You might have heard the term “right of way” before. However, you may not be one hundred percent clear on what it means or who has it in some circumstances.
In this article, we’ll examine the term “right of way” from a legal standpoint. This term often comes up in car accident lawsuits, so it pays to know at least a little about it, regardless of whether you drive or not.
What Exactly Does Right of Way Mean?
“Right of way” is a legal term. It applies when someone has the legal right to pass along a specific route or over property that someone else controls.
However, it also means when a ship, vehicle, or pedestrian has the legal right to pass through a place or situation before others can. In other words, you have the right of way if you have legal precedent to move through an intersection, through a crosswalk, etc., before other vehicles, ships, or pedestrians can.
Having the right of way matters a great deal because that’s how you determine who should go first in various situations. If someone ignores the right of way, whether they’re piloting a ship, walking, or driving a vehicle, they can cause an accident.
For example, if someone does not yield the right of way, and they go out of turn, they can cause a vehicle rollover accident. Even if the car that went out of turn does not strike another vehicle, another driver can panic and make a driving mistake. Single-vehicle rollovers can happen this way, and they account for almost 85% of rollover fatalities.
How Can You Tell Who Gets to Go?
When you’re trying to figure out the right of way, from a legal standpoint, precedent is the determining factor. In driver’s education classes, you’ll learn who has the right of way in various scenarios.
For instance, if you have a four-way intersection with stop signs at each entry point and two cars approach, the driver that gets there first can go before the other does. If you seem to arrive at precisely the same moment, you must make eye contact with the other driver. You can either wave them through and then go yourself, or you can look for acknowledgment that they want you to go first.
If you’re a pedestrian, you can generally walk in a crosswalk and cross the street before a car can go. However, if the light is against you, and the driver has a green signal, they have the right of way.
Why Does Right of Way Matter?
Right of way exists because if it didn’t, there would be chaos. Drivers, ship captains, cyclists, and pedestrians would not know when to go, and mass confusion would reign.
The right of way is law, not a suggestion. If you have the right of way, then you have to go because if you don’t, you’re keeping everyone from getting to where they need to be. You have to be responsible when you’re out in public, regardless of whether you’re driving, walking, on a bike, and so forth.
What Are the Penalties if You Don’t Follow the Right of Way?
If you choose to ignore the right of way, then all kinds of things can happen, none of them pleasant. If you go out of turn at an intersection, you can hit another car whose turn it is to go. You might strike a pedestrian in a crosswalk or a cyclist who chose that moment to leave the sidewalk.
You might get a ticket if a cop sees you acting that way, or there could be much more severe penalties if you injured someone. If you hurt someone because you decided to ignore that they were in a crosswalk, you might face a wrongful death lawsuit and significant jail time.
The courts might take away your license, either temporarily or permanently. You will have to take public transportation and probably attend remedial driver’s education classes.
What if You Can’t Tell Who Has the Right of Way?
When most people consider the right of way, they think about the classic four-way intersection scenario and which car should go first. That does happen frequently, but sometimes you get less obvious situations.
If you’re ever unsure about who has the right of way and who should go first, look for visual signals. You can make eye contact and wave someone to go, or they can do the same for you.
