Washington State Right of Way Laws

Washington State’s right of way laws were designed to prevent vehicle collisions. Drivers who fail to yield the right of way to other vehicles can find themselves in an accident. As a result, if you violate right of way laws, you may be issued a ticket. An experienced traffic attorney can help you go to court to contest your failure to yield right of way charges.

Washington State has several right of way laws. One law concerns the failure to yield right of way. This law states you must stop at a marked line or the crosswalk if you have a stop sign or other traffic signal, and wait before traffic passes before continuing your movement. If you have a yield sign, you must either slow down or stop, and wait for traffic to pass before continuing. If you fail to stop or yield in these cases, you may be charged with failure to yield. If an accident occurs because you did not yield right of way, you may be considered negligent, and be required to compensate the other driver.

Drivers must also yield right of way to oncoming traffic when making a left turn at an intersection in order to avoid a collision. However, if the oncoming driver tricks the driver who is turning left into believing it is safe to make the turn, the right of way law might not apply in this case.

According to Washington State law, if two vehicles approach an intersection from different roads at the same time, the driver on the left must yield right of way to the driver on the right. If drivers come to an intersection with nonfunctioning lights, the drivers must treat the intersection as a four-way stop. After coming to a complete stop, the drivers should yield right of way to the appropriate driver.

If you have recently been issued a ticket for violating one of Washington’s right-of-way laws, contact Callahan Law before the time you have been given to respond, if at all possible. Call us today to get started fighting your ticket.