Rule of the Road

Rule of the Road is the seafarer’s name for the COLREGs, the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972, in force 15 July 1977. Its 41 rules and four annexes set steering and sailing conduct (give-way and stand-on obligations, crossing, overtaking, head-on), lights and shapes, and sound and light signals. Rule 5 (lookout), Rule 6 (safe speed), and Rule 7 (risk of collision) underpin every collision case argued before an admiralty court.