Priority problems become manageable when you identify the exact control before deciding who moves. Separate the traffic signal, the intersection layout and any protected crossing instead of treating a green light or first arrival as absolute priority.
Name the control, then apply its release condition
Start with signal colour and intended movement. Green allows travel, but it does not erase people or vehicles already using the intersection. Before turning, yield to pedestrians across the path and to traffic already inside. Red requires a complete stop at the stop line, crosswalk or intersection edge, whichever applies. A right turn can follow only when no sign prohibits it, the driver has yielded and the way is clear. Merely slowing is not the stop.
| Control | Method |
|---|---|
| School crossing guard | Confirm the road is limited to no more than 60 km/h and the prescribed upright sign is displayed; remain stopped until everyone clears and it is safe. |
| Uncontrolled intersection | Use first arrival, then the right-side tie rule for a simultaneous arrival. |
| Pedestrian crossover | Mark two zones: a vehicle ahead in the final thirty metres before the crossover, where a following vehicle's front stays behind its front, and the crossing occupied by a pedestrian. |
| Modern roundabout | Choose the indicated lane before entry and wait for circulating traffic before using a suitable gap. |
At an uncontrolled intersection, the earlier vehicle has priority. If arrival is simultaneous, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right. Size and speed do not break the tie. At a school crossing, do not substitute pedestrian-crossover rules. The guarded duty needs a road limit of no more than 60 km/h and the prescribed upright sign. It ends only after all people, including the guard, are off the roadway and movement is safe.
At a designated pedestrian crossover, picture two protected zones before moving. First ask whether the vehicle ahead has entered the final thirty metres before the crossover. If it has, keep the following vehicle's front behind that vehicle's front. Then scan the crossing. A pedestrian on the roadway closes it to arriving traffic, so stop before entering and wait until the pedestrian has left. Treat any vehicle already stopped there as a no-pass marker even when the pedestrian appears distant. For a modern roundabout, slow first, choose the lane indicated for the intended exit and yield at entry to circulating vehicles. Enter only after a suitable gap appears; entering traffic does not gain priority by accelerating.
The traps
- Using a timer at a guarded school crossing. The stop lasts until every person, including the guard, has cleared the roadway and movement is safe.
- Treating an empty crosswalk as permission to roll through red. Complete the stop at the applicable point, then yield and wait for a clear way before a permitted right turn.
- Using vehicle size to break a simultaneous-arrival tie. At an uncontrolled intersection, the driver on the left yields to the vehicle on the right.
- Passing a stopped vehicle because the pedestrian appears distant. At a designated pedestrian crossover, do not overtake that vehicle and wait until the pedestrian is off the roadway.
Try it
A driver has a green light and intends to turn left. A pedestrian is crossing the driver's intended path and a vehicle remains in the intersection. What does the green light allow?
- Turn immediately because green gives absolute priority over everyone already in the intersection
- Yield only to the vehicle, not the pedestrian
- Enter behind the pedestrian without checking the vehicle
- Move only after yielding to the vehicle and the pedestrian
A driver approaches a modern Ontario roundabout and plans to take an exit that the signs assign to the left lane. What is the proper entry plan?
- Enter from any open lane and change lanes inside the roundabout after passing the first exit
- Use the signed lane, yield to circulating traffic and enter only into an adequate gap
- Stop inside the roundabout to let entering traffic merge
- Accelerate into the circle because entering traffic has priority