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Failure to yield the right of way is one of the most common causes of fatal car accidents—in Georgia and everywhere else in the United States. The laws surrounding this violation, however, are quite simple. By coming to understand those laws, you can protect yourself and others from a serious risk and reduce the likelihood of getting a major fine.
What Is Failure To Yield in Georgia?
Failure to Yield is the crime you can be charged with when you violate the state’s laws on right of way. Any time another vehicle has the right of way and you usurp it from them, thereby putting both yourself and them at risk, you are guilty of Failure to Yield.
But what exactly is the right of way? The phrase “right of way” refers to the right of using a public roadway. That includes public roads, highways, streets, avenues, etc. If somebody has the right of way, then they are legally permitted to use the road. If somebody does not have the right of way, then they are not and must wait until they do before proceeding.
Right of way follows a sort of hierarchy. Who has the right of way at any given time depends on many factors. Here’s a brief list demonstrating who is most likely to have the right of way in a four-way intersection, for example:
- Trains and active-duty e
- mergency vehicles.
- Construction crews.
- School buses and students in school zones.
- Drivers who were already in the intersection when you got there.
- Pedestrians at marked or unmarked crosswalks.
- Drivers who got to the intersection first, then second, and so on.
- Drivers going forward.
- Drivers turning right.
- Drivers turning left.
- Drivers to the right (90 degrees) of you.
- Drivers entering the roadway from a parking space, parking lot, unpaved road, etc.
The first three of these bullets are often quite situational, but the others apply to any and all intersections in the state. Failure to yield the right of way to somebody who is above you on that list can result in you receiving a Failure to Yield ticket.
How Does One Yield at an Intersection?
Yielding the right of way at an intersection is quite easy. Unfortunately, it requires a good bit of memorization of the above list of who has the right of way. Once you’ve memorized that list, though, yielding the right of way can become second nature. Let’s go more into detail on each of the points in that list.
First, trains always have the right of way. They often have large signs, traffic control devices, markings, etc. that help to signify this. Failure to yield the right of way to a train is a deadly and dangerous decision and can result in multiple different kinds of tickets. We do not recommend it.
Active-duty emergency vehicles, work crews, school buses loading or unloading students, and students in school zones often also have the right of way. Allow them to clear the intersection before proceeding.
Next up come anybody who’s already using the intersection by the time you get there. If another vehicle is in the intersection when you arrive, you will need to yield the right of way to them until they clear the area.
Now that nobody is in the intersection, check to see if there are any pedestrians waiting to cross at a marked or unmarked crosswalk. If so, yield the right of way to them. However, if they are not crossing any lane that you intend to use, you may proceed through the intersection.
The point is to avoid entering the intersection until doing so would no longer pose a hazard to anybody. If a pedestrian is not crossing your path, then you do not need to wait for them to pass.
After that, it becomes a matter of who arrived at the intersection first. If another vehicle arrives before you, they get the right of way first. Then whoever arrives second, third, and so on. If multiple vehicles arrive all at the same time, however, it gets a little tricky.
In that case, the vehicles may only go at the same time if they are not going to cross each other’s path. If one vehicle is going to go forward but you intend to turn left across their path, then you will need to yield the right of way until they have passed.
If three vehicles arrive at the intersection from different directions all at the same time, whoever is furthest to the right has the right of way.
Lastly, any vehicles entering the roadway from a parking space, parking lot, unpaved road, etc. have the right of way only after all of the individuals mentioned above have gone.
Penalties for Failure To Yield in Georgia
A conviction for Failure to Yield in Georgia can impose serious penalties. Those penalties can include fines, points, license suspension, increased insurance premiums, and criminal charges. Here’s what the penalties for a single conviction of this crime might yield:
- A fine of up to $1,000.
- Up to three points on your license.
- The suspension of your driver license.
- An insurance increase of around $326.96 each year for two years.
- A criminal record and time in jail.
Failure To Yield to an Emergency Vehicle in Georgia
Another Failure to Yield variety has to do with failing to get out of the way of emergency vehicles when they’re actively performing their emergency duties.
What Is It?
Whereas the standard Failure to Yield crime refers to intersections and general roadway use, this variation of that crime refers to any place in which emergency vehicles have the right of way. That makes both variations similar but this one more widely applicable than the other.
Any time an emergency vehicle activates its lights and sirens, it has the right of way. Your responsibility then becomes to move out of its way. The purpose of this law is to require people to clear a path for emergency vehicles to more efficiently get to where they need to be to address the emergency on hand.
The penalties for violating this law are quite similar to the standard Failure to Yield penalties, except slightly reduced. The maximum fine for this violation is only $500. All other penalties remain.
Hire an Attorney Through appwinit.com To Fight Your Case
If you’ve received a Failure to Yield ticket in Georgia, know that you have options. You can plead guilty and accept all of the penalties mentioned above or you can plead not guilty, hire an expert traffic ticket attorney through the WinIt app (or www.appwinit.com), and take your case to court.
With help from an experienced attorney, your chances of getting your ticket dismissed increase substantially. So, why pay thousands of dollars in fines and insurance premiums and risk going to jail when you can potentially take your case to court and win it with WinIt?
