Two road rules changed at 5am today. The first one is that traffic turning right must give way. The second one is at a T intersection. Often there is a Give Way, or Stop sign at these intersections so there is no problem. However, if there is no sign, the traffic waiting to turn right into the continuing road has to give way to all traffic, the same as where there is a sign. You must let the traffic on the continuing road (the top of the T) go first when it is turning into the side street.
If this is confusing, look at the diagrams on this website.
Our old rule came in more than 30 years ago so if you are a newcomer to New Zealand, you will find the new rule easy. It is really the same as the rest of the world except that we drive on the left-hand side of the road so we give way to traffic on the right.
The reason for the old rule was to clear the road of cars turning right. We let these cars go first so that cars behind them could move. However, New Zealand has a large number of accidents at intersections – about 300 every week or 45 a day or one every 30 minutes. Auckland has, on average, 17 a day. It is time for a change.
Vocabulary
Give Way – let other cars go first
top of the T – the letter T has a vertical line with a horizontal line at the top. This is the top of the T.
confusing – hard to understand; the new rule is confusing, a driver may be confused.