# Strange intersection, who has the right of way. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2001, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559 "2001-10-30T17:48:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anachronism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Anachronism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anachronism)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/1 "2001-10-30T17:48:57Z")
I know traffic laws vary a little state to state but for the most part they are basically the same. I am in Massachusetts if it makes a difference though. Near my house there is a street with a 90 degree turn in it, off the turn is another street. So if you go straight you are going onto a different street, and to stay on the same street you have to make a left turn or right turn depending on the direction you are traveling. There are no stop or yield signs anywhere. It is a pretty lightly traveled area so there are not many problems, usually when two cars get there at the same time everbody yields/stops until someone finally decides to go. Unless I am late, then I take advantage of the fact that everybody else yields. Normally the person turning left has to yield, but you are not really turning left you are just following the turn in the road. And if you came to the end of a road at T intersection you would automatically assume you have to stop, but if you turn right you are continuing down the same road. As a truck driver I pride myself on knowing many obscure traffic laws, but this one has me stumped. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/2 "2001-10-30T19:09:17Z")
Hmm, I have an intersection like this just outside my home. Except the street I live on has a yield sign. But, looking at section 21800 of my state’s (CA) Vehicle Code, here’s what I think is the relevant section. > [@](#): > > (b) (1) When two vehicles enter an intersection from different highways at the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on his or her immediate right, except that the driver of any vehicle on a terminating highway shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle on the intersecting continuing highway. So, since one street is terminating (as you describe it), the person on that street has to yield the right of way to anyone on the other street, even if it has a curve. That’s probably why they put up a yield sign on my street because it’s a terminating street. However, they probably didn’t bother in your situation since it is lightly traveled. The intersection near my home is near the local high school and can be quite congested. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/3 "2001-10-30T19:24:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anachronism \* > **Who has the right of way?** The guy with the bigger car. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/4 "2001-10-30T19:27:42Z")
I second what **BobT** said. At an uncontrolled intersection (no stop or yield signs or traffic lights), yield to traffic the right. If there are several cars, then take turns like eveyone has a stop sign. People sometimes think there’s a “main road” that has the right-of-way, but that’s malarky. My authority comes soley from the fact that I was in an accident at an uncontrolled intersection when I was in high school. 🙂 Of course, in real life, everybody kinda stops and then somebody goes, which works fine as long as everyone approaches the intersection with caution. ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/5 "2001-10-30T22:00:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crafter\_Man \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Anachronism \* > > **Who has the right of way?** > > The guy with the bigger car. \*\* Actually, it’s the guy driving the crappiest car. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/6 "2001-10-30T22:34:32Z")
Podkayne, how can you second what BobT said when he said “the driver of any vehicle on a terminating highway shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle on the intersecting continuing highway” and you say “People sometimes think there’s a “main road” that has the right-of-way, but that’s malarky”? I had an accident in Massachusetts driving on a main road that curved to the left. Another smaller street called “Spur Street” went straight, and the oncoming car on Spur Street came at me and hit my right side as I followed the main road around the curve. No yield or stop signs anywhere. The cops never came and I never learned who was at fault. The above point seems the determining one, but it sounds like a pretty bad system if you are required to know which street is considered through and which isn’t (you might have to read every street name sign to know). Moreover, it becomes your responsibility to yield in an intersection that you may not even know you are entering, depending on which road surfaces are visible from your car. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/7 "2001-10-31T01:30:14Z")
Pedestrians always have the right of way! Always! Slow down, don’t hit me. And for God’s sake, don’t hit the poor woman who was hit 3 days in a row in another thread. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/8 "2001-10-31T03:01:41Z")
If there are no stop or yield signs and both roads have the same width, there is no “main” road. You can’t say that every one knows such-and-such street is the main road. What if you’re not familiar with the area? As a general rule, the car on the right has the ROW. You are really turning left if the road continues on the other side, altho you may say it is a different road or has a different name. From the description in the OP it sounds like a 4-way intersection, but the name of one perpendicular street carries on into the other one intersecting it, and the one on the other side has a different name. I’m not sure if I’m reading it right, but if that’s the case, it’s a 4-way intersection. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/9 "2001-10-31T03:26:49Z")
Just a thought – why don’t you call the appropriate government, and ask them why they don’t install some type of traffic-regulating signage? This doesn’t help you answer your question, but it could help everybody else that travels there and don’t know what to do. ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/10 "2001-10-31T12:48:49Z")
> [@](#): > > I had an accident in Massachusetts driving on a main road that curved to the left. Another smaller street called “Spur Street” went straight, and the oncoming car on Spur Street came at me and hit my right side as I followed the main road around the curve. No yield or stop signs anywhere. Isn’t it generally accepted that if you’re crossing a lane of traffic (main road continuing or not), you must yield to oncoming traffic? This may not apply in the incident I cited, and the poster may not have been at fault. Not knowing just how Spur Street merged with the main road, I can’t say. But yielding to the driver on the right at an intersection and yielding to oncoming traffic when turning left seem to be universals. ---
**Author:** ![poohpah\_chalupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@poohpah\_chalupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poohpah_chalupa)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/11 "2001-10-31T13:45:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by evilhanz \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Crafter\_Man \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by Anachronism \* > > > **Who has the right of way?** > > > > The guy with the bigger car. \*\* > > Actually, it’s the guy driving the crappiest car. 😉 \*\* Here in Cali, it’s the guy with the Benz or BMW. Anyone else is squat. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/12 "2001-10-31T14:23:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Napier \* > \*\*Podkayne, how can you second what BobT said when he said “the driver of any vehicle on a terminating highway shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle on the intersecting continuing highway” and you say “People sometimes think there’s a “main road” that has the right-of-way, but that’s malarky”? Okay, maybe I’m full of malarky. I totally misread the OP and everything after. Pardon me while I reboot my brain. I still second what **BobT** said. Please ammend what I wrote to “_In a four-way intersection like the one we got hit in (or a hypothetical right-angle two-way interesection like I mistakenly thought the OP was talking about)_, people sometimes think there’s a ‘main road’ and that’s _still_ malarky.” If the road continues under the _same name_, even if it curves 90[sup]o[/sup], that road has the right of way, just as if it were straight and it was a normal T intersection. (Intersting note: if there’s a stoplight at a similar intersection and you’re on the continuing road which bends to the right, my driver’s ed instructor told me you can’t turn right on red there–you’re not turning onto another street–you’re going straight on the same street. I’ve seen plenty of cops pull this maneuver, though, so I dunno. . .) As I understand it, **Napier** , you were not at fault. You can tell it’s a continuing road, even if you’re not familiar with the area, because the street signs should show that, though they may often be hard to read, which is why you should be very careful around uncontrolled intersections. I totally agree that they suck, and that _every_ intersection should have clear signage indicating who should yield, but many municipalities seem to think skimping on stop signs is a keen way to save dough. Moral of the story: approach all uncontrolled intersections with caution. Even if you’re familiar with the area and know who has the right-of-way, another driver might be confused. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Pinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dr.Pinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Pinky)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-intersection-who-has-the-right-of-way/90559/13 "2001-10-31T14:37:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by poohpah chalupa \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by evilhanz \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by Crafter\_Man \* > > > \*\* > > > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > > > \*Originally posted by Anachronism \* > > > > **Who has the right of way?** > > > > > > The guy with the bigger car. \*\* > > > > Actually, it’s the guy driving the crappiest car. 😉 \*\* > > Here in Cali, it’s the guy with the Benz or BMW. Anyone else is squat. \*\* Nah, the drunk driver has the right of way.