Right-of-way at intersections is commonly misunderstood and one of the legal issues of who is at fault when dealing with bicycle accident cases. More accidents occur at intersections not monitored by traffic signals. When two or more vehicles (bicycles included) arrive at an intersection at the same time and there is neither person nor sign in place to indicate whose turn it is to go; the person to the right always has the right of way. When two or more vehicles arrive at an intersection at separate occasions, whoever gets there first gets to go first.
Bicycle accidents involving intersections represent a small majority of personal injury lawsuits. But when they do arise, several of the same defenses are used: cyclist failure to yield, unable to see cyclist because of too dark of clothing, disregard of right-of-ways, speeding through intersections, rolling stops, and riding in the wrong lane or wrong part of the lane. All of these things create comparative negligence or full negligence on behalf of the cyclist. Thus properly yielding at intersections is required not only to hopefully avoid injury, but also to have a strong case against a negligent driver in case you are injured in a bike crash.