Learning Center · Lesson 3 · Right of way

Who goes first? The whole answer, in one lesson.

Right of way is not about being fastest or biggest. It is a quiet set of rules that tells every driver whose turn it is, at every kind of intersection. Learn the handful of rules here and the most feared questions on the test become the easiest ones.

The six rules that decide everything

Every right-of-way question on the test is one of these six situations wearing a different outfit. Learn the six, and you have learned them all.

1 · The four-way stop

First to arrive, first to go. If two cars stop at the same time, the driver on the right goes first. Not the bigger car, not the faster one, not the one that inches forward. The rule is position, nothing else.

Same time? Right goes first.

2 · No signs, no signals

At an uncontrolled intersection, when another car reaches it at about the same time as you, yield to the car on your right. Same principle as the four-way stop, just without the signs to remind you.

The right hand rules quiet corners too

3 · The roundabout

Traffic already in the circle owns the circle. Yield before you enter, wait for a safe gap, and remember every car inside travels the same one-way direction around the island. You join the flow; the flow does not stop for you.

The circle is a club: members first

4 · The left turn

Turning left? You yield. Oncoming traffic going straight has the right of way, every time. Wait for a gap long enough to finish the whole turn calmly. The test asks this one constantly because impatient left turns cause real crashes.

Straight beats left, always

5 · The pedestrian

A person in a crosswalk always goes first. Stop and let them finish crossing, even while you are turning, even if the light is green for you. A white cane or a guide dog means the person may be blind: always yield, with extra time and care.

Feet beat wheels, every time

6 · The siren

Lights and siren behind you? Pull to the right edge of the road and stop until it passes. Ambulance coming toward a green light you own? It still goes first. Emergency vehicles outrank every other rule on this page.

The siren outranks everything

Watch it happen

Two cars reach a four-way stop at the same moment. Rule 1, drawn live: the car on the right goes first.

1 2

The green car sits on the other driver's right, so it crosses first. The second car holds its line, then follows. No horns, no guessing: position decides everything.

Where drivers get it wrong

Three situations swallow the most points. Each has a one-line fix.

"Right of way" is given, not taken

The law never says you have the right of way; it says the other driver must yield it. If they don't, let them go. On the test and on the road, the correct answer is never the one where you force your turn. Insisting on a right of way someone else is ignoring is how two correct drivers still crash.

A green light does not beat a siren

Your light is green. An ambulance is coming with lights and siren. You yield. Let it pass, then continue. The test phrases this a dozen ways, and the answer is always the same: emergency vehicles first, even when every signal says the road is yours.

Roundabouts are not stop signs

You yield at a roundabout; you do not automatically stop. Stop only when there is traffic in the circle to wait for. And once inside, do not stop in the circle: keep moving with the one-way flow until your exit. Stopping inside a roundabout is the mistake the test is watching for.

Now prove it. Four real test questions.

These are real practice questions from our verified bank, word for word. Tap an answer.

1.When you approach an intersection with no signs or signals and another car reaches it at the same time on your right, you should:

2.When you are turning left and an oncoming car is going straight, you should:

3.When you enter a roundabout, you must:

4.When a pedestrian is crossing at a crosswalk in front of you, you must:

Continue learning.

You know whose turn it is, everywhere. The next lesson is about the space between cars, the distance that quietly decides everything.

Next lesson

Speed and Space

The three-second rule, safe passing, and why the gap ahead of you matters more than your speed.

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