Night-time Right-of-Way at an Unlit T-Junction
You are driving on a two-lane road at 22:40 on the outskirts of Asmara. The road is unlit and the asphalt is dry. Your speedometer reads 55 km/h; the posted limit on this stretch is 50 km/h. Ahead on the right, a side road joins yours in a T-junction. A minibus is waiting at the mouth of the side road, facing you, with its headlights on. As you close to about 40 metres, the minibus begins to edge forward, then stops with its front bumper roughly one metre into your lane. Simultaneously, an oncoming car behind the minibus flashes its headlights twice. A pedestrian in dark clothing is walking along the right edge of your lane about 25 metres ahead. Your high beams are on; you have not yet dipped them.
1. Who has the right-of-way at this junction, and what does that mean for your obligation to slow or stop?
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The minibus is emerging from a side road onto a through road, so it must yield to traffic already on the through road - that is you. Right-of-way is yours. But right-of-way is not a licence to proceed blindly: it only means the other driver is supposed to wait. Because the minibus has physically encroached one metre into your lane, you must treat the situation as a developing hazard. You should ease off the accelerator, cover the brake, and be prepared to stop. If the minibus keeps rolling, stop - a collision is worse than an unnecessary stop, and the law expects you to avoid a collision even where you technically have priority. Do not swerve into the oncoming lane to preserve your momentum.
2. Assess your speed and lighting choices. What should you change, and why?
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Two problems compound. First, 55 km/h exceeds the 50 km/h limit, and at night on an unlit road your safe speed is likely below the limit anyway, since your seeing distance shrinks. Second, your high beams are still on: an oncoming vehicle is present (the car that flashed), and high beams dazzle oncoming drivers and can also wash out the minibus driver's view. Dip your beams immediately. The pedestrian 25 m ahead in dark clothing is the critical constraint: at 55 km/h you cover about 15 m per second, so you have under two seconds of travel to that pedestrian. Reduce speed so you can stop within the distance you can actually see to be clear, and give the pedestrian a wide berth.
3. How should you interpret the two headlight flashes from the oncoming car?
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Do not treat a headlight flash as a reliable instruction. In practice it may mean 'I am giving way', 'go ahead', 'slow down, hazard here', or simply a warning that the driver is there. In this scene the most likely reading is a warning - the oncoming driver can probably see the minibus nosing out and the pedestrian. Either way, you must make your own decision based on what you can see. The correct response is to reduce speed, dip your beams, and continue to assess. Never accelerate into a gap because someone flashed you; if there is any doubt, slow and be ready to stop.