Unpaved roads: who has priority?

What is an unpaved road?

An unpaved road is a road without a hard surface. There is no asphalt, concrete, bricks or tiles, but sand, gravel or earth. Think of a sand track in the woods or a country lane between fields. You usually recognise it straight away by its brown, sandy colour.

A paved road does have a hard surface. So a street with bricks is paved too.

Unpaved road and priority: who goes first?

If you come from an unpaved road, you let all drivers on the paved road go first. It does not matter whether they come from the left or the right. Article 15 RVV says it literally: “drivers on an unpaved road give priority to drivers on a paved road”. So this rule comes before “the right goes first”.

Note: you give priority to drivers, not to pedestrians. This rule does not give a pedestrian priority. Separate rules apply to pedestrians, see below.

All drivers count: cars, motorcycles, lorries, cyclists, moped riders and horse riders.

Does traffic from the right go first when you come from an unpaved road?

Yes, and drivers from the left too. If you come from an unpaved road, you wait for all drivers on the paved road, from the left and from the right. This is about drivers, not pedestrians. Are you on the paved road and does someone come out of a sand track? Then they wait for you, even if they come from the right.

Memory aid: treat it like a driveway exit, but without pedestrians

Pretend you are leaving a driveway exit. Then the rule almost works by itself: you let all drivers on the paved road go first, from the left and from the right. One difference: at a driveway exit you also let pedestrians go first. At an unpaved road you do not, because this rule only applies to drivers.

Two drivers from unpaved roads

Do you and another driver both come from an unpaved road, and is the paved road clear? Then the normal rules apply between you. Traffic from the right goes first, and on the same road straight on goes before turning. These rules are under equal junction.

Do you have to give way to pedestrians at an unpaved road?

Not because of the unpaved-road rule. That rule only applies between drivers, and a pedestrian is not a driver. The normal pedestrian rules apply: face and back, hold back; see their side, go for a ride. Do you see the pedestrian’s face or back as you turn? Then they go straight on along the same road and go first. Do you see their side? Then they come from the side and you go first. At a zebra crossing you let a pedestrian go first. How to decide is explained under priority rules for pedestrians.

Is an unpaved road a driveway exit?

No, not by itself. A sand track or gravel road is just a road, only without a hard surface. Different rules apply at a driveway exit:

Picture	Situation	Who do you let go first?
	From sand or gravel onto the paved road	All drivers on the paved road, from the left and from the right. The normal pedestrian rules apply: face and back, hold back; see their side, go for a ride.
	Leaving a driveway exit, as at B	All other traffic, pedestrians too.

How to recognise a driveway exit is explained under driveway exits.