USAREUR Practice Exam

At unmarked intersections, who has the right-of-way?

1. Vehicles coming from the left

2. Vehicles coming from the right

3. The vehicle that arrived first

4. Always the larger vehicle

The correct answer is: Vehicles coming from the right

At unmarked intersections, the general rule governing right-of-way is that vehicles approaching from the right have the legal right of way over those approaching from the left. This rule is designed to promote safety and reduce confusion at intersections lacking specific signage or signals. The rationale behind this approach is to establish a standard that drivers can uniformly follow, thereby minimizing the risk of accidents. While it may seem intuitive for the first vehicle to arrive at the intersection to have the right-of-way, this option describes scenarios like controlled intersections where traffic signals guide drivers. The notion of larger vehicles always having the right-of-way is also misleading because size does not determine legal right-of-way under standard traffic laws. Thus, the correct understanding is that drivers should yield to vehicles on their right when approaching an intersection without markings.