Right-of-way and intersections
A person on a skateboard is crossing the street ahead of you. Under California right-of-way rules, how is that person treated?
- As a pedestrian, like someone on foot. Correct answer
- As a bicyclist, with a driver's rights and duties.
- As a slow-moving vehicle to adjust your speed for.
Why
The handbook's definition of a pedestrian is wider than someone on foot. It counts a person walking, a person traveling on something that is neither a vehicle nor a bicycle, with roller skates and a skateboard as its own examples, and someone with a disability riding a tricycle, a quadricycle or a wheelchair. That classification decides what you owe them: pedestrians have the right-of-way in marked and unmarked crosswalks, and when someone is crossing, crosswalk or not, you owe them caution: ease off the speed, or stop outright, until they are across. Bicyclists are the other category, with the same rights and responsibilities as other drivers, although a bicyclist may choose to stop and cross as a pedestrian. Scooters, neighborhood electric vehicles and golf carts are the slow-moving group.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is As a pedestrian, like someone on foot.
- Section 7. Laws and Rules of the Road › Right-of-Way Rules: Who Goes First? › Pedestrians, page 41
- Section 7. Laws and Rules of the Road › Sharing the Road › Bicycles, page 46
- Section 7. Laws and Rules of the Road › Sharing the Road › Slow-moving Vehicles, page 46
- Section 7. Laws and Rules of the Road › Right-of-Way Rules: Who Goes First? › Crosswalks, page 41
The rule behind this one
Right of way in California: who goes first goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on right-of-way and intersections
- The car in the lane beside you has stopped at a crosswalk. Your light is green and your own lane looks clear. What should you do?
- A firefighter at the scene of a collision waves you through a red light. What should you do?
- You are on an on-ramp, about to merge onto the highway. Who has the right-of-way?
- You are waiting to turn left. An oncoming car has its right turn signal on. When should you start your turn?