The driver of which vehicle must give way?

Explanation

The bus driver.

This junction is of equal status: it has no traffic light, no "priority road" sign and no "give way" sign. At such a junction the only criterion is the right-hand rule.

The bus approaches the junction along its own road, and the motorcyclist comes from the road that lies on the bus's right. So priority belongs to the motorcyclist, and the bus driver must slow down and let him through. If the two vehicles were swapped, the answer would swap too; colour, size and type of vehicle do not enter this calculation.

Two common traps are gathered in this one picture. First, a bus is a large public vehicle and many people imagine that size or public service confers priority; it does not. A bus gains priority in only one specific case: when pulling out from a marked stop inside a built-up area, which is not the issue here. Second, rails laid along the bus's road do not by themselves make that road "the priority road"; a tram's priority belongs to the tram itself, and there is no tram in this scene.

Safety reason: the motorcyclist is the most defenceless and the bus the heaviest user of this junction. The fixed right-hand rule takes the decision out of momentary bargaining, and the driver with the better view and the better stopping capability takes on the duty to give way.

• The motorcyclist enters the junction from the right; he is the one receiving priority, not giving it. A motorcycle being small brings no duty to give way.

Sources and content coverage · Report a content error