Right-of-Way Rules, Through Highways, and Crosswalks

Right-of-Way Rules, Through Highways, and Crosswalks

Quick Answer: On Guam nobody is given the right-of-way; every driver carries a duty to yield it. At an intersection with no sign, signal, or officer, the first vehicle in has the right to go, and when two vehicles arrive from different streets at approximately the same time, the vehicle on the left yields to the vehicle on the right (16 GCA Sec. 3325(a)). A driver entering a through highway must stop at the entrance even where no STOP sign is posted (16 GCA Sec. 3326(a)).

Right-of-way is the reasoning core of the Guam written test. The rules themselves are short, but the exam rarely quotes them back at you; it describes an intersection and asks who goes. Learn each rule as a step in a procedure rather than as a sentence to recite.

The intersection decision procedure

Work an intersection from the top down and stop at the first step that answers the question.

1. Is a peace officer directing traffic? An officer's directions override every sign and signal, and while an officer is actually on duty directing traffic at the scene, the posted stop duty does not apply (Sec. 3334(c)).
2. Is there a signal or a sign? A STOP sign requires a complete stop within a reasonable distance before entering the intersection (Sec. 3334(b)). A YIELD sign requires you to yield to vehicles that have entered from the intersecting street or are approaching closely enough to be an immediate hazard, and to keep yielding until you can proceed with reasonable safety (Sec. 3325(e)).
3. Is a vehicle already in the intersection? A driver who is approaching but has not entered yields to a vehicle already inside it, and to a vehicle turning across their line of travel that has given a plainly visible signal (Sec. 3325(b)).
4. Did both vehicles arrive at about the same time? The driver on the left yields to the driver on the right (Sec. 3325(a)). Remember it as the driver on the right has the right.
5. Am I turning left across traffic? Yield to any oncoming vehicle that is in the intersection or so close that it is a hazard at any point during the turning movement, and keep yielding until the turn can be made with reasonable safety (Sec. 3325(c)). Once you have yielded, signaled, and begun the turn, the drivers approaching from the opposite direction must yield to you (Sec. 3325(d)).

The speed-forfeiture trap. Sec. 3325(a) carries a sentence examiners like: a driver approaching or entering an intersection at an unlawful rate of speed forfeits any right of way he might otherwise have. Accelerating to reach the intersection first does not win it. Speeding gives it away.

Two worked scenarios

Scenario A. You are eastbound on an unmarked village street. A pickup reaches the same intersection from the cross street on your right at the same moment. Neither of you has a sign or a signal. You yield. Nothing about vehicle size, traveling straight rather than turning, or sounding your horn changes the answer.

Scenario B. Same intersection, but you are clearly in first and already past the near curb line when a car arrives on your right. Now Sec. 3325(b) governs and the other driver yields to you, because that driver is approaching but has not entered. Holding the right-of-way is still not permission to stop looking: the handbook's standing instruction is that it is the responsibility of all drivers to yield.

Through highways: stop even with no sign

A through highway is a route designated for continuous through traffic. Guam's rule here is stricter than most new drivers expect, and it is one of the most heavily tested facts in this whole area.

• Entering or crossing. You must stop at the entrance to a through highway and yield to vehicles that have entered the intersection from it or are approaching so closely on it as to constitute an immediate hazard, and continue to yield until you can proceed with reasonable safety (Sec. 3326(a)). The handbook states the practical version plainly: every vehicle on a secondary road that intersects a through highway must STOP before entering or crossing it, even if no official STOP sign is posted.
• Already on the through highway. The duty runs both ways. If you are on the through highway and see a vehicle ahead that has stopped and is crossing or about to cross, you must slow down and allow it to cross (Sec. 3326(b)).
• Where a sign does exist. Failing to stop for a posted "Thru Traffic Stop" sign is a separate violation under Sec. 3334(a).

Private roads, driveways, and alleys

There is no arrival-time balancing here at all. Coming out of a private road, driveway, or alley you yield to all vehicles approaching on the highway and wait until it is safe to enter (Sec. 3327(a)). Turning left into a driveway, alley, or private property, you yield to oncoming traffic that is close enough to be a hazard at any time during the turn, until the turn can be made with reasonable safety (Sec. 3327(b)); after you have yielded and signaled, drivers approaching from the opposite direction must yield to you (Sec. 3327(c)).

Two details the test likes: you may lawfully cross a solid white or yellow center line to enter or leave a driveway or alley once you are certain no approaching vehicle is an immediate hazard, and before you drive over a sidewalk or pedestrian path on your way out you must yield to any pedestrian approaching on it (Sec. 3328).

Emergency vehicles

The rule is triggered by an authorized emergency vehicle (ambulance, police, fire equipment, civil defense, explosive ordnance) that is sounding a siren and/or showing at least one lighted lamp exhibiting red or blue light visible under normal conditions from 500 feet to the front (Sec. 3333). Your response has three parts, in order:

1. Yield the right-of-way and drive immediately to a position parallel to, and as close as possible to, the right-hand edge or curb of the highway;
2. Do it clear of any intersection, never stopped inside one;
3. Stop and remain in that position until the emergency vehicle has passed, unless a police officer directs otherwise.

Pedestrians on the highway must remain in a place of safety or proceed to the nearest curb until it has passed. Item 2 is the most-missed part: if you are already in the intersection when the siren reaches you, continue through it and then pull right.

Crosswalks and pedestrians

Yield to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within any marked crosswalk or within any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection (Sec. 3329(a)). Every intersection has crosswalks whether or not paint is on the pavement, which is the whole point of the unmarked-crosswalk language.

The companion rule is just as testable: whenever a vehicle has stopped at a marked or unmarked crosswalk to permit a pedestrian to cross, a driver approaching from the rear shall not overtake and pass that stopped vehicle (Sec. 3329(b)). The stopped car screens the pedestrian from view, and the pass is one of the deadliest maneuvers on any island road. Drivers must also take all necessary precautions around a pedestrian carrying a predominantly white or metallic cane or using a guide dog (Sec. 3329.1).

A pedestrian who crosses at any point other than a marked crosswalk, or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, must yield to vehicles on the roadway (Sec. 3331(a)), but that never relieves you of the duty to exercise due care for that pedestrian's safety (Sec. 3331(b)).

One last habit: do not enter an intersection or a marked crosswalk unless there is sufficient space on the other side to clear it (Sec. 3315(a)). Blocking the box is a violation on Guam, not merely bad manners.