Contributory Negligence of the Disfavored Driver Under the Right of Way Statute

The automobile collision at intersections of two streets, neither of which is arterial, is perhaps one of the most common subjects of litigation. For the past twenty-three years such litigation has been governed in part by the statute entitled "Look out approaching intersection—Vehicles to right,"' which provides as follows: "It shall be the duty of every operator of any vehicle on approaching public highway intersections to look out for and give way to-vehicles on their [sic] right, simultaneously approaching a given point within the intersection, and whether such vehicle first reach and enter the intersection or not: Provided, This section shall not apply to operators on arterial public highways." This enactment is the statutory basis of the doctrine which is commonly termed the "Favored Driver Rule." This "rule" gives the motorist on the right the right of way over another entering the same intersection to the left of the first. It is the purpose of this comment to ascertain the limits to which the court will extend this right in barring recovery against this favored driver in actions commenced by the driver on the left with whom the former collides in a nonarterial intersection.