Chapter 6: Navigating the Roads

Knowing how to properly navigate through intersections, turns, and around other vehicles is the essence of daily driving. These rules, especially those concerning right-of-way, are the foundation of a safe and orderly traffic system, preventing conflicts and crashes. Mastering the procedures for yielding, turning, and passing is critical for the driver’s license exam and for demonstrating the skill and courtesy required to share the road safely.

Right-of-Way

Right-of-way is a set of rules that determines which driver has the legal right to proceed first in a given situation. However, the law never grants a driver the right-of-way; it only specifies when a driver must yield it. The concept is about preventing crashes, so a driver should always be prepared to yield to avoid a collision, regardless of who technically has the right-of-way.

A driver must yield in the following situations:

• Uncontrolled Intersections: When two vehicles on different roadways reach an intersection with no signs or signals at the same time, the driver on the left must yield to the driver on the right.
• All-Way Stops: At a four-way stop, the first driver to come to a complete stop is the first to go. If two or more vehicles stop at the same time, the driver on the left must yield to the driver on the right.
• Driveways, Alleys, and Private Roads: Before entering a street from a driveway, alley, or private road, a driver must come to a complete stop before the sidewalk area and yield to all pedestrians and vehicles on the main road.
• Merging: When merging into traffic, the driver entering the roadway must yield to the traffic already on it. This applies to expressway on-ramps and when lanes end.
• Pedestrians: Drivers must yield to pedestrians in a marked or unmarked crosswalk. At intersections, drivers must yield to pedestrians when turning.
• Emergency Vehicles: When an emergency vehicle (police, fire, ambulance) approaches using its audible and visual signals (sirens and flashing lights), a driver must immediately pull over to the right-hand edge of the roadway, clear of any intersection, and stop. Remain stopped until the emergency vehicle has passed.
• Stationary Emergency/Maintenance Vehicles (Scott’s Law): When approaching a stationary emergency or any vehicle with its hazard lights activated, drivers are required to slow down and, if it is safe to do so, move over to a lane that is not adjacent to the stopped vehicle.