Chapter 6: Navigating the Roads

Knowing the rules for yielding, turning, and passing is the foundation of safe and cooperative driving. These procedures dictate the flow of traffic, prevent conflicts at intersections, and ensure all road users can predict each other’s actions. Mastering these concepts is crucial for the road test, where examiners closely watch for correct decision-making, and for everyday driving to avoid the most common types of collisions.

Right-of-Way

Right-of-way is the legal principle that determines who has the right to proceed first in a given traffic situation. It is something to be given, not taken. The primary goal of right-of-way rules is to prevent collisions by establishing a clear and consistent order for traffic movement.

• Uncontrolled Intersections: At an intersection with no signs or signals, the first vehicle to arrive has the right-of-way. If two vehicles arrive at the same time, the driver on the left must yield to the driver on the right. This is a fundamental rule to remember: “yield to the right.”
• All-Way Stops: At intersections where all directions have a stop sign (a 4-way or all-way stop), the first vehicle to come to a complete stop has the right-of-way. If two or more vehicles stop simultaneously, the driver on the left must yield to the driver on the right.
• Driveways and Private Roads: A driver entering a public road from a driveway, alley, or private road must stop and yield the right-of-way to all approaching traffic and pedestrians on the main road.
• Merging: When merging onto a highway or interstate, the driver entering the roadway must yield to traffic already traveling on it. The merging driver is responsible for finding a safe gap to enter the flow of traffic.
• Pedestrians: Drivers must yield to pedestrians in all marked and unmarked crosswalks. At any intersection, a driver turning must yield to pedestrians crossing the street they are turning onto. Special care must be taken for blind pedestrians using a white cane or guide dog; drivers must stop and remain stopped until they have safely crossed.
• Emergency Vehicles: Upon the approach of an emergency vehicle (police, fire, ambulance) using a siren or flashing lights, all drivers must immediately pull over to the right side of the road, clear of any intersection, and stop. Drivers must remain stopped until the emergency vehicle has passed. On a four-lane highway, drivers must also make a lane change away from a stopped emergency vehicle if it is safe to do so.