I live in PA and have to merge on several busy highways when I go to work. Well, when I am trying to merge, there is a yield sign. Oftentimes, there is a mass of cars coming and I can not safely merge into traffic, so I come to a complete stop until it is clear or if I can safely proceed. On several occasions now, the driver behind me starts honking his horn because I'm stopped. What do they want me to do? Merge into traffic and cause a bad accident. The speed limit on the highways is between 50-55 mph and many people speed. I'm not going to pull out in front of cars going that speed and take my chances. I guess my question is, is it okay to stop at yield signs????
Similarly, if I am driving on the highway and I see cars that want to merge, am I supposed to switch lanes for them? Many people do not look and just pull out into traffic! Are they correct to do this? I always go the speed limit, but if someone decides to merge at the last minute, it is difficult to slow down.
2007-04-19 07:25:02 · 13 answers · asked by Angrygirl5 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Safety
Unfortunately Briggs definition of "merging" is incorrect. The idea of "Merging" was intended for the people merging to "fall in at the back of the pack" since you will always be the slower car by design then the mainline traffic at the speed limit and this way you do not imped the flow to cause an accident. Weaving interchanges are an old design that is very unsafe and dangerous. What you are doing is text book and for your safety and everyone elses. Keep up the safe driving. And do not worry that honker behind you is just in a big hurry, has no idea what "yield" means, probably does not know it is there, and eventually we be in an accident of his own.
2007-04-20 09:31:13 · answer #1 · answered by Derek O 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If it is not safe to proceed, you absolutely must stop. A yield sign indicates that a driver of a vehicle must slow down and prepare to stop if necessary (usually while merging into traffic on another road) but does not need to stop if there is no reason to. A driver who has actually stopped in this situation is said to have yielded the right-of-way to through traffic on the main road. A pox on the idiot behind, who seems to be in every city, doing the same thing, honking because he/she thinks a yield just means slow down and boot it.
2007-04-19 17:25:04 · answer #2 · answered by Fred C 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is not a single state nor territory in the union where a police officer cannot give someone a ticket for any reason at all. And if you're naïve enough to pay the ticket without going to court over it, then you deserve it. It is only if you pay the ticket or you go to court and are found guilty of it anyway that it even begins to matter. Most law enforcement officers refrain from writing tickets just to write tickets, but I happen to have met several who write tickets for even less-likely things than what you asked about, simply because they know that there are some pretty stupid people out there who pay tickets just because they believe that tickets have to be paid... which is not the case at all, as I mentioned above. But the cut and dry answer to your question is that yes, they can write you a ticket on hearsay testimony should they feel like writing the ticket. But even if you DID whatever the ticket is for, you should still challenge it in court before simply paying it, because the court might still throw it out. Nice additional details. Yes, an ambulance driver could report your vehicle's licence plate number and have the registered owner ticketed for failure to yeild. But those are usually quite easy to get thrown out. As long as you did not impede the emergency vehicle's access to wherever the emergency happened to be, you didn't actually fail to yield, because "yeild" does not mean "stop" only "get out of their way and stay out of their way." But, until you get the ticket, don't fret it. And if you do get the ticket, don't pay it; take it to court, and defend yourself. Oh, and make sure it doesn't happen again... because emergency vehicles really do need to own the whole road when there's an emergency.
2016-05-18 23:57:26 · answer #3 · answered by kecia 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes you are required to stop and "yield" to traffic if there is any, before you proceed, if there's no traffic coming you don't have to stop.
If you are able to switch lanes when approaching an on-ramp do so out of courtesy, its not a law, but its a courtesy.
No they aren't correct by just pulling out into traffic, they are supposed to look and make sure there is room for them to merge, and if not stop until there is room.
2007-04-20 14:05:17 · answer #4 · answered by Bill S 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is supposed that you will stop in order to yield the right away.
It is considered polite to change lanes so that some one can merge. If you can't switch lanes then adjust your speed so that they can merge. Driving courtesy is becoming a rarity. I do encourage it. I would bet you are a courteous person, don't let those without the benefits of civility ruin your day.
2007-04-19 07:37:28 · answer #5 · answered by abrianb2003 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are the best judge of traffic speed and your own driving abilities. Therefore you alone are in the position to know if there's a safe gap for you to merge into traffic, not the guy behind you. Do what is safe, don't let them intimidate you.
2007-04-21 18:01:50 · answer #6 · answered by sweetwater 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That's what a yield sign is for, go if you can stop if you can't. Just make sure you can't, that may be why they are honking, because they may have seen an opening, as for changing lanes to let mergers in, that is a good practice, you always want to look down the road and anticipate what some one else may do so you are not surprised and forced to make a emergency maneuver, it's called defensive driving.
2007-04-19 07:30:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
well yeild means simply that. you must allow the oncoming traffic to pass. If you find your getting honked more often than none it may just mean your driving too defensively. My sister used to do this when merging she would always opt for her break instead of the gas. The aim of merging into traffic is to be at speed at the point of merging so when you move into traffic you dont have to worry about speeding up or slwoing down those behind you.
so my advice would be to be alittle more aggressive when merging while ofcourse practicing maximum safety.
2007-04-19 07:30:18 · answer #8 · answered by Briggs 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes you can stop, but it is best to try and keep with the flow. Unless it is short ramp, most on ramps are made long enough for you to get up to an adequate speed. Along those lines, you should not need to stop if done properly. For those on the freeway they do not need to get over as they do have right of way, but it is common courtesy to move over a lane if the driver can do so without disrupting traffic.
2007-04-19 07:35:47 · answer #9 · answered by henn0166 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yield means a rolling stop--and it means yield the right-of-way.
You are not required to change lanes to let people onto the freeway, but it sure would help! Here in Ohio people do it all the time out of courtesy, even in light traffic.
2007-04-19 08:23:21 · answer #10 · answered by ? 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋