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Ah, Pennsylvania. The state is well-known for being a titan of industry for well over 100 years, being the epicenter of America’s mushroom production, and issuing expensive Failure to Yield tickets. These tickets are incredibly common in the state and can generate just as much (if not more) revenue for the state.
What Is Failure To Yield Code?
Title 75, section 3323 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes governs stop and yield signs in the state. This law, which you might see abbreviated as just §3323, provides strict outlines of each driver’s “duties” at intersections controlled by stop and/or yield signs.
What Is Failure To Yield in Pennsylvania?
Failure to Yield tickets are issued to drivers who disobey the rules of the road at a point when they were supposed to let another driver or pedestrian pass. Let’s put that another way: when you cut somebody off at an intersection, you have failed to yield. Any time a person has the right of way and you interrupt them, you are guilty of this violation.
That brings us to the main point of this law: the right of way. The right of way is the right to use public roadways in accordance with the law. If you have the right of way at an intersection, for example, other people who don’t will have to wait for you to pass. The opposite is also true. If somebody has the right of way and you don’t, you will have to wait for them to pass. Any deviation from this rule can result in you receiving a Failure to Yield ticket.
How Does One Yield at an Intersection?
To properly yield the right of way at an intersection in Pennsylvania, you should adhere to the following hierarchy:
- Trains and active-duty emergency 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.
Here are three examples:
- Drivers turning left must yield the right of way to emergency vehicles flashing lights and blaring sirens.
- Drivers who arrive at the intersection after other drivers must yield the right of way to the drivers who arrived before them.
- Pedestrians must yield the right of way to drivers that were already in the intersection before the pedestrians arrived.
Penalties for Failure To Yield in Pennsylvania
The penalties for Failure to Yield tickets in Pennsylvania are relatively small compared to states like Georgia and Florida. But “smaller” doesn’t always mean “small.” Unless you’ve got a sizable chunk of cash that you’re ready to toss over to the local county court, the fines outlined below can still break the bank.
If nobody is injured when you violate the right of way, the fine can be as expensive as $150. That being said, you might still have to pay other surcharges, fees, etc. after a conviction, all of which can further increase the total cost. A conviction will also result in up to three points on your license, which can lead to increased insurance premiums and/or the suspension of your driver license.
If somebody is injured when you commit this violation, then the penalties become much more severe. The fine can increase, you can face additional charges, and you might be sentenced to jail time. The extent of these additional penalties will depend on the circumstances of your particular case.
If somebody dies as a result of your violation, you can be in serious trouble. This can (and likely will) result in a civil suit against you, additional civil penalties, possible fines, and quite likely criminal charges.
Failure To Yield to Emergency Vehicle Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, as in most states, you are legally required to move over for active-duty emergency vehicles. Failure to do so can result in you receiving a different variety of Failure to Yield tickets.
What Is It?
State law requires that any drivers who are blocking an emergency vehicle’s path move out of that path as soon as possible. The point of this law is to clear the road for emergency vehicles to perform their duties. As such, it typically only applies when the emergency vehicle has activated its lights and sirens.
The fine for this variation of Pennsylvania’s Failure to Yield tickets is $250 for a first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense. Other than that, it follows a similar penalty structure to the standard Failure to Yield ticket variety.
Defenses for Failure To Yield
With countless tickets having gone through the Pennsylvania traffic court system, some arguments have been shown to have more success than others. To help you put your best foot forward, we’ve organized our thoughts on a few of the best defenses for Failure to Yield tickets below.
Poor Visibility of Road Lines
Judges often recognize that the law was not written for Superman and Superman alone. With that in mind, they will very rarely uphold citations that were based on the driver not having seen poorly visible or practically invisible road lines. If you can prove (through photo or video evidence, such as that from a dash cam) that the road lines you failed to yield at were not visible to you, then you might be able to have the judge dismiss your ticket.
Poor Visibility of Signs
Similarly to the above argument about road lines, legal precedent and public policy require that people only be penalized for violating signs that most people could have seen. If a reasonable person would have broken the law in the same way as you due to the lack of sign visibility, then the judge might dismiss your ticket.
Another Vehicle Broke the Law
If another vehicle broke the law and thereby forced you to do so as well, then you might be able to get out of your ticket. This is a bit of a confusing gray area, though. It does not mean that you can simply follow another rule-breaker through an intersection without stopping. It does, however, mean that if that rule-breaker would have injured you had you not done what you did, you might not be legally liable for the citation.
Reckless Driving on Another Vehicle’s Part
Pennsylvania’s municipal court system recognizes the danger of reckless driving—that’s why the state penalizes it so much. If another driver’s reckless driving put you at risk and required you to fail to yield at an intersection, you could have legal grounds for a dismissal.
You Were Avoiding Harm’s Way
Most laws were designed to protect people from dangerous conditions and hazards. With that in mind, most judges will dismiss charges against drivers who were simply trying to avoid dangerous conditions and hazards. For example, if you blew through an intersection without yielding the right of way in order to avoid a fire, downed power line, etc., then you might not be liable for the citation.
Hire an Attorney Through appwinit.com To Fight Your Case
No matter what your case entails, nobody knows the law quite as well as a lawyer. We encourage you to access the safe and affordable legal assistance available to you on the WinIt app or at www.appwinit.com. Time is precious, so don’t waste it paying off burdensome fines and fees. Hire a lawyer to take your case to court and win it with WinIt.
