6.2 Look Right-Left-Right and Major-Road Priority
Key Takeaways
- At a junction look right, then left, then right again, and do not go on until you are sure it is safe.
- The first look is to the right because Guyana uses left-hand traffic; the nearest closing stream is usually from the right.
- Give way to traffic on the major road.
- If it is not apparent which road is major and the junction is unmarked, give way to vehicles on your right.
- Do not rely on a go-ahead signal from an unauthorised person; accept a signal to stop unless you are sure there is no danger.
Look right, left, right again — and who waits
Guyana’s rule of the road is left-hand traffic (Code rule 22): keep to the left or near side; meet well left; overtake on the right or off side. That geometry decides which way you look first at a junction. This section is independent study of Code rules 42 to 45 and of the turning rules that sit beside them. It does not claim GPF approval or partnership.
Quick Answer: At a junction look right, then left, then right again. Do not go on until you are sure it is safe. Give way to traffic on the major road. If it is not apparent which road is major and the junction is unmarked, give way to vehicles on your right. Do not rely on a go-ahead wave from an unauthorised person; do accept a signal to stop unless you are sure there is no danger.
Why the first look is to the right
On a left-hand-traffic road, the nearest stream that can hit you as you nose out is usually coming from your right. That is why rule 42 is not “look both ways somehow.” It is a sequence: look right, then left, then right again. The second look to the right is there because a vehicle that was distant on the first glance may now be in your path, and because a vehicle hidden behind a van on the left does not cancel the one closing from the right.
Do not go on until you are sure it is safe. Sure is not “I think that hire car will slow.” Sure is a gap you can use without making major-road traffic brake, swerve, or wait because you guessed. Rule 42 is a permission gate, not a courtesy you skip when you are late for work in Georgetown.
Pedestrians get the same first-look idea at the kerb. The Code’s pedestrian pages say STOP at KERB, LOOK Right, LOOK Left and Right Again. The driver sequence and the pedestrian sequence match because both live in left-hand traffic. If you learned in a right-hand-traffic country, the first look you were taught will be the wrong first look here.
Major-road priority — rule 43
Rule 43 has two sentences. First: at a junction, give way to traffic on the major road. The major road is the one the signs and the layout treat as the through route — the road that has the STOP, SLOW, YIELD, or Give Way aimed at you, the road with the Priority road ahead plate (Code international sign 4), or the obvious main road you are joining from a side street in Georgetown, along the East Bank, or on the East Coast.
Second sentence: if you are in doubt as to which is the major road — for example when it is not apparent and is unmarked — GIVE WAY TO VEHICLES ON YOUR RIGHT. That is the Code’s tie-breaker. It is not “the larger vehicle goes,” “the faster vehicle goes,” or “the vehicle that hooted first goes.” Rule 76 already said the sounding of the horn does not give you the right of way and does not remove the duty to take every precaution.
Unmarked country crossroads, a new cut onto an East Bank road before plates go up, or a junction where both arms look equally wide are exactly the “not apparent and unmarked” case. Default to the right. If you can see a STOP or YIELD on the other arm and nothing on yours, you are probably on the major road — but “probably” is not a substitute for looking. If you are still in doubt, give way to the right.
After you have looked — still no extra rights
Rule 42’s “sure it is safe” and rule 44’s “ample room” are the same family. Giving way to the major road includes not starting a left or right turn that blocks the through movement.
Rule 46: well before you turn right at a junction, take full account of the position and movement of traffic following you. When it is safe, signal and take a position just left of the middle of the road (or, on a one-way street, on the right side of the street). Wait until there is a safe gap between you and any approaching vehicles before you complete the turn.
Rule 47: be particularly careful when turning to the right across the line of oncoming traffic and give way to it.
Rule 48: if you intend to turn left, keep to the left, give the turn-left signal in good time, and DO NOT SWING OUT TO THE RIGHT.
Rule 49: when turning at a road junction, give way to pedestrians who are crossing. An empty major road does not erase a person on the crossing.
Rule 50: when held up at a road junction by Police or a light signal, do not “Filter” to the left unless you receive a definite signal to do so. A gap you invent in the left is not a definite signal.
Who you may believe — rule 45
Rule 45 is written for the helper on the corner. At a junction, do NOT rely on signals to go ahead given by unauthorised persons, but accept signals to stop unless you are sure there is no danger.
A passenger, a vendor, a security guard, or another motorist waving you out is not a police constable and is not a School Safety Patrol with a STOP CHILDREN CROSSING sign. Their wave does not see the motorcycle in your blind area. If someone unauthorised tells you to go, you still own rule 42.
A signal to stop is different. The Code tells you to accept it unless you are sure there is no danger. That bias — believe “stop,” doubt “go” — is the exam idea. A uniformed police rank controlling traffic, or a patrol with legal authority, is not “unauthorised.” When Police control a junction, rule 32 says signal clearly which way you want to go, and you obey the rank.
Priority table for the sitting
| Situation | Who gives way | Code hook |
|---|---|---|
| You face STOP, SLOW, YIELD, or Give Way | You, then check again before entering | Rules 40–44 |
| You leave a minor road onto a marked major road | You, to major-road traffic | Rule 43, first sentence |
| Unmarked junction; not apparent which is major | You give way to vehicles on your right | Rule 43, second sentence |
| Right turn across oncoming traffic | You, to oncoming traffic | Rule 47 |
| Pedestrians crossing as you turn | You | Rule 49 |
| Unauthorised person waves you on | You still look; do not rely on the wave | Rule 45 |
| Unauthorised person signals stop | Accept the stop unless you are sure there is no danger | Rule 45 |
| Police or lights hold you; you want to slip left | Do not filter left without a definite signal | Rule 50 |
A Guyana picture, not a slogan
Picture a side street meeting the East Coast road. You have STOP. You halt (rule 41). You look right for traffic coming along the coast, left for the other stream, right again. A minibus is close on the right: you wait. When the gap is ample (rule 44), you go. If instead you meet two dirt roads with no plates, and a tractor is on your right, rule 43’s second sentence is the one that keeps you from a door-to-door argument in the middle of the junction.
Do not overtake at or near a road junction (rule 34). Do not let a vehicle stand within 30 feet of a junction except to load or unload or to comply with traffic requirements (rule 90(b)). Those rules exist so the look in rule 42 is actually possible.
Memorise the sequence as words. The GPF package can test the order, the major-road duty, and the give-way-to-the-right tie-breaker in one item.
Under Code rule 42, in which order must you look at a junction before you go on?
If you are in doubt which road is major — for example when the junction is not apparent and unmarked — what does Code rule 43 require?
Under Code rule 45, how should you treat signals from people at a junction?