Right-of-Way and Intersections
Right-of-way questions test whether you can establish, in a few seconds, who must move first at a junction with no lights, a badly marked crossroads, a roundabout, or a turn across oncoming traffic. Mauritania follows the continental European pattern, so the default priority-to-the-right rule is the backbone of this domain.
The core rules
- At an unmarked intersection, yield to vehicles approaching from your right. This applies even when the road you are on looks wider or busier.
- A STOP sign requires a complete halt at the line, every time, even with nothing in sight. A give-way sign requires you to slow and yield, stopping only if traffic demands it.
- At a roundabout whose approach is signed with give-way or STOP, traffic already on the ring has priority. Where no such sign exists, treat the entry as an ordinary junction and expect the priority-to-the-right rule to be applied by others.
- When turning left, you cross oncoming traffic: you yield to it, and to pedestrians crossing the road you are entering.
- At a zebra crossing, pedestrians have priority once they show intent to cross. Emergency vehicles using lights and siren take priority; pull over and stop rather than stopping in the middle of the junction.
Worked example
You reach an unmarked crossroads intending to go straight. A car comes from your right and a motorcycle from your left. Reasoning: the car on your right goes first under priority to the right; the motorcycle on your left must yield to you; you move after the car, checking the motorcycle has actually stopped before you enter. A candidate who waves the car through because it is smaller, or who accelerates to beat the motorcycle, loses the mark.
Traps that cost marks
Assuming the wider or paved road automatically has priority; entering a roundabout without yielding to circulating traffic; stopping dead at a give-way sign when the way is clear; and waving other drivers through when you hold priority, which creates ambiguity and collisions.