How Well Do You Know Right of Way Intersection & Turn Road Rules?

Do you ever get into deep discussions with your coworkers about a topic that turns into something like everyone has a different opinion and won't give in to your opinion which just happens to be the correct one? Well I do, but usually I end up with the wrong opinion. Welcome to my life.

But one topic I know fairly well, and I should, is about road rules for intersections and the right of way. That was a recent coworker topic with different opinions, which made me a bit nervous, since I don't think I want to be sharing the road with these people.

The topic was about right of way at an intersection and turns. There are set rules for all these of course. The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles website states that "traffic signs, signals and pavement markings do not always resolve traffic conflicts."

What that means is for example, if you are coming to an intersection with the green light, and you want to go straight through, but there is a vehicle already in the intersection turning  left, that vehicle, not you, have the right of way. You must let them complete their turn.

The NYSDMV website does note that if two vehicles come to the intersection at the same time, and the vehicle in the opposite direction is going straight through or turning right while the other is planning on turning left, that turning left vehicle must yield to the vehicle going straight or turning right.

Something I notice happening a lot in Downtown Binghamton is, when vehicles are backed up to an intersection with the green light in their favor, where a vehicle may choose to block the intersection while getting as close to the vehicle in front of it as possible. The law states that if you can not get through the intersection completely, you must wait until traffic ahead of you moves enough for you to get though. You are not to block the intersection.

I see this happen many times at the corner of State and Court Street along with the intersection of Washington and Court Street. It's especially  a mess during the busy afternoon drivetime. It prevents traffic from the roads that get the green light from getting through the intersection, depending on the direction they plan on taking.

There are more interesting rule of the road that we may have forgotten since taking that driver's license test long ago. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take a look at then as a refresher from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles website. Who knows, it may keep you from getting into a fender bender and/or a traffic ticket.

via New York State Department of Motor Vehicles