When making a right turn

Explanation

You pass through the junction first.

In the picture the traffic controller has extended his right arm forward and you see him from his left side; in this position movement in all directions is free for rubber-tyred vehicles and a right turn is unimpeded. The passenger car on the right sees that same signal from behind the controller's back and for it movement is prohibited; that is why that car must wait and you perform the manoeuvre.

The key rule is that when a traffic controller is running a junction, his signal takes the place of the light, the priority signs and the "obstacle on the right" rule. So the first thing you must do is read the orientation of the controller's chest, back and sides; any analysis before that identification is useless.

The trap is that the presence of a car on the right instinctively creates the feeling "I must give way". But that car has no right to move at this moment, and someone with no right to move has no priority to receive either. Even so, the law does not excuse you from caution: before turning the wheel, make sure the other driver really has stayed stopped and has seen the controller's signal.

• Seeing a car on the right quickly creates the feeling that you must give way; but the controller's signal is seen by that car from behind his back and its movement is prohibited.

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