The Unmarked Junction on a Wet Afternoon
You are driving a light truck south on a sealed two-lane road in the Papua New Guinea highlands. It has been raining for an hour and the surface is wet and slick. You approach a T-junction with no stop sign, no give-way sign and no road markings of any kind. A sedan is approaching from the road on your right, and it is close enough that you can see its driver. The speed limit is 50 km/h and you are doing 45 km/h. Your windscreen wipers are on full. A pedestrian is walking along the left shoulder about 20 metres ahead of the junction, facing away from you. There is no oncoming traffic in your lane.
1. Who should give way at this unmarked junction, and what should you do in the next few seconds?
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At an unmarked intersection you must give way to traffic approaching from your right. The sedan on your right therefore has the right of way. Do not assume the other driver will stop or slow - make your own decision early.
In the next few seconds:
- Ease off the accelerator and cover the brake; do not brake hard on a wet surface.
- Slow enough to stop if needed before the junction, allowing extra distance for the wet road.
- Check your mirrors and blind spot before any change of path.
- Proceed only when the sedan has passed or clearly given you room. If in doubt, wait - a few seconds costs nothing.
- Keep watching the pedestrian on the left shoulder in case they step toward the road.
2. The sedan driver waves you through. Should you go? Explain the risk and how you manage it.
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A wave is a courtesy, not a legal right-of-way. The sedan driver may have misjudged your speed, the wet braking distance, or traffic behind them that you cannot see.
Manage it this way:
- Treat the wave as information only. You still must be satisfied the way is clear.
- Look past the sedan for vehicles overtaking it or emerging from the side road.
- Creep forward slowly rather than accelerating through, so you can stop if the situation changes.
- If anything is unclear - sight lines, other traffic, the pedestrian - wait for a definite gap instead of relying on the wave.
A driver who is waved into a collision is still partly responsible for having failed to check.
3. Why does the wet road change your following and stopping decisions here, even at 45 km/h?
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Wet bitumen reduces tyre grip and lengthens stopping distance - often roughly double that of a dry road. At 45 km/h you are already covering about 12.5 metres per second, so even a short delay in reacting adds many metres.
Practical consequences at this junction:
- Start slowing earlier than you would in the dry.
- Leave a bigger gap to any vehicle ahead and do not tailgate the sedan if it turns in front of you.
- Avoid sudden steering or hard braking, which can cause a skid on a slick surface.
- Keep the wipers and demister working so your view of the junction and the pedestrian stays clear.
Speed limits are a maximum for ideal conditions, not a target for a wet, unmarked junction.