Priority road
Right of way
- Sign code
- B1
- Category
- Right of way
- Traffic signs
- Priority road.
Sign B1 marks a priority road. Drivers on side roads must give way to you. The priority road runs until sign B2, end of priority road, so you have priority at every junction in between, including when you turn off.
What to do at sign B1
You need do nothing but drive on, but remember that you have priority rather than being obliged to take it. Being given way to is not a licence to drive carelessly.
Keep watching for traffic that fails to give way. In practice a priority road is exactly where drivers misjudge each other.
How to recognise the sign
B1 is a yellow square standing on its point, with a white border. That diamond shape is unique in the RVV: no other sign uses it, precisely so you can recognise it from behind or from the side.
B2, end of priority road, is the same sign with a black line through it.
Priority still applies when you turn
This is the question that catches many exam candidates. If you are on a priority road and you turn off, you keep priority over traffic from the side road. Indicating does not give up your priority.
You do have to let oncoming traffic continuing straight along the same priority road go first when you turn left. That is a separate rule: turning traffic yields to traffic going straight on the same road.
Priority roads and shark teeth
The side roads usually carry shark teeth on the surface, the triangles pointing towards approaching traffic. They confirm that traffic from the side road must give way.
Shark teeth and sign B6 say the same thing from the other side: they wait, you go.
Where you will see it
Priority roads are usually through roads: the route that carries traffic across a village or district. Side streets join them at shark teeth markings.
Inside built-up areas you will often see B1 on a 50 km/h road, outside them on provincial roads.
B1 on the CBR theory exam
The exam rarely tests B1 as a question about the sign itself. It comes up in scenario questions where you decide who goes first. In those questions, check for a B1 in the picture before anything else, because it sets the whole priority situation.
Difference from B3, priority crossroads
B1 applies to an entire road until sign B2. B3 applies to one specific junction ahead and says nothing about the junctions after it. If you see B3, you only have priority at that one crossroads.
B3, priority crossroadsFrequently asked questions
- How far does a priority road extend?
- Until sign B2, end of priority road. Every junction in between is covered, however many there are.
- Do I still have priority when turning off a priority road?
- Yes, against traffic from the side road you keep priority. If you turn left, you must still let oncoming traffic on the same road go first.
- What is the difference between sign B1 and shark teeth?
- They describe the same situation from two sides. B1 stands on the priority road and tells you that you have priority; shark teeth are painted in the side road and tell those drivers to give way.
Practise this sign for your theory exam
Priority road belongs to the Right of way category. In the CBR theory exam a traffic sign is almost never asked on its own: you are shown a situation and have to know what you may or must do in it. In the free sign trainer you practise the signs by category, with the explanation shown right after every answer.
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