What does give way mean?

By Victorian road law in Australia, give way means – “slow down and, if necessary, stop to avoid a collision”.

Abolish the right of way mentality

We hear of road users, and even instructors using the right of way terminology when having to give way to another road user!

We must make it 100% clear that we all give way to each other according to the law, and there is nowhere in the rule book that states one particular road user has a right of way.

Take this extract for example from the Road Safety Road Rules 2017
(Authorised Version incorporating amendments as of 1st September 2018):

Obligation to give way
“There are a number of rules requiring a driver to give way to another driver or a pedestrian. However, under these Rules the other driver or pedestrian does not have a “right” of way. Indeed, in some situations, a number of drivers may be required to give way to each other, e.g. at an intersection with a stop sign or give way sign on more than 1 of the intersecting roads. Similarly, although a driver may be required to give way to a pedestrian, the pedestrian is required under rule 236(1) not to cause a traffic hazard by moving into the driver’s path.”  

Giving way must be completed only when there is a danger of collision. To witness this, we have provided a video below…

GIVING WAY TO PEDESTRIANS

By Victorian road law in Australia, we must give way to pedestrians on the road we are entering when turning at an intersection.

In the below video you can clearly witness that the pedestrian has stopped and waved us on, and also has not come in contact with the road, standing on the refuge island, meaning they are not a danger of collision, so there was no necessity to stop.

Remember communication goes a long way, use this to clearly identify your intentions and keep the roads flowing.

Thanks for reading this blog post! 🙂