Who Has the Right-of-Way at T-Intersections?

One of the trickier driving rules new drivers must conquer is right-of-way. When someone gets cut off in traffic, you may have heard them say, or even said yourself, "But I had the right-of-way!" However, the right-of-way isn't something you "have." The right-of-way is something that is given to you by other drivers, or something you give to them.

It takes some time to get used to when you should yield or accept the right-of-way, and even so, some drivers will ignore the rules anyway. The rules of right-of-way come into play in many driving scenarios, and some scenarios are easier to remember than others. One place people tend to get confused is at T-intersections.

T-Intersection

A T-intersection like the one pictured above occurs when the street you're traveling on comes to an end, forcing you to turn either left or right onto another street. At a T-Intersection, you must stop first, then yield the right-of-way to the vehicles traveling on the through street.