# Yellow Diamond Priority Signs



## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

Are they common where you live? In the UK they don't exist, and in Portugal, although they are in the highway code, I have only ever seen one somewhere near to Aveiro.


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## Sponsor (Mar 19, 2006)

Frequent in Poland. I prefer "no sign = priority" rule instead cause there is too many signs on our roadsides.


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## x-type (Aug 19, 2005)

In HR they are everywhere.


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## Gareth (Apr 27, 2004)

We get by without them perfectly fine in the UK, as well as pretty much everywhere outside of Europe. Much of Europe though, historically at least, has that weird yield to traffic from the right rule as default.


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## niterider (Nov 3, 2009)

In the UK and Ireland there is the tried and tested rule that you always give way/yield to traffic on the right (_or the left if you are on continental roads_) - unless otherwise indicated.
Works fine


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## Norsko (Feb 22, 2007)

In Norway these are everywhere:


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## Grisent (Jul 18, 2010)

Used quite a lot in Estonia, although mostly on highways, where it is typically combined with a road number.


DSC_1130 by Grisent, on Flickr


DSC_0728 by Grisent, on Flickr


DSC_0940 by Grisent, on Flickr

Since I am not aware of any equal-priority intersections on highways (that would be a rather bad idea anyway), diamond signs there do not serve much more than a decorative purpose. Basically, on highway you can expect to always have a priority by default.


In town, it is a bit more complicated. 95% of all intersections are prioritized, but diamond signs are quite rare -- if you have priority, you are expected to know it yourself. But on the other hand, if an intersection is totally unmarked, the give-way-to-the-right rule applies.

Which means that in case of doubt, there is only one (and not very convenient) way to make sure whether you have priority or not. You need to peek around the corner; if you glimpse the backside of a triangular give-way sign on the intersecting street, then *you* have priority. If not, then it probably is an equal crossing.


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## Norsko (Feb 22, 2007)

Here they are almost allways combined with road number and speed limit sign.


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## keber (Nov 8, 2006)

^^ This priority sign diamond looks quite useless here.

Here in Slovenia we have them only on bigger intesections with traffic lights and on some roads, where road priority could be doubtful.


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## AlexisMD (Mar 13, 2010)

everywere in eastern Europe


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## RKC (Jun 16, 2007)

yes they are used together with the yield sign (white triangle with red edges upside down). if one road is mainroad then the road crossing it has to have a yield sign (or stop sign in more dangerous junctions). 
If the roads are equal then we follow the right hand rule (incase of small streets and corners with both roads at equal and low traffic.

It is either one or the other.

(in Hungary)


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## RKC (Jun 16, 2007)

niterider said:


> In the UK and Ireland there is the tried and tested rule that you always give way/yield to traffic on the right (_or the left if you are on continental roads_) - unless otherwise indicated.
> Works fine


in mainland europe its right hand like in UK. i know its strange.

I think these things should be universal, bacuse if you are unavare there are differences and you go to a the other side of europe for example and you might have an accident because of this.


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## Fargo Wolf (Oct 23, 2009)

Don't have them in Canada.


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

Looks like Portugal in the UK are pretty rare in Europe in not really having this sign. (Ok, it's in the pt higheway code, but as I said in the 1st post I've oonly seen it there once)


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## Rebasepoiss (Jan 6, 2007)

Grisent said:


> In town, it is a bit more complicated. 95% of all intersections are prioritized, but diamond signs are quite rare -- if you have priority, you are expected to know it yourself. But on the other hand, if an intersection is totally unmarked, the give-way-to-the-right rule applies.


The diamond sign is most often used in towns when the road which has priority turns. Like this:


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## g.spinoza (Jul 21, 2010)

They're used in Italy, but not very common.


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## LTomi (Jun 1, 2009)

These signs are very common in Hungary. In most cases, they are used to mark highways outside cities, but sometimes they are used in cities to mark priority. However, you often have to check if there is a stop sign or a yield sign at the other entrance of the intersection.


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## ABRob (Feb 10, 2008)

These signs should be common in all countrys that signed the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

Maxx☢Power;68434239 said:


> What's weird about it? Someone has to yield, right? What's the rule in the UK?


Don't know about the UK, but in the US, intersections are controlled by stop signs (or lights and so on), and when one road at an intersection with stop signs is clearly less important than the other one, the less important road is the one that has to stop.
The European priority-to-the-right concept is completely unknown here.


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## niterider (Nov 3, 2009)

Penn's Woods said:


> Don't know about the UK, but in the US, intersections are controlled by stop signs (or lights and so on), and when one road at an intersection with stop signs is clearly less important than the other one, the less important road is the one that has to stop.
> The European priority-to-the-right concept is completely unknown here.


Sorry I was unclear - what I meant was that sometimes on continental Europe you can be driving down a 'main' street but must yield/give way to traffic coming from the right, even if it's coming off a side street onto 'your' street.

In the UK and Ireland this rule doesn't exist - hence we don't need the diamond priority sign to clarify priority.

We don't have the equivalent of North American 4-way stops etc - where it is intended for all traffic to slow down in such scenarios, roundabouts would most likely be used where possible.


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

In Portugal, the traffic from the right goes first rule does exist, but people simply give way to the major road, simply because they don't want to be crashed into :lol: Most junctions have stop or give way signs anyway.

In the UK, I have never seen all way stops, but I have seen an all way give way before, and one of the road websites has a page on a neighbourhood in Nottingham (I think) full of all way give ways.
The case of an all way give way that I know is on Feltham High Street. Traffic coming from the southbound High Street's bus lane has a give way line, traffic from the High Street southbound also face a give way line, as does traffic coming from Victoria Road.


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## dizee (Apr 3, 2006)

The Irish way is a little complicated.

Most of the time the priority is assumed unless there are yield or stop signs or and/or markings. No need to use the priority diamond (though it might be reassuring).

However the higher class road should have priority if it's not explicitly marked. The class of the road is shown by the advance junction warning signs, the little diagram will have equally weighted lines or one line will be thicker if that road is the higher class one (this sounds more confusing than it is). I.E. a regional road will yield to a national one, a local yields to a regional etc.

If there's a junction with two roads of equal importance, and it's unmarked, the yield to the right rule applies. Basically an invisible roundabout exists. 

In practice the (lack of) priority is nearly always clearly marked by road markings and the presence of yield or stop signs.


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## bozata90 (Dec 8, 2008)

In Bulgaria the rule for priority to the right-comer will only be used on streets that are obviously same level, I mean a small street coming to an avenue will certainly not have priority. In most of the cases, tough, there is additional marking with a sign.


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## LukeWilliamson (Feb 16, 2010)

In the UK there is no default priority rule - so signs always dictate who has priority (i.e. you always have priority unless there is a "give way" sign).

In Ireland, theoretically, at unmarked crossing yield to the right still applies, but is very rare.

Problem is when a set of traffic lights goes, there's no rule! At least in Europe on rural roads, you know if there's no sign.


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

LukeWilliamson said:


> In the UK there is no default priority rule - so signs always dictate who has priority (i.e. you always have priority unless there is a "give way" sign).
> 
> In Ireland, theoretically, at unmarked crossing yield to the right still applies, but is very rare.
> 
> Problem is when a set of traffic lights goes, there's no rule! At least in Europe on rural roads, you know if there's no sign.


In Portugal, sometimes traffic lights have a stop or give way sign attached to them, especially if they are turned of a lot. There's a traffic light junction in Figueira, that is off quite often (on Sunday's I think)

In regards to the UK, there is no specific rule at turned off traffic lights, you have to "proceed with caution". This probably make sit a all way stop in effect.


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## Gareth (Apr 27, 2004)

^^ The junction is equal priority, when the traffic lights are out, although what often happens is the side road ends up backlogged with traffic unable to make it into the intersection.


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## nerdly_dood (Mar 23, 2007)

As an American, and being used to American signage, that sign tells me:
*HEY!*

It specifies no specific hazard, just the vague possibility that somewhere ahead your vehicle may be compelled to force-feed you the windshield and/or steering wheel.


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## TheCat (Apr 21, 2006)

In Canada (at least Ontario), the priority-from-the-right rule does officially exist and is in the books, but in practice it is never applied, and frankly, exactly because we have neither the yellow diamond nor the priority intersection sign (i.e. fat arrow going through a narrow line), it is impossible to really apply it - in other words, it would be dangerous to do so.

The only way you would know that you have to yield to the right is by inspecting the intersecting road and making sure there is no yield or stop sign there - but that never happens in practice and no one does that. I guess the rule exists in the books simply as a default condition, just in case.

However, I like not having this system though (in other words, I like the UK-style system we have in North America). The priorite-a-droite system does make sense, but I think that in practice in modern conditions it is unnecessarily complicated. For example, it is unintuitive to have to yield to the right at a T-intersection, driving through the "top" of the T.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

nerdly_dood said:


> As an American, and being used to American signage, that sign tells me:
> *HEY!*
> 
> It specifies no specific hazard, just the vague possibility that somewhere ahead your vehicle may be compelled to force-feed you the windshield and/or steering wheel.


That's not weird, since you're not used to such signs. However, once you understand its meaning, you can drive in several dozen countries which have maybe over 60 languages and still understand the signs. That's the whole concept. Such a thing doesn't work in the United States, which is almost as large as a continent, with fewer foreign vehicles with drivers that do not understand English and a large amount of the population who will never go to a country with another language in their entire life.


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## Glodenox (Mar 26, 2007)

In Belgium, the Yellow Diamond Priority signs are used very often on all priority roads. If nothing is signed (though very often the sign below, meaning "intersection" is then used), it's the usual priority from the right.










Very often the Diamond Priority sign gets accompanied or replaced with this sign that shows to drivers on the priority roads that there is an intersection ahead in which they have priority:









There are many variations of this sign, all meant to make clearer to the driver in which way that road connects to the priority road.

I feel that this sign is a lot clearer than the Yellow Diamond sign because it could also be understood by people who don't know our signs too well.

Up until a couple of years ago we had a peculiarity in the system though: if a vehicle coming from the right on a regular intersection would stop, it would lose its priority. I never understood why they did this because it only caused accidents... They changed it now so that someone coming from the right will always keep their priority, even if they stop.

Greetings,
Glodenox


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## RKC (Jun 16, 2007)

niterider said:


> Sorry I was unclear - what I meant was that sometimes on continental Europe you can be driving down a 'main' street but must yield/give way to traffic coming from the right, even if it's coming off a side street onto 'your' street.


if that happens you aren't on a main street but on an equal street that is crossed by another equal street.

it might look like your road is bigger but actually isn't a main road. Its not really about size, but traffic volumes and other local factors. If you are on a main road
you have right of way and you will *not* have to yield to vehicles from the right.


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## Grisent (Jul 18, 2010)

Glodenox said:


>


These, too, are standard Vienna Convention signs.

I am still intrigued that UK and Ireland also have yielding-to-the-right, contrary to the continental rule. 

OK, imagining the intersection as a tiny roundabout definitely helps. And as I now see, the Brits & Irish therefore do not need "Give Way" signs on roundabout entrances. We here in mainland Europe do, since otherwise entering traffic would have priority, as per the the right-hand rule.

There's just one possible downside to the British & Irish rule—that I can see. If driver is sitting on the right, then the car's A-pillar obstructs the view and makes traffic on the right actually harder to observe.


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

Grisent said:


> These, too, are standard Vienna Convention signs.
> 
> I am still intrigued that UK and Ireland also have yielding-to-the-right, contrary to the continental rule.
> 
> ...


In the UK and Ireland, give way/yield signs are common but not universal.

In the UK, there is a rule saying that you have to give way to traffic already on a roundabout. This law also exists in Portugal, as far as I know, as an exeption to roundabouts.

P.S, I did some research and I found that indeed, in Portugal there is an exception for roundabouts and you have to automatically give way, but that in the past this wasn't the case, and still isn't where posted.


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

This used to be used in the UK and it meant "junction ahead"










This does exist in the UK, and is quite common.


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## TheCat (Apr 21, 2006)

In Israel, as far as I know, the exception for roundabouts is also universal (so yield signs aren't needed, though they may be there), but the "roundabout" sign (blue circle with white circular arrows) must be present to classify the junction as a roundabout.

Because of this, there is a somewhat common intersection type that can be confusing - a junction that looks like a roundabout (though is usually more oblong), but with no such roundabout sign. It's not actually a roundabout because there is crossing traffic with yield signs in the middle of the "roundabout" from some directions. In that case there is no "roundabout" sign at the approach, which means that approaching traffic can just continue through straight as if it's a priority junction (but drivers turning left by going around will encounter yield signs).


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

In Greece we have triangle priority signs; i dont remember seen a yellow diamond sign. Probably we havent such signs


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

Maxx☢Power;68553667 said:


> How then do you clarify priority, what's the rule? Is the driver expected to know which road is the major and which is the minor and assume priority based on that? It all seems a little ambiguous..
> 
> ..which is why I think the priority to the right combined with the diamond priority sign (or any sign meaning the same) is a better solution. In my view traffic laws, signs and markings should always be as clear as possible to remove ambiguity, which this system does: You will always know who has priority and who must yield.
> 
> ...


No ambiguity at all: if you don't have a stop sign or yield sign (or a light, obviously) facing you, it's safe to assume the intersecting street does, so you have the right of way.

EDIT: what I meant in my post is, at an intersection that doesn't have lights, if one road's clearly more important than the other, the less important road will be the one that's given a stop or yield sign. I'm not suggesting the driver has to guess which road's the more important; just addressing how the authorities determine where to put the signs, so that the North American equivalent of the diamond priority marker would be, simply, signage on the intersecting roads to "protect" the priority road. I persist in finding bizarre the notion that someone could come tearing out of a parking garage into the Champs-Élysées with the confidence that that traffic would yield to him. Exagerrated example, perhaps, but thats what priorité à droite makes me think of....


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## Grisent (Jul 18, 2010)

Penn's Woods said:


> No ambiguity at all: if you don't have a stop sign or yield sign (or a light, obviously) facing you, it's safe to assume the intersecting street does, so you have the right of way.


According to this thread, it seems that yield-to-the-right intersections are rather an occasional occurrence than a prevalent rule. If the road administration is thoughtful and far-sighted, such intersections, if they have the slightest ambiguity (or limited visibility or whatnot) should be marked with the







sign. This is what I generally tend to see.

I agree that it is neither possible nor reasonable to mark ALL intersections, both equal and prioritized, with signage. So the driver still sometimes needs to tell apart an equal intersection from one where priority is unmarked (ie., no diamond). That's why I previously mentioned that sometimes you need to peek around the corner to see what sign is installed on the intersecting road. Especially if you are learning driver and doing a driving exam, for example 



Penn's Woods said:


> I persist in finding bizarre the notion that someone could come tearing out of a parking garage into the Champs-Élysées with the confidence that that traffic would yield to him. Exagerrated example, perhaps, but thats what priorité à droite makes me think of....


_Priorité à droite_ is the fallback case. But I took a look at my local traffic code and among a lot of other things, it says (in an approximate translation):

_Driver must give way to everybody else when entering the road
1) from a parking lot;
2) from a resting area;
3) from an area adjacent to road;
4) from a courtyard area, or its access road;
5) from an unpaved road._

I am reasonably sure that in my country this clause covers all the cases where an explicit "Give Way" sign has not been installed. Moreover, I assume that many other European countries have a similar clause in the traffic code. So, hold there with tearing into the Champs-Élysées...


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## Grisent (Jul 18, 2010)

DanielFigFoz said:


> This used to be used in the UK and it meant "junction ahead"


Do you mean like this one?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/4688170009/


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## urbanlover (Feb 14, 2005)

Penn's Woods said:


> No ambiguity at all: if you don't have a stop sign or yield sign (or a light, obviously) facing you, it's safe to assume the intersecting street does, so you have the right of way.


For intersecting traffic it isn't always clear. Since I can't read minds I have no idea if this person pulled into traffic because didn't see that the cross street didn't have a stop sign, but a more visable sign indicating priorty would be helpful.









Maxx☢Power;68577301 said:


> So, does that mean that in _every single_ intersection, one of the roads has either yield or stop signs? What about a large, suburban grid neighbourhood where all the streets have equal weight? Like this one, what's the rule here?
> 
> In Michigan, I've never seen an intersection where one street doesn't have a sign let alone in an area as urbanized as your link.


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## crazyknightsfan (Oct 14, 2005)

Australia used to have the 'give way to the right' rule. In the 1950s, in New South Wales at least, the 'priority road' system was established where certain arterial roads were given priority at all intersections. These were marked with the signs which are the subject of this thread. 

This system was seen to be such a success that it was expanded to all roads - the laws were changed in the 1980s to the 'T-junction rule'. In this rule, you have priority unless you approach a stop or yield (give way in Australia) sign OR if you are on the side-road approach to a T-junction.



Maxx☢Power;68577301 said:


> So, does that mean that in _every single_ intersection, one of the roads has either yield or stop signs? What about a large, suburban grid neighbourhood where all the streets have equal weight? Like this one, what's the rule here?


All intersections in Australia are either governed by signage indicating priority or are subject to the 'T-junction' rule. In general, local governments delegate priority to certain routes based on their local traffic management objectives - sometimes they might mixed it up completely in a gridded area to discourage through traffic by not providing a completely priority road.

For junctions with equal priority, either traffic signals or roundabouts are used. There are only a handful of 'four way stops' in the entire country and these are generally pretty confusing for drivers, doing a good job at discouraging unnecessary through traffic. The NSW Roads & Traffic Authority could not even give me a straight answer on who has priority at such an intersection under our road rules.


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## 54°26′S 3°24′E (Oct 26, 2007)

^^ This is not entirely correct. Review page 85 / fig. 3 of the NSW road user manual: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/licensing/downloads/road_users_handbook.pdf

I.e.: In Australia (like in the  US, BTW) the basic rule is that you have to give way for vehicles coming from the right. Not all intersections are signed or are clearly a T-junction.

I must say that the right of way rules was one of the few issues I really disliked when I lived in Sydney. I can't believe that they introduced that stupid T-junction rule as late as in the 1980s. Forcing the drivers to consider whether a junction is of a T-type or not is to ask for troubles (hence the prevalence of "smash repair shops" in Sydney?). The rule about having to yield for vehicles coming from the right is not very logical for a country driving on the left. The problem is that if you want to cross oposing traffic in a junction in order to turn to the right, you all of a sudden have to yield for traffic coming from the left!

To sum up, in an unsigned junction in Australia:

You have to give way to traffic from the left (and right) if you decides that you are on the "stem" of a T-intersection
You have to give way to traffic from the left (i.e. traffic coming from the opposing lane) if you want to turn right
Otherwise you have to give way to traffic from the right!

Clearly, I prefer the continental Europe solution: Always give way to traffic from to the right unless otherwise signed.... (At least some states in the US also have that T-junction exception, but in the US most junctions are signed anyway).


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

To be honest, I can't think of any unsigned junction in either the UK or in Portugal. In both countries people assume that if there is no give way or stop sign, they have priority, as <> signs in the UK don't exist, and in Portugal are very very very very very very rare, i've only seen one.


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

54°26′S 3°24′E;68972775 said:


> [....]
> 
> Clearly, I prefer the US / continental Europe solution: Always give way to traffic from to the right unless otherwise signed....


Except that's not the US rule, which is assume you have the right of way unless otherwise signed (with the exception of the very rare uncontrolled intersection, and I still don't know how to address the problem of how to tell the difference between an uncontrolled intersection and one where you have the priority over conflicting traffic).


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## 54°26′S 3°24′E (Oct 26, 2007)

^^ Not sure about PA, but the rules in Minnesota are clearly not in line with what you are claiming. Rule number one on "Right of Way and Yielding":


> When two vehicles reach an intersection at the same time, and
> there is no traffic light or signal, the driver of the vehicle on the
> left must yield to the vehicle on the right.


No mentioning of the "Assume that you have the right of way" nonsense; unless you are driving on the "bar" of a T-junction, you always need to check that traffic from the right indeed have a stop or yield sign. But true, most junctions are (alas) signed as you say, but for instance Minneapolis at least used to have uncontrolled junctions in some outer suburban residential streets.


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

54°26′S 3°24′E;68973563 said:


> ^^ Not sure about PA, but the rules in Minnesota are clearly not in line with what you are claiming. Rule number one on "Right of Way and Yielding":
> 
> 
> No mentioning of the "Assume that you have the right of way" nonsense; unless you are driving on the "bar" of a T-junction, you always need to check that traffic from the right indeed have a stop or yield sign. But true, most junctions are (alas) signed as you say, but for instance Minneapolis at least used to have uncontrolled junctions in some outer suburban residential streets.


What I meant was, when you have no signage *facing you*, you can assume you have the right of way. And as a practical matter the Minnesota law, if taken literally, would require you to look side to side at every intersection to see whether there's an octagonal or triangular side facing the traffic on that street. And by the time you were in a position where you could see the back of that stop or yield sign, you're already in the intersection. And that is neither a "claim" nor "nonsense."


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## 54°26′S 3°24′E (Oct 26, 2007)

Penn's Woods said:


> What I meant was, when you have no signage *facing you*, you can assume you have the right of way.


But this is still untrue. Just for fun, I checked the PA drivers manual. First sentence on "NEGOTIATING INTERSECTIONS", p. 47:


> The law does not give anyone the right-of-way at intersections; it only says who must yield.


Rule #4:


> When two vehicles approach or enter an intersection from different roadways at or about the same time, drivers coming from the left must yield to vehicles coming from the right.


PA does not appear to have the T-junction rule, btw.


Penn's Woods said:


> And as a practical matter the Minnesota law, if taken literally, would require you to look side to side at every intersection to see whether there's an octagonal or triangular side facing the traffic on that street. And by the time you were in a position where you could see the back of that stop or yield sign, you're already in the intersection. And that is neither a "claim" nor "nonsense."


Here your assertion is correct, assuming that you don't slow down a bit, and that is why in fact the US could benefit from having a sign similar in meaning (but probably not appearance) to the Vienna convention yellow diamond sign. Your original claim is still nonsense (see above).


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## Penn's Woods (Apr 8, 2010)

54°26′S 3°24′E;68976313 said:


> But this is still untrue. Just for fun, I checked the PA drivers manual. First sentence on "NEGOTIATING INTERSECTIONS", p. 47:
> 
> 
> Rule #4:
> ...


I have been driving in the United States for nearly 30 years. Which means, among other things, that (1) I know what I'm talking about and (2) I have better manners than to call what other people are saying "nonsense."

I'd report your post, if there were a way to.


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## 54°26′S 3°24′E (Oct 26, 2007)

Penn's Woods said:


> I have been driving in the United States for nearly 30 years. Which means, among other things, that (1) I know what I'm talking about and (2) I have better manners than to call what other people are saying "nonsense."


Good to hear what driving in the US can do to you, I obviously should have stayed longer:lol:

However, that kind of argument will not get you very far in the courts, if you at some point happen to bump into someone not heard about the rule of "Penn's Woods". Oh, and by the way, this rule does not make sense because, if everybody followed it, it could obviously lead to accidents in uncontrolled junctions. No need to get offended.


> I'd report your post, if there were a way to.


You are welcome to, a ban would save me quite a bit of future time

Violation? Stating the facts, and thereby killing a, for some, fascinating discussion. Guilty as accused.....

I hope you will have a nice day, I am definately logging off this thread.


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## TheCat (Apr 21, 2006)

Well, according to the law, I must say that *54°26′S 3°24′E* is correct. Like I stated earlier in this thread (regarding Canada, but the law in the US is very similar for the most part), the law here is indeed pretty much identical to Europe or most other countries, for that matter - in an uncontrolled intersection, the vehicle on the right has priority.

The issue is that this "default" is unusable and not really enforceable in practice, exactly because we lack either of these two signs (and their variants):



















So yes, in theory, one may encounter a situation in Canada or the US where yielding to the right is required (and, in fact, it seems that there are locations in the US where that is the case, although it doesn't make sense to me).

However, in practice, because determining priority by looking at signs facing the other drivers is silly and dangerous, in most locales people just assume that if they do not have a clear indication to yield (e.g. stop sign, yield sign, etc.) then they must have the right of way. In most places (including here in Ontario) this assumption works because, indeed, virtually all intersections are controlled.

I am of the strong opinion though, that either the "yielding-to-the-right" law is removed from the books, or the aforementioned signs should be introduced. Since the latter will never happen (and it would be impractical to sign every intersection with them when the cross road has a yield or stop sign), then there needs to be guarantee by law that all intersections are controlled.


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## crazyknightsfan (Oct 14, 2005)

54°26′S 3°24′E;68972775 said:


> ^^ This is not entirely correct. Review page 85 / fig. 3 of the NSW road user manual: http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/licensing/downloads/road_users_handbook.pdf


That is an intersection with no signs, not a four-way stop. 



54°26′S 3°24′E;68972775 said:


> Not all intersections are signed or are clearly a T-junction.


I cannot think of a single intersection I have seen which has no signs or is not a T-junction and I have travelled quite extensively in Australia. Even the most remote public four-way junctions have signage.


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## brewerfan386 (Apr 24, 2009)

necro-post:


nerdly_dood said:


> As an American, and being used to American signage, that sign tells me:
> *HEY!*
> 
> It specifies no specific hazard, just the vague possibility that somewhere ahead your vehicle may be compelled to force-feed you the windshield and/or steering wheel.


^^


ChrisZwolle said:


> That's not weird, since you're not used to such signs. However, once you understand its meaning, you can drive in several dozen countries which have maybe over 60 languages and still understand the signs. That's the whole concept. Such a thing doesn't work in the United States, which is almost as large as a continent, with fewer foreign vehicles with drivers that do not understand English and a large amount of the population who will never go to a country with another language in their entire life.


It has nothing to do with language barriers (or Vienna), rather that here in the States we have a very similar sign which delineates roadway obstructions:








supporting language from the MUTCD: www.mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009r1r2/part2/part2c.htm#section2C64


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## Autobahn-mann (Mar 1, 2013)

A disambiguos case:








here are in north-eastern Italy, on a provincial road (similar to a county road) that ended at the ahead roundabout, but here there is the sign of end priority road.
So the local (urban) collector street who merge from right has the priority, because of right-hand priority rule
But this is a problem because the vehicle that are on principal road think to have the priority and it's dangerous becuase often the driven didn't seen the sign


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## TrentSteele (Jul 25, 2013)

Autobahn-mann said:


> A disambiguos case:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This seems rather misplaced. I'm guessing the road coming from the right has a lot more traffic and is considered the through road even though it doesn't look like that from the road layout. In that case, I can agree that it's logical, and it removes all ambiguity (as long as people pay attention and know the rules).

Also, the house at the end of the block has a face.


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## Autobahn-mann (Mar 1, 2013)

TrentSteele said:


> This seems rather misplaced. I'm guessing the road coming from the right has a lot more traffic and is considered the through road even though it doesn't look like that from the road layout. In that case, I can agree that it's logical, and it removes all ambiguity (as long as people pay attention and know the rules).
> 
> Also, the house at the end of the block has a face.


 The street merging from right doesn't have more traffic, and is long a hundred yards...
The principal road (who have to give the way to the minor), actually is a Provincial road, but until 15 years ago was a state road (and the heavy traffic from the near motorway came from here...
It's absurd that a major road have to give way to a minor urban street :bash:
This is the place https://maps.google.it/maps?q=Monte...=nLTfndxIvEq2BQtH8TjuOQ&cbp=11,331.04,,0,4.71
What house have a face?


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## SturmBeobachter (Jun 10, 2013)

Rule of the right hand should be long gone all over the Europe, it's primitive and sometimes really confusing, I can't figure out why it's so popular and commonly used here in Germany when it causes so many accidents.


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

If there are no signs, there has to be a rule, doesn't it? And I don't think only Europe has it. AFAIK, Australia has it too and I think priority goes to the one coming from the right (despite driving on the left).


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## flierfy (Mar 4, 2008)

SturmBeobachter said:


> Rule of the right hand should be long gone all over the Europe, it's primitive and sometimes really confusing, I can't figure out why it's so popular and commonly used here in Germany when it causes so many accidents.


Unlike the ignorance of drivers this simple rule is neither primitive nor does it cause collisions.


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

Autobahn-mann said:


> The street merging from right doesn't have more traffic, and is long a hundred yards...
> The principal road (who have to give the way to the minor), actually is a Provincial road, but until 15 years ago was a state road (and the heavy traffic from the near motorway came from here...
> It's absurd that a major road have to give way to a minor urban street :bash:
> This is the place https://maps.google.it/maps?q=Monte...=nLTfndxIvEq2BQtH8TjuOQ&cbp=11,331.04,,0,4.71
> What house have a face?


I also live in NE Italy but I never saw anything like this. The main road has always the priority.


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## volodaaaa (Apr 9, 2013)

italystf said:


> I also live in NE Italy but I never saw anything like this. The main road has always the priority.


But how do other drivers on the main street know they are on the main street. It there was no sign, it should be according to common traffic rules intersection with the right of way from the right.


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

volodaaaa said:


> But how do other drivers on the main street know they are on the main street. It there was no sign, it should be according to common traffic rules intersection with the right of way from the right.


No, we have yellow diamond priority signs and I understand their importance. I never saw a main road that gives priority to a small street.


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## Alqaszar (Jan 18, 2008)

The usage is not very standardized in different European county. In Austra, a "Bundesstraße" with a blue number board has prority, but not those with round yellow number board. So the diamond sign is not very common on Austria's main roads.

In germeny, for example, the "chopsticks" Autobahn signs implies the priority of the Autobahn traffic. But in Belgium, it's another thing: There, the diamond sign is used extensivly on the autoroutes/snelwegen.


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## volodaaaa (Apr 9, 2013)

Alqaszar said:


> The usage is not very standardized in different European county. In Austra, a "Bundesstraße" with a blue number board has prority, but not those with round yellow number board. So the diamond sign is not very common on Austria's main roads.


Really? I have cruised many roads in Niederosterreich and have seen lots of them. Moreover, there was a blue number board attached under it.


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