Driving MasteryDriving technique
Turning right in a yellow box junction: what the Highway Code actually says
You MUST NOT enter a box junction until your exit is clear - except when turning right. The one exception, and the moment it stops applying.
Watch the yellow box junction lessonQuick answer
- You MUST NOT enter a box junction until your exit road or lane is clear. That is a legal requirement, not advice.
- There is one exception: you may enter and wait when you are turning right and only oncoming traffic, or other vehicles waiting to turn right, are stopping you.
- Your exit still has to be clear. The exception covers being blocked by oncoming traffic - not by a queue on the road you are turning into.
- At signalled roundabouts the exception does not apply: you MUST NOT enter unless you can cross the box completely without stopping.
Turning right in a yellow box junction
Box junctions catch people out because the headline rule and the exception pull in opposite directions, and most drivers only ever learn the headline. The result is one of two errors: sitting back and blocking the traffic behind you when you were entitled to move forward, or edging in when you were not.
When should you wait at a green light?
A green light means you may go if the way is clear - not that you must. Rule 176 puts the condition plainly: only go forward on green if there is room for you to clear the junction safely, or you are taking up position to turn right. So you wait at a green light when moving forward would leave you stranded in the junction, and you wait when you are turning right and oncoming traffic has not given you a gap yet.
Painting a box on that junction does not change the answer - it makes it enforceable. Which is where rule 174 comes in.
The box junction rule, and the one exception
The Highway Code uses MUST NOT for rule 174, which means it is backed by law rather than being good practice: you must not enter the box until your exit road or lane is clear. Then it adds the exception in the same rule - you may enter the box and wait when you want to turn right, and are only stopped from doing so by oncoming traffic, or by other vehicles waiting to turn right.
- Turning right, blocked only by oncoming traffic: you may enter and wait.
- Turning right, but the road you are turning into is queued: you may not - your exit is not clear.
- Going straight ahead or turning left with anything blocking your exit: you may not enter, no exception applies.
- At a signalled roundabout: you may not enter unless you can cross the whole box without stopping.
This is worth getting right beyond the test. Rule 174 is one of the Highway Code's MUST NOTs, so legislation sits behind it - and where a council has taken on moving-traffic enforcement, entering a box junction you were not entitled to enter can bring a penalty charge notice through the post. The exception is a genuine defence when it applies, and no defence at all when it does not.
Practice question
You are at a signal-controlled crossroads waiting to turn right. There is a yellow box on the junction, and oncoming traffic is stopping you from turning. What should you do?
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Not quite
Not unlawful - rule 174 says you may enter and wait, not that you must. But holding back blocks every driver behind you who is also waiting to turn right, and can mean nobody gets through on that green at all.
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Correct
Rule 174's one exception: you may enter the box and wait when you want to turn right and are only stopped from doing so by oncoming traffic, or by other vehicles waiting to turn right. The exit road still has to be clear before you enter.
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Not quite
That is the rule at signalled roundabouts, where the right-turn exception does not apply. At an ordinary box junction you may enter and wait to turn right.
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Not quite
The exception only covers being stopped by oncoming traffic. If your exit road is queuing then something else is stopping you as well, so the exception never applies and the MUST NOT stands.
Rule 174 says you MUST NOT enter a box junction until your exit road or lane is clear, and MUST NOT means law rather than advice. Turning right is the single exception: you may enter and wait when the only thing stopping you is oncoming traffic, or other vehicles waiting to turn right. The word doing the work is only - if your exit is blocked as well, you are not only stopped by oncoming traffic, and the exception does not apply.
A Driving Mastery practice question, not an official DVSA test question.
Frequently asked questions
When should you wait at a green light?
When there is not room to clear the junction on the other side, or when you are turning right and oncoming traffic has not left you a gap. Rule 176 says to go forward on green only if there is room to clear the junction safely, or you are taking up position to turn right.
Can you stop in a yellow box junction when turning right?
Yes, but only when the sole thing stopping you is oncoming traffic, or other vehicles already waiting to turn right. Your exit road must still be clear.
Is entering a box junction illegal?
Entering before your exit is clear is. The Highway Code words rule 174 as MUST NOT, which means legislation sits behind it - TSRGD schedule 9. Enforcement depends on where you are: London councils have had camera powers for years, and councils in England outside London have been able to take on moving-traffic enforcement since 2022, with more adopting it since. Where they have, box junctions are enforced by approved camera devices and the penalty is a charge notice sent to the registered keeper.
Does the right-turn exception apply at roundabouts?
No. At signalled roundabouts you must not enter the box unless you can cross over it completely without stopping.
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