It’s The Law: When Stoplights Are Out, It’s a 4-Way Stop in Michigan
Back in 2018, Lt. Governor Brian Calley signed a bill making it a law, finally, that while driving in Michigan, you must treat malfunctioning or “dark” stoplights (like during a power outage) as a four-way stop.
I know, you're probably thinking “Wasn't that always a thing?”
In short? No, not in Michigan. When we all learned to drive, it was in the book and we’ve all been taught this was the way the world should work, but until 2018, Michigan had always said, “Good luck!”
But, if you remember as FOX 2 points out, this bill came up after last year when the state had a bad wind storm and power was out to thousands statewide. The Michigan State Police tweeted that dark or non-working stoplights should be treated as a basic right of way, which at the time meant the busier street got to keep going.
At the time we all did a collective, “whaaa?”
It’s nice to see that even lawmakers in Lansing heard our amazement and made common sense the law.
The law doesn’t apply to traffic lights that are only functioning at certain times like in school zones or near fire departments.
source: FOX2