Awareness of right-of-way rules at unsignalized intersections: A case study from Isparta, Türkiye

This study aims to measure the level of awareness of the participants living in Isparta, Türkiye, regarding the right-of-way rules at intersections. A questionnaire was prepared to determine the level of awareness of the right-of-way rules, and a sample of 302 randomly selected participants were invited to respond to the questionnaire. In evaluating the results, participants were categorized into three groups based on their awareness levels: low, moderate, and high. When all questions were considered, it was observed that 24% of the participants had a low level of awareness, 54% had a medium level of awareness, and 22% had a high level of awareness. We established that the least known rules included traffic signs related to yielding and stopping, and right-of-way rules in terms of road priority. According to this, it has been concluded that drivers do not fully understand some fundamental right-of-way rules, and this situation can be a significant factor leading to driver-related accidents at uncontrolled intersections. In this paper, we propose that responsible agencies take measures to reduce accidents caused by violations of right-of-way rules.