Right-of-Way and Intersection Rules
What this domain tests
Right-of-way questions ask who goes first when instructions run out. The exam expects you to apply the default rules at uncontrolled junctions, T-junctions, roundabouts, pedestrian crossings and turning manoeuvres, and to recognise when a sign or signal replaces the default.
Default rules
- At an uncontrolled crossroads, yield to traffic approaching from your right.
- At a T-junction, traffic on the terminating road gives way to traffic on the through road.
- When turning left across oncoming traffic, wait for vehicles going straight or turning right; they have priority.
- When turning right, give way to pedestrians crossing the road you are entering.
- At a roundabout, give way to traffic already circulating, which approaches from your left.
- Give way to pedestrians on a marked crossing and to emergency vehicles on a call.
Worked example
You reach an unmarked four-way crossroads at the same moment as a car approaching from your left. You may proceed first: the default is to yield to the right, and that car has you on its right, so it must wait. If a second car arrives from your right, the position reverses and you now wait for it. Add a stop sign on your approach, however, and the default disappears: you must stop at the line and give way to all traffic before moving.
Traps
- Applying yield-to-the-right at a roundabout, where circulating traffic has priority.
- Believing a give-way sign means slow down and go.
- Turning left in front of an oncoming motorcycle because it looks small and slow.