Looks like someone looked up their state definition and was annoyed at being wrong 😉
- 0 Posts
- 4 Comments
Dictionaries list common usage - even if incorrect. Look up the definition of right of way for your state or other government and I’m certain it will be the thing on which you travel or the right to create and manage it, not your “rights” while traveling on it.
I couldn’t find a list of all definitions by state but the three states I checked all use that.
It would be weird if they didn’t, since that’s been the term since before automobiles existed: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_way
Misunderstanding “right of way” is half the problem.
Right of way is ability to make a road, or the road itself by extension. You can’t have the right of way - it’s usually the government’s - and you can’t give it away. This is why wording is consistently who must yield the right of way, and not who has the right of way.
If it’s a driver’s turn to act, they are obligated to act. It’s not their option or right to act.

Weird. I found one in seconds on Google and it’s about whether you can use the way, not the rules governing turn order while driving.
https://www.gov.uk/right-of-way-open-access-land/use-public-rights-of-way
Did you look it up before making that comment?