Unmarked crossroads: equal priority with a bus and a cyclist
You approach an unmarked crossroads in a residential area at about 30 km/h. There are no priority signs and no traffic lights; the road surfaces are equal in width and construction. A scheduled city bus is approaching from your right at roughly 25 km/h, about 20 m from the centre. A cyclist is coming towards you on your side of the road, slightly to the left of the centre line, because parked cars block the right edge. Behind the cyclist a pedestrian is waiting at the corner, about to cross your exit road. Your view to the left is partly blocked by a hedge growing right up to the corner. You intend to turn left.
1. State who has priority at this crossroads and justify it using the applicable rule rather than intuition.
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The bus has priority over you. At an unmarked crossroads of equal roads, the general rule is to give way to traffic approaching from the right. The bus is on your right, so you must let it pass before entering or turning.
The cyclist is oncoming and, when you turn left, will be crossing your path - you must yield to oncoming traffic going straight ahead, so the cyclist also goes before you. The pedestrian at the corner has priority once they begin to cross the road you are turning into.
So your order of yielding is: bus first (from the right), then the oncoming cyclist, then the pedestrian if they have started to cross. The hedge blocking your view to the left does not create priority in your favour - it obliges you to slow further and creep forward until you can see.
2. The bus driver waves you through. Should you accept? Explain the risk and the correct behaviour.
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Do not simply accept the wave. A courtesy wave from one driver says nothing about the other approaches. The bus may be masking a motorcycle, a second car, or the cyclist from your view, and the bus driver cannot see those approaches for you. If you move on the wave and collide with a vehicle you could not see, the wave gives you no legal protection - you entered the junction without being sure it was clear.
Correct behaviour: acknowledge the wave but continue to creep forward only until you have a clear view of the left approach and the oncoming lane. Enter only when you have personally confirmed the way is clear. If the bus has genuinely stopped and blocked the right approach, that is a reason to proceed carefully, not to proceed blindly.
3. You are now mid-turn to the left and the cyclist is still approaching. Describe how you manage the turn so the cyclist is not cut off.
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Give the cyclist the whole turn.
- Wait, don't race. A cyclist at ~15–20 km/h covers the 20–30 m to the junction in a few seconds. Hold your position until the cyclist has passed the point where your path would cross theirs.
- Turn wide and slow. Complete the left turn at low speed so that if the cyclist swerves around a pothole or a parked car, you have room to stop rather than squeeze them.
- Check the pedestrian. After clearing the cyclist, confirm the pedestrian at the corner has either not stepped out or has finished crossing your exit road before you accelerate away.
- Signal early and keep it on through the turn so the bus driver and the cyclist both know your intention.
Turning across a cyclist's path is one of the most common causes of serious injury at junctions; a two-second wait removes the risk entirely.