Intersections and right of way — Washington Permit Test
Intersections and right of way on the Washington permit test — 6 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
At a four-way stop the first vehicle to arrive is the first to go, and where two arrive at about the same time the driver yields to the one on the right.
Order of arrival settles most of it, and the tie-break has to be a rule both drivers already know.
If two vehicles arrive at approximately the same time, yield to the one on the right.
At a four-way stop, any vehicle turning left must yield to vehicles going straight or turning right.
A left turn crosses the path of everybody else, so it waits for everybody else.
Any vehicle turning left must yield the right-of-way to vehicles going straight or turning right.
At a two-way stop, turning vehicles must yield to the vehicle going straight, which has the right-of-way.
The through road is the one without the stop sign, so the turn is the movement that yields.
Turning vehicles must yield to the vehicle going straight. The vehicle going straight has the right-of-way.
At an uncontrolled intersection a driver must yield where a vehicle is already in the intersection, where they are entering a state highway from a secondary road, where they are joining a paved road from an unpaved one, or where they are turning left across an oncoming vehicle.
With no signs at all, these four rules are the only thing deciding who moves.
You enter a paved road from an unpaved road.
Every intersection is legally a crosswalk, whether it is marked or unmarked.
People cross where the streets meet whether or not anybody painted lines, and the law follows them rather than the paint.
Every intersection is legally a crosswalk, whether it’s marked or unmarked.
Where a driver has stopped on the stop line but the cross street is blocked from view, they edge forward slowly until they can see.
Edging out lets the crossing driver see your bumper before you can see them, which is a warning they can act on.
If you stop on the stop line, but your view of a cross street is blocked, edge forward slowly until you can see.
On the test
Who goes first where two vehicles reach a four-way stop at about the same time?
The vehicle on the right. Order of arrival settles most of it, and the tie-break has to be a rule both drivers already know. Washington State Driver Guide, p.122: “If two vehicles arrive at approximately the same time, yield to the one on the right.”
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.
Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.
What it costs
- One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
- Free to start: a 10-question test and the first section of cards. No sign-up and no account.
- Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
- Every level up to Prepared — 3 tests passed in a row.
- Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against Washington State Driver Guide, published by the Washington State Department of Licensing, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-14.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/WA.pdf (Washington State Driver Guide, Washington State Department of Licensing, retrieved 2026-09-14)
- https://dol.wa.gov/driver-licenses-and-permits/driver-training-and-testing/driver-guides
- https://dol.wa.gov/driver-licenses-and-permits/driver-training-and-testing/do-i-need-take-test