Unmarked Priority at a Rain-Soaked T-Junction
You are approaching a T-junction in a small town in daylight in heavy rain. Your road ends at the junction and you must turn left or right onto the through road. There are no traffic lights, no priority signs facing you, and the road markings are worn and partly covered by standing water. A car is approaching from your right on the through road at about 50 km/h, roughly 60 m away. A second car is approaching from your left, further off, with its left indicator flashing. A pedestrian with a hood up is waiting on the far side, apparently intending to cross the through road near the junction. Visibility is reduced and the wet surface lengthens stopping distances.
1. Who has priority, and what should you do in the next few seconds?
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With no signs, no lights and no readable markings, this is an unmarked junction and the general rule applies: you must give way to traffic on the road you are joining. Both the car from the right and the car from the left are on the through road; you are not.
The car from the right at 60 m and 50 km/h is about 4.3 s away. That is not enough time to pull out and complete a turn without making him brake on a wet road. So: slow down, stop if necessary at the line position, and wait.
The car from the left indicating left is signalling that it intends to turn into your road. Do not rely on the indicator alone - indicators can be left on by mistake, and he may turn after passing you rather than before. Wait until his speed and path confirm the turn.
The pedestrian is a separate obligation. Even if you have right of way over vehicles, a pedestrian already crossing or clearly about to cross has priority. With a hood up he may not see you, so approach slowly enough to stop.
The correct sequence is: reduce speed early, stop if the gap is not clearly sufficient, deal with the pedestrian, and only then turn.
2. The worn markings might once have included a give-way line. How does that change your analysis, and what do you do if you cannot tell?
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If there is a give-way line - even a partly worn one - it confirms that your road is subordinate and you must yield. If there is a stop line, you must come to a complete stop before proceeding, not merely slow down.
If you genuinely cannot tell because of standing water, treat the junction as one where you must give way. The cost of wrongly assuming you have priority is a collision on a wet road; the cost of wrongly assuming you must give way is a few seconds.
Practical steps: slow enough that you could stop within the distance you can see to be clear, position the car square to the junction rather than angled into the through road, and use the mirrors and a shoulder check before committing. Do not creep out to "test" the through road - on a wet surface a car that has to swerve may lose grip.