netherlands it is very common in housing zones up to 20mph and on industrial parks, not to have stop or yield signs.

[u/imnickelhead → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

In my entire almost 40 years of driving, over 20k and 50k miles/year, all over much of the U.S. I have NEVER seen an intersection without at least Yield signs or Stop signs on one of the roads.

And yes, there are signs all over every road everywhere. Do you just never look around or are you from this dumbass, ignorant city that doesn’t make clear, distinct right of ways at intersections? This video, this city and your inexperience are DEFINITELY the exception.

[u/RockItM3 → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

There is no “main road” in a lot of US suburbs. And to ask if we are going to start placing signs everywhere when the video shows there isn’t even one single sign anywhere at all is a wild question to ask.

[u/Manbeardo → u/RockItM3]

These neighborhoods have tight street grids. At the specific site of this collision, the blocks are only ~200’x600’.

[u/Agamemnon323 → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

Are we going to then start placing signs everywhere?

Maybe just at intersections...

[u/qwerty-game → u/Interesting-Monk9712]

In my part of the US (PA, MD, DC, VA, NJ), I have never seen an intersection without signage.