We've all heard stories about road rage and drivers who make obscene gestures. So we were amused when we saw the story "
When courtesy turns dangerous" in the most recent issue of the New York edition of
AAA's Car & Travel magazine. The story warns ominously that being too polite can lead to an accident, especially at an intersection. And that "courtesy standoffs" can be risky.
"Nowhere does courtesy affect safety more than in right-of-way situations. Simply put, right-of-way situations involve the question 'Who goes first?' In theory, the rules of the road always provide the proper etiquette to answer the question, but in the real world, people—not rules—grant right of way," the article states.
The wrong thing to do in a right-of-way situation is to blindly accept a courteous "go ahead" wave from another driver. Because that driver may not be looking behind or around her own car. "You can never assume that a driver is looking out for you in a truly safe manner, even if he or she means well," the article continues.
So who does go first? To refresh our memory, we cruised over to the
Rules of the road section of the
SafeNY Web site. Here's the right thing to do in a right-of-way situation.
- A driver approaching an intersection must yield the right of way to traffic already in the intersection.
- If drivers approaching from opposite directions reach an intersection at about the same time, a driver turning left must yield to approaching traffic going straight or turning right.
- At intersections not controlled by signs or signals, or where two or more drivers stop at STOP signs at the same time and they are at right angles to one another, the driver on the left must yield the right of way to the driver on the right.
- A vehicle entering a roadway from a driveway, alley, private road or any other place that is not a roadway must stop and yield the right of way to traffic on the roadway, and to pedestrians.
- Drivers must yield to pedestrians using marked or unmarked crosswalks.
- You may not enter an intersection if traffic is backed up on the other side and you cannot get all the way through the intersection. Wait until traffic ahead clears, so you don't block the intersection.
- A driver entering a traffic circle, or rotary, must yield the right of way to drivers already in the circle.
- And, of course, yield the right of way when an emergency vehicle approaches.
—Mary H.J. Farrell
