Is a tram driver obliged to give way to vehicles coming from other directions when moving at a green traffic light?

Explanation

Obliged.

The light in the picture has one red lamp lit and beside it an additional section with a green arrow pointing left. This green is not the green of the main phase; it is merely a permission for one specific movement within a phase that is red for your direction. That is why even a tram turning left on this signal is obliged to give way to vehicles coming from other directions.

This question is designed precisely to break a mental habit. The candidate has learned "the tram takes precedence" and applies it blindly. But the tram's precedence is conditional: a tram takes precedence over a non-rail vehicle only in equal conditions — that is, when the signals or the priority indications are the same for both. A tram moving on the arrow of an additional section is not in equal conditions, so it loses its precedence. Likewise, a tram leaving the depot gives way to everyone.

The safety reason is clear too: a tram can neither change its path nor stop within a short distance, so if it enters a junction relying on an imaginary precedence, a vehicle with a full green will have no way out. Memorise: the arrow of an additional section cancels the tram's precedence.

• This option relies on the general rule "a tram always takes precedence", but that rule is valid only in equal conditions, and moving on the arrow of an additional section does not make the conditions equal.

Sources and content coverage · Report a content error