Right of way
An intersection with no signs or signals at all
Neither road has a sign or a signal. Car B is approaching from your left. Who yields?
Neither road has a sign or a signal. Car B is approaching from your left. Who yields?
Uncontrolled intersection: the rule
The rule
At an uncontrolled intersection, a driver yields to any vehicle approaching from the right.
The reasoning
Residential grids are full of these. With nothing posted, the same right hand convention applies, so the driver with a vehicle on their right yields. If a vehicle is clearly in the intersection first, it keeps its priority.
The usual mistake
Drivers treat the wider or busier looking road as the main road. Width does not create priority. Unless a sign or a marking says otherwise, the right hand rule decides it.
What the state codes require
California
At an uncontrolled intersection, a driver on the left yields to a vehicle arriving from the right at about the same time.
Practice the California testTexas
At an intersection with no traffic control device, a driver stops and yields to a vehicle that has entered from the right or is approaching from the right close enough to be a hazard.
Practice the Texas testNew York
At an intersection without signs or signals, the driver on the left yields to a vehicle arriving from the right at about the same time.
Practice the New York test