Are you obliged to give way when making a right turn?

Explanation

Obliged; moving on the green arrow of an additional section brings no priority.

In the picture the main light is red, and in the additional section, beside the lower lens, the green right-turn arrow is lit. Your car's right indicator is flashing too. That arrow says only one thing: "you may move in the direction of the arrow". It says nothing about priority.

The governing rule: when moving in the direction of an arrow lit in the additional section simultaneously with a red or amber light, the driver is obliged to give way to vehicles coming from other directions. In the picture, the light-coloured car on the right is passing along the crossing road — a direction whose light permits movement — so it goes first and you after it.

Safety reason: the green arrow was created only so that the right-turning flow is not wasted during the red; if that same arrow also conferred priority, the turning car would drive straight under the wheels of a flow that has a full green and enters the junction at normal speed. The result is a side impact at the junction's exit point.

A short point to memorise: "green arrow with red = you may go, but you are at the back of the priority queue". In practice this means turning your head before the turn and checking the crossing flow, rather than simply trusting the lit arrow.

• This option confuses the green colour of the arrow with priority; because the main light is red, the arrow's path has merely been opened and precedence still belongs to the flow coming from other directions.

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