Traffic Rules and Priority
Priority questions make up a large share of the CBR theory exam. Every junction is decided in the same order: controller, lights, signs, markings, and only then the right-hand rule of Article 15 RVV.
The right-hand rule
At a junction with nothing else regulating it, you give way to vehicles coming from your right. This includes cyclists and mopeds, not only cars. The rule only applies where no sign, light or marking overrides it, and it applies at junctions, not at every driveway.
Rules that override the right-hand rule
- Turning left: you give way to oncoming traffic going straight on or turning right.
- Leaving a priority road: when you turn off a B1 road, you must give way to drivers on the road you turn onto, including traffic coming from your left.
- Leaving a driveway, car park, petrol station, yard or unsurfaced track: you give way to everyone.
- Turning across a cycle path: cyclists and mopeds on it have priority over you.
- Trams: you must let a tram pass and must never obstruct it, even when it approaches from your left.
- Zebra crossing: give way to pedestrians on the crossing or clearly waiting to step onto it.
- Roundabout: where the sign with the circular arrows and a yield is placed, traffic already on the roundabout has priority. Without that sign, the right-hand rule decides.
Worked example
You ride along a priority road and see the diamond with a stripe through it 30 metres before a junction, where a car is waiting. Your priority has ended, so the junction is unsigned and the car is on your right. You must give way to it.
Traps that cost marks
Assuming priority is permanent; confusing a stop sign with a yield sign; and forgetting that a cyclist coming from the right at an unsigned junction has priority even when you are turning.