The Unmarked Crossroads Near a School
You are driving south on a two-lane residential road in New Providence at about 3:40 p.m., when children are leaving school. You approach a T-junction where a side road meets your road from the right. There is no stop sign or yield sign on your road, and no markings on the side road either. A car is waiting on the side road, its nose just past the corner, and its driver is looking left toward you. A group of children is walking along the sidewalk on your right, and two of them are standing at the edge of the side road, apparently waiting to cross it. Your speed is 40 km/h and the road is dry. A van is following you about two car lengths back.
1. Who has the right-of-way at this junction, and what should you do in the next few seconds?
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At an unmarked T-junction like this, no sign gives either driver an automatic priority, so the safe reading is that the waiting car should yield before entering or crossing your road, and you may continue. But right-of-way is something you are given, not something you take. Three facts change the picture: children are near the mouth of the side road, the waiting car's nose is already past the corner, and a van is tailgating you.
So you should ease off the accelerator, cover the brake, and be ready to stop. Do not wave the other driver out; a wave can pull them into the path of a vehicle you have not seen. If a child steps into the side road, stop and let them cross. Keep your speed low enough that a stop is possible within the distance you can see to be clear, and signal early if you intend to turn.
2. The van behind is close. How does that change your braking and signalling plan?
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A following distance of about two car lengths at 40 km/h leaves the van very little room to react. If you brake hard and suddenly for a child, the van may run into you. You cannot control the van, but you can reduce the risk:
- Brake early and progressively rather than late and hard, so your brake lights give the van more warning.
- Avoid a sudden swerve; a swerve at low speed with a close follower can cause a side impact or a loss of control.
- If you must stop for a pedestrian, stop, but leave extra room ahead of you so you are not pushed into the crossing.
- After the junction, when it is safe, let the van pass or increase the gap in front of you so you have more room to stop gently.
The underlying rule is the two-second gap in good conditions, more when following distance is being crowded from behind.
3. Suppose you decide to turn right into the side road. What must you check before and during the turn?
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Before turning you must signal in good time, slow appropriately, and position correctly. Then check:
- Mirrors and blind spot on the right, because a cyclist or child on the sidewalk may be about to cross the mouth of the side road.
- The pedestrian crossing point itself; children at the kerb have priority in practice even where no marked crossing exists.
- The waiting car, which may also decide to move.
- Oncoming traffic if the side road requires you to cross any part of the opposing lane.
Turn at a speed slow enough to stop within the distance you can see, and give any pedestrian already crossing plenty of room. Do not cut the corner close to the kerb where children are standing.