Are you obliged to give way to the tram driver in this situation?

Explanation

Obliged; you must give way to the tram.

The tram on the left has signalled and wants to take its path across in front of you. The governing rule is simple: when the signal permits both of you to move, **the rail vehicle takes precedence** — regardless of whether it comes from your left or your right, and regardless of whether you are going straight or turning.

If your movement is being made on the green arrow of an additional section, it is stricter still: the arrow of an additional section gives "permission to move", not "priority". A driver who enters a junction on the arrow of an additional section is obliged to give way to all vehicles moving from other directions on a permitting signal. So by both lines of reasoning the conclusion is the same: the tram first.

The safety reason is technical too: a tram cannot leave the rail line and its braking distance is several times a passenger car's. If you go forward on the assumption that "he is coming from the left so I am right", the tram can neither turn nor stop in time. That is the common exam trap: the right-hand rule is not applied to a tram.

The two exceptions that destroy the tram's advantage, neither of which applies here: a tram moving on the arrow of an additional section accompanied by a red light, and a tram coming out of the depot.

• "I am not obliged" is right when the tram itself is moving on the arrow of an additional section accompanied by red, or is leaving the depot; neither is visible in this picture. The mere fact that the tram comes from the left does not destroy its advantage.

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