rule of the road

Meanings

1. Any of the requirements for how drivers, bicyclists, etc, behave and operate while using public roadways.
2. The regulation requiring all traffic (travelling on a road or otherwise) to keep either to the left or the right.
3. (nautical) A regulation concerning safe handling of vessels on roadsteads, seaways, sea lanes, etc.
4. A basic (fundamental) and general requirement or principle for how to operate or behave in a certain context or domain (for example, an industry, an occupation, a company, an association).