Right-of-way and intersections
While you wait at a red light, a pedestrian starts across the crosswalk ahead of you. Before the person reaches the other side, your light turns green. What must you do?
- Wait for the pedestrian to finish crossing before you go. Correct answer
- Go, because the pedestrian started crossing against your green light.
- Go slowly and steer around the pedestrian.
Why
Drivers must yield to pedestrians who are legally using a marked or unmarked crosswalk, which means slowing down or stopping when needed. The manual's own example is this one: the pedestrian stepped off while your light was red, then your light turned green, and you still have to let the person finish crossing. A change of light gives you permission to move, not permission to cut through someone already in the crosswalk. Steering around a person in the crosswalk ignores the same duty, and in every situation the manual asks drivers to take care not to hit pedestrians and bicyclists. The same applies to crosswalks on your left and right before you turn.
Where this comes from
New York State Driver's Manual (MV-21), April 2026 version. The correct answer is Wait for the pedestrian to finish crossing before you go.
More on right-of-way and intersections
- On a two-way road, an ambulance with flashing lights and a siren is coming toward you in the opposite lane. What must you do?
- You are in the middle of an intersection when a fire truck with lights and siren comes up behind you. What should you do?
- On an ordinary two-lane local road, you come up on a tow truck stopped on the shoulder with its amber hazard lights flashing. What does the Move Over Law require of you here?
- On a multi-lane parkway, a private car with a flat tire is stopped on the shoulder. It has no emergency or hazard-vehicle lights. What does the Move Over Law ask of you?