Right-of-Way and Intersection Rules
Domain 2 examines who goes first and who must wait. Right-of-way is not a gift you can hand out - it is a rule that assigns responsibility. Waving another driver through can transfer fault to you if a collision follows, so answer these questions by the rule, never by impulse.
Order of priority
- At an uncontrolled intersection, yield to any vehicle already inside it, then to the vehicle on your right.
- At an all-way stop, the first vehicle to stop is the first to go. If two stop at the same moment, the one on the right goes first.
- A left-turning driver yields to oncoming through traffic, to oncoming vehicles turning right, and to pedestrians in the crosswalk.
- Entering a roadway from a driveway, parking lot or private road means yielding to all traffic already on that road.
Shared-space rules
- Pedestrians in a marked or unmarked crosswalk have priority; never pass a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk, because it is probably stopping for a person you cannot see.
- In a roundabout, yield to traffic already circulating, enter to the right, signal on exit, and never stop inside the circle.
- A school bus with flashing red lights and its stop arm out means stop in both directions, unless a physical median separates you on a divided highway.
- When an emergency vehicle approaches with lights and siren, pull to the right and stop; when passing one stopped at the roadside, slow down and move over a lane if it is safe.
Worked example
You and an oncoming car stop at the same moment at a four-way stop. The other car signals left; you are going straight. You go first, because a left-turning vehicle must yield to through traffic - the right-hand rule only breaks genuine ties.
Traps that cost marks
Assuming the right-hand rule overrides a left-turn yield; entering a roundabout without yielding; stopping inside the circle; believing the school-bus rule applies only on rural roads, when it applies wherever the red lights flash.