To ask whose right of way it was? (with pic)

[AngeloMysterioso]

Two cars pulling into the same road from two roads which end opposite each other. Car A is turning right and Car B is turning left. Both had to wait for a few cars to pass in the direction they were travelling and then both pulled out at the same time, very nearly colliding.

Whose right of way was it?

YANBU - Car A’s right of way
YABU - Car B’s right of way

Like in the picture

This is rubbish.

It worries me how ignorant people are

In your opinion which is not the Highway Code

I’m a road traffic lawyer

Good for you. Where in the Highway Code does it say that the car turning left has priority.

Can I just clarify when I said this I’m talking about the situation in the OP. You obviously give way to all traffic already on the main road when emerging from a junction regardless of direction.

Where does it say first come first served? Or give way to someone turning across your path?

Where I live, the car that gets there first goes first. If both arrive at the same time then it's down to eye contact and one driver me giving way. It seems to work. DH told me to do this and it's just what everyone does.

It doesn’t it says you give way to vehicles on the road
Rule 172
The approach to a junction may have a ‘Give Way’ sign or a triangle marked on the road. You MUST give way to traffic on the main road when emerging from a junction with broken white lines across the road.

if the right turning vehicle is not already on the road then there is no conflict. If it is then it’s on the main road you need to give way. The only time there is a conflict is when the right turning vehicle is already moving

It may be 'wrong' but it's what everyone does, in practice.

Rule 180 which is under the “turning right” section says “Wait until there is a safe gap between you and any oncoming vehicle.”

you could easily argue that car A could be an oncoming vehicle especially as earlier on in the HC it says don’t trust that a car indicating left will turn left. It might go straight on and you should wait to see what it does

Car B is at a GiveWay junction. It is Give Way for a reason. If you stuck a mini roundabout in the road (just as an example) who then has the right of way?

that reads to me like it’s cars already proceeding on the main road. Not a car coming out from the side road opposite.

obviously if the right turning car had already started to proceed before the other car got there then the left turning car can’t just smash into it. But that wasn’t what was asked.

you could argue that rule 172 applies to the car turning left as much as the car turning right 🤷🏻‍♀️. You can technically say they’re both on the main road as soon as they cross the line. Which is why I don’t think that rule applies in this case, it wouldn’t make sense

Rule 180 is turning right off a carriageway not at a give way or stop.
there should be caution about both vehicles but if car B has pulled away then it is to the right of A. If they go at the same time there is no conflict.

Mini roundabouts have different rules to junctions

If they go at the same time there will be conflict if car turning right smashes into the side or back of a car turning left or going straight on.

car b can’t just pull off and go into the side of A who might be going straight on and say well I was on your right

the rule you quote isn’t about a crossroad junction. It’s about turning out a side road onto a main road. Obviously in that case you’d give way to a car on the right because it’s already established.

in the op situation the right turning car is crossing the path of the other and must give way. That’s the basic rule of driving, if you are crossing a path of another car you give way.

I know. But as an example it is applicable.

other than the left turning car is also going across the path of the right turning car. There is either a give way or stop line.
if the right turning car is not already moving then there is no conflict.

Yes when going left cars on the main road not coming right out of a junction.

@BlindedByGrey

I’m a road traffic lawyer^
^
Of course you are

Yes

I'm sure that's how I was taught in the 80s

Am I missing something

By that logic, you were also on car A's right, so they should have given way to you. You were not in the wrong. Some men just can't cope with women not giving way to them. Sorry that you had this experience, it must have been a bit unsettling.

I don’t think you’re missing anything at all and 99% of pictures on driving school websites I’ve looked at are like this.

I don’t see how a car turning left or going straight on would be crossing the path of the car turning right. The only crossing of paths being done would be by the car turning right if the other car was going straight on. And you must assume it’s going straight on.

imagine you’re turning right from a main road into a side road but there’s a car coming along the main road towards you. You wait for it to pass. You don’t turn right and smash into the side of it and say well I was on that cars right side so I had priority like some people on this thread seem to think

I don’t see how it is. You give way to cars coming from the right at roundabouts but that rule doesn’t apply to junctions

The road out of my village has a junction just like this, I’m usually in car A’s position and have been waiting about ten minutes for a gap in the traffic. All I can say is cars in B’s position generally make eye contact with me and wave me across first. But if I see the B is going, I do wait and swear a bit but don’t follow aggressively like OP’s arseholedriver.