METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ASSERTING RIGHT OF WAY FOR TRAVERSING AN INTERSECTION

Systems and methods for controlling navigation of an autonomous vehicle for making an unprotected turn while traversing an intersection. The methods may include identifying a loiter pose of an autonomous vehicle for stopping at a point in an intersection before initiating an unprotected turn, initiating navigation of the autonomous vehicle to the loiter pose when a traffic signal is at a first state, determining whether the traffic signal has changed to a second state during or after navigation of the autonomous vehicle to the loiter pose, and in response to determining that the traffic signal has changed to the second state, generating a first trajectory for navigating the autonomous vehicle to execute the unprotected turn if the expected time for moving the autonomous vehicle from a current position to a position when the autonomous vehicle has fully exited an opposing conflict lane is less than a threshold time.