Right of way rules, one diagram at a time
Every rule below is a picture: the amber car owes the yield, the green one goes. The right of way questions sit inside your state's signs paper, so start there.
California
CA60 questions on signs, signals and right of way. 50 right to pass.
More states are being added. All US practice tests.
Almost no traffic law grants right of way. Read the statutes behind the questions and you find a list of drivers who must yield, never a driver who wins. So one car in every diagram is amber, and that duty is yours until taking the gap would cause a crash.
People on foot, and on bikes
These come first because almost nothing excuses them. Paint does not create the crossing, and a horn does not clear it.
Someone in the crossing
The driver yields.
At an intersection the crossing exists in law whether or not anyone painted it.
Pulling out of a driveway
The driver leaving the driveway yields.
The duty runs to everyone on the road, and to anyone on the sidewalk first.
- A white cane or a guide dog carries absolute right of way in every state. No horn: sound is what they navigate by. (Uniform Vehicle Code, blind pedestrian right of way)
- A cyclist going straight in a bike lane keeps priority over a car turning right across it. That crash is the right hook. (Uniform Vehicle Code, turning across a bicycle lane)
- Stop for a school bus on red flashers, arm out, until the lights go off and not until you judge the children clear. (Uniform Vehicle Code, overtaking school buses)
- On a right turn on red the stop and the yield are two duties, not one. Leaving a driveway is heavier again. (Uniform Vehicle Code, pedestrians right of way in crosswalks; entering roadway from private drive; Florida Statutes s. 316.075)
Turning and joining traffic
A green light settles your conflict with cross traffic and nothing else. Anything you take from a moving stream is a gap that stream gave you.
Turning left across traffic
The turning driver yields.
A green with no arrow makes the turn legal and leaves the conflict with you.
Your road ends at another
The driver whose road ends yields.
The through road keeps priority both ways, sign or no sign.
- The turn owes every oncoming lane and the crossing it lands in. A wave from the lane that stopped changes neither. (Uniform Vehicle Code, vehicle turning left; pedestrians right of way in crosswalks)
- Florida, Texas, California each allow a left on a steady red, one-way onto one-way, after a complete stop unless a sign forbids it. (Florida Statutes s. 316.075; Transportation Code s. 544.007(d); California Vehicle Code s. 21453(b))
- Joining a lane that already has traffic, you yield, so the ramp is for speed and not for stopping. Never pass where you cannot see far enough to finish and return: crests, curves, intersections, railroad crossings. Right lanes travel, left lane passes. (Uniform Vehicle Code, entering controlled access highways; overtaking and passing; limitations on overtaking; driving on right side of roadway)
- Siren behind you: clear the intersection, then pull right and stop. A vehicle already stopped at the roadside is the other duty, slow and move over. (Uniform Vehicle Code, operation on approach of emergency vehicles; Move Over laws, adopted in every state; California AB 390, effective 1 January 2026)
- An unsigned T is not an uncontrolled intersection: your road ends, so you wait. The double solid lines beside a carpool lane hold the merge until a marked opening. (Uniform Vehicle Code, right of way at T-intersections; California Vehicle Code s. 21655.8)
At intersections
Nothing here ranks drivers by size, speed or courtesy. The junction decides, and where it cannot, the order people arrived does.
Four-way stop, arriving together
The driver with a vehicle on their right yields.
Arrival order settles most four-way stops. When two arrive together it is the driver on the left who yields, which is the same rule stated from the other side.
Entering a roundabout
The driver at the entry yields.
Traffic already in the circle keeps priority, and US circles turn counterclockwise.
- Only a genuine tie reaches the tiebreak: the vehicle on the right goes, straight ahead beats turning. The car on the right, not the car turning right. (Uniform Vehicle Code, stop intersections)
- A flashing red is a stop sign in full, and a signal showing no indication at all is treated the same way. (Uniform Vehicle Code, traffic control signal indications; inoperative traffic signals; Transportation Code s. 544.007(i))
- Uncontrolled and arriving together, the driver on the left yields. Uncontrolled means no sign and no signal, not no duty. (Uniform Vehicle Code, right of way at intersections)
- Signal your exit right, and never stop inside the circle to let a waiting driver in. (Federal MUTCD, 11th Edition (FHWA))
What each state sets for itself
The duties above are structural. What a state sets is the numbers: how far you slow, what divider cancels the school bus stop, how much room a cyclist is owed.
Florida
- Oncoming traffic is released from the school bus stop only by a raised barrier or an unpaved median five feet or wider. Paint does not count. (Florida Statutes s. 316.172)
- Stop-arm cameras: the registered owner takes a $200 civil penalty. (Florida Statutes s. 316.173)
- Move Over covers any roadside vehicle showing hazard lights, flares or emergency signage, a disabled car included. (Florida Statutes s. 316.126, as expanded 1 January 2025)
- At least 25 Class E questions must cover bicycle and pedestrian safety. (Florida Statutes s. 322.12(3)(a)3.)
Drill these in the Florida statute questions, or start at the Florida hub.
Texas
- Undivided road, both directions stop for a school bus on red flashers. A first offense costs $500 to $1,250. (Transportation Code s. 545.066)
- Move Over: change lanes, or slow to 20 mph under the limit. Tow trucks, highway maintenance and utility vehicles count, not only police. (Transportation Code s. 545.157)
Drill these in the Texas statute questions, or start at the Texas hub.
California
- No parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk, marked or unmarked, or 15 feet at a curb extension. (California Vehicle Code s. 22500)
- Undivided road, both directions stop for a school bus flashing red until the children are across. (California Driver's Handbook (DL 600), school buses)
- Pass a bicycle with three feet of clearance, and change lanes where there is a lane to use. (California Vehicle Code s. 21760)
- A slow driver on a two-lane highway turns off once five vehicles are lined up behind. (California Vehicle Code s. 21656)
Drill these in the California statute questions, or start at the California hub.
Sources: Federal Highway Administration (MUTCD, 11th Edition); Uniform Vehicle Code; Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; Texas Department of Public Safety, Driver License Division; California Department of Motor Vehicles. Checked September 10, 2026. Original practice questions, not the official examination questions, and not affiliated with or endorsed by any state licensing agency.