What are Right of Way Rules and Laws in California?

Along with courtesy and common sense, right of way rules and laws help promote traffic safety. It is important to follow traffic safety rules whenever you are traveling on the road, respect the right of way of others, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists. California drivers must also respect the right of way of others by not breaking traffic laws including failing to stop at a traffic light or stop sign, making unsafe lane changes, speeding, or making illegal turns. In California, statistics show that right of way violations cause a large percentage of traffic injury crashes.

Failure to respect right of way laws can not only lead to an accident but can also leave victims with serious injuries. If you are driving in Los Angeles or anywhere in California, make sure you keep yourself and others on the road safe by following the right of way rules and laws.

California Right of Way Laws

California’s right of way laws determines the person that can proceed first when one or more drivers arrive at an intersection at the same time. Important California right of way laws you should know about include:

• California Vehicle Code (CVC) 21800 – This law states that a driver approaching an intersection must yield to the right of way in the following situations: (A) driver approaching an intersection must yield to a vehicle that already entered the intersection from a different highway; (B) when two vehicles approach an intersection at the same time from different directions, the driver on the left must yield to the driver on the right unless it’s a terminating highway (a highway that intersects, but doesn’t continue beyond the intersection with another highway that does continue beyond the intersection); (C) when an intersection is controlled by stop signs in all directions or if there are broken traffic lights at the intersection, the driver on the left must yield to the driver on the immediate right.
• California Vehicle Code (CVC) 21801 – (A) The driver intending to either make a legal U-turn or turning left must yield to all incoming traffic in the opposite direction. The driver should not initiate or continue turning until the traffic is at a safe distance away to make the turn; (B) if the driver making a U-turn or left turn has properly yielded, has turned on their signal and started to turn, then the approaching traffic should yield to the right of way to the turning vehicle.
• California Vehicle Code (CVC) 21802 – A driver must completely stop at an intersection with a stop sign and yield to drivers already at the intersection.
• California Vehicle Code (CVC) 21803 – Motorists who enter an intersection controlled by a yield sign must yield to other drivers who area already at the intersection.
• California Vehicle Code (CVC) 21804 – Motorists who enter a highway must yield to all traffic approaching the highway.
• California Vehicle Code (CVC) 21805 – Drivers must yield to horses at an officially designated equestrian crossing.
• California Vehicle Code (CVC) 21806 – A driver must yield to emergency vehicles when they are using sirens and at least one visible red light. An appropriate yield under this section is when the driver slows down and drives to the right-hand side of the road. The vehicle is to remain at a complete stop until the emergency vehicle passes.
• California Vehicle Code (CVC) 21950 – Drivers must yield to pedestrians who are crossing a roadway within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection or lawfully within any crosswalk.

Right of way rules provide clear guidance for California motorists and helps promote traffic safety. This is especially helpful in traffic congested streets in places such as Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Orange County, Oxnard, Huntington Beach, Alhambra, Burbank, Costa Mesa, or Lancaster.