Exceptions to priority from the right: Swiss rules and examples

Why does the default rule have exceptions?

Priority from the right is a default rule for Swiss junctions (SVG Article 36(2)). It does not override an officer directing traffic, traffic lights or an applicable priority sign. Before comparing vehicle positions, identify which rules govern the junction.

A useful starting order is police directions, then traffic lights, then priority signs, then the general junction rules (SVG Article 27; SSV Articles 67 and 68). For example, an officer may wave cross-traffic through while you wait, even though you approach from its right.

That sequence is not the entire decision. A green light does not remove every obligation towards pedestrians or opposing traffic when turning. Special rules, particularly for emergency vehicles announcing themselves with blue lights and a siren, also need to be considered. Do not interpret the checklist as “green always wins”.

The priority-from-the-right lesson explains the default itself. This lesson covers the situations in which another rule changes what you must do.

Nine situations at a glance

The table groups nine common situations. Some are junction-priority exceptions; others are specific duties that affect who may proceed. Read the conditions rather than treating every row as an unconditional right of way.

Priority road, stop and give way

The yellow diamond priority-road sign (3.03) gives traffic on that road priority over entering traffic, including vehicles coming from the right. For example, you follow a signed priority road through a village and a car approaches from a residential street on the right. It must give way at its entrance.

At a stop sign (3.01), come to a complete stop at the stop line. If no stop line is present, stop at the place with the best view. This is required even if you cannot see any other traffic. At give way (3.02), slow appropriately and give priority; stop whenever needed, including when visibility prevents you from deciding safely.

The sign junction with a non-priority road (3.05) tells you that the joining road at the next junction is subordinate. It is commonly used outside built-up areas. Observe the junction and stay ready to react: a priority entitlement is no reason to ignore a recognisable hazard or an obvious failure to give way.

Roundabouts: traffic approaches from the left

At a roundabout signed with the circular-direction sign (2.41.1) together with give way (3.02), give way to vehicles approaching from the left in the roundabout (VRV Article 41b). If a car is approaching on the circle as you reach the entrance, wait for a safe gap. The rule includes cycles; it is not limited to motor vehicles.

You do not have to indicate simply to enter or circulate without changing lane. You must indicate when leaving, and before a lane change. If you take the first exit immediately, signal your exit early enough to communicate it clearly; “never indicate at entry” is too absolute.

The full roundabout lesson covers several lanes, cyclists using the centre of a lane and pedestrian crossings near exits.

Trams: general priority with important exceptions

The ordinary priority-from-the-right rule does not make a tram approaching from the left give way to you. A tram generally has priority (SVG Article 38). It is confined to the rails and cannot steer around a conflict, so plan to leave its path clear.

For example, at an uncontrolled junction without a priority-road exception, a tram approaches from your left. Let it pass even though you are on its right. Do not try to infer priority from which vehicle could accelerate through the gap first.

“The tram always goes first” is wrong. It must follow applicable police directions and light signals. Under VRV Article 45(2), it must also give way when entering a main road from a minor road and to emergency vehicles using the special warning signals. Check these conditions before applying the general tram rule.

Emerging from an access point onto a road

VRV Article 15(3) covers entry onto a main or minor road from a factory, yard or garage exit, field or cycle track, car park, petrol station or a similar place, and entry across a pavement. Give way to users of the road you are entering, from either direction.

For example, when leaving a petrol station, wait for traffic on the road whether it comes from left or right. When reversing out of a garage across a pavement, give way to pedestrians and other entitled pavement users before reaching the road, then yield to traffic on the carriageway. If the exit is not visible, stop; use a helper when necessary.

A field-track entrance can look like an ordinary junction in a picture. Its status matters, but an unpaved or narrow surface alone is not conclusive proof that it is a subordinate field track. Consider the road's function and recognisable layout.

Inside a car park, neither “every aisle uses priority from the right” nor “every emerging vehicle never has priority” is a sound blanket rule. The relationship between parking bays, aisles serving them and access routes matters. Equivalent routes can differ from an aisle subordinate to the main access route; signs and the actual layout must be assessed.

Buses, mountain postal roads and emergency vehicles

A scheduled bus leaving a stop: within a built-up area, when a scheduled bus at a marked stop indicates its intention to leave, drivers approaching from behind must slow or stop if necessary to let it depart. This rule does not apply if the stop is at the left edge of the carriageway. The bus driver may indicate only when ready to leave and must wait if approaching vehicles cannot stop in time (VRV Article 17(5)). Outside a built-up area, this specific departure rule does not apply; ordinary care and priority rules still do.

For example, a city bus indicates left from a marked bay ahead of you. Ease off early and, if needed, stop to allow it to leave. The signal is not permission for the bus to move into a vehicle that cannot safely stop.

Mountain postal roads: on a signed mountain postal road, follow the directions of public-service drivers when passing or overtaking is difficult (VRV Article 38(3)). A bus driver may direct you back to a passing place. Without such a direction, the ordinary narrow-road rules still require detail: for vehicles of the same kind on steep or mountain roads, the downhill vehicle reverses unless the uphill vehicle is close to a passing place. For different kinds, the hierarchy in VRV Article 9(2) applies: combinations with trailers over other vehicles, heavy vehicles over light ones, and coaches over lorries.

Blue lights and siren: immediately clear the road for fire, ambulance, police and customs vehicles announcing themselves with both special warnings, stopping if necessary. This duty also applies at traffic lights (VRV Article 16(1)). If you have a green light or normally have junction priority, allow the emergency vehicle through without creating a new danger.

Blue lights alone do not establish the same special priority entitlement. VRV Article 16(4) permits them without the siren on urgent night journeys while the emergency driver does not depart substantially from normal rules or claim special priority. Stay alert and cooperate safely; do not interpret a quiet siren or a momentarily unheard warning as a reason to obstruct a vehicle.

Check a junction in three stages

Use a structured observation sequence, while remaining alert to special duties that still apply:

1. Is traffic actively controlled? Follow police directions and the applicable lights. Check turning duties towards opposing traffic and pedestrians, and watch for emergency vehicles.
2. What signs and road relationships apply? Identify a priority road, stop, give way or a signed roundabout. Distinguish an ordinary junction from an access point entering a main or minor road.
3. Are special vehicles or situations involved? Apply the precise conditions for trams, scheduled buses leaving stops, mountain postal roads and emergency vehicles.

Where no other priority rule changes the junction order, apply priority from the right. If several vehicles create an unresolved situation, slow, communicate clearly and proceed cautiously rather than insisting on an unsafe move.

Use the English theory practice quiz to practise the wider Swiss theory topics. Explain which rule controls each example and why; this is more useful than assuming every picture with the same vehicle has the same answer.