Pedestrian Right of Way

Pedestrian right of way is a sub-rule of Right of Way focused on crossings. The driver duty (yield on your half, don’t overtake a stopped vehicle at a crossing) connects to the Pedestrian Crossing Warning Sign and Pedestrian Crossing Regulatory Sign. Vulnerable-user priority is heavily emphasised in the syllabus.

Plain-language rule

A driver must yield to a pedestrian who is on, or stepping onto, the half of the roadway the vehicle is travelling on at a pedestrian crossing, and must not overtake a vehicle stopped at a crossing. Pedestrians must use a crossing within 50 m and not step suddenly into traffic.

Legal basis: National Road Traffic Regulations 2000, Reg 315 (pedestrian right of way) & Reg 316 (pedestrian duties)

Exceptions

  • At signal-controlled crossings the signals govern
  • A traffic officer overrides crossing rules

Question patterns

  • Numeric recall (limits, distances, ages) where applicable.
  • “What must you do in situation X?” — required response.
  • Distractor trap: Believing the car always has right of way, or that pedestrians must wait for all cars — at a crossing the pedestrian has priority on the driver’s half of the road.

Penalty / consequence

Failing to yield to a pedestrian carries a fine and demerit points and is a major liability in pedestrian collisions.

Ontology Pedestrian Right of Way [part-of] Rules of the Road

Connections

Sources