Is “right of way” a road rule?
You’ve probably heard of the give way to the right road rule or the saying “I have the right of way”.
But are these real road rules or merely myths? Read on to find out.
Right of way
Picture this: You’re turning right at a T-junction in the green car and there’s a yellow car turning left at a slip lane that’s separated by a painted or raised traffic lane.
Without warning, the other driver makes the turn, cutting you off. You mutter “I have the right of way”, slamming on the brakes to avoid a crash.
Do you have the right of way, though? The term “right of way” doesn’t actually exist in the road rules.
The Australian Road Rules state: “There are a number of rules requiring a driver to give way to another driver or a pedestrian. However, under the rules, the other driver or pedestrian does not have a right of way.”
That means in the situation pictured above, the driver in the yellow car needs to give way. The rules focus on the obligation to give way to other road users. In many give-way situations, there might be multiple road users involved and it’s not always the case that one has priority over all the others.
In the above scenario, there could’ve also been other oncoming traffic and/or a pedestrian crossing the road.
Give way to the right
While learning to drive, you might have been told that you need to give way to your right. This is true in certain situations – for example, when traffic lights aren’t working or when there are no signs indicating who needs to give way or stop – but it isn’t a blanket rule.
There are some instances where road users don’t need to give way to other road users on their right. The image below is the perfect example. You’re in the blue car turning left at a location without a slip lane. Despite the red car approaching you from the right, they still need to give way to you.
There are plenty of other times when you need to give way to road users on your left. For example, if you’re zip merging, the give way to the right rule doesn’t apply.
In the example below, the two cars are required to zip merge. Despite the red car being on the left, the blue car needs to give way. This is because the blue car is behind the red car and there isn’t a lane line marking between them.
Despite what many of us were taught, the “give way to the right” rule doesn’t apply at a roundabout either. Rather, the law says you must give way to any vehicles, including bicycles that are already in the roundabout.
This doesn’t mean you should race to get to the dotted line first. All drivers need to slow down on approach and be prepared to give way and stop if necessary to avoid a collision. It’s a good idea though to pay particular attention to traffic on your right, as there’s a good chance those vehicles will enter before you.