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Everything’s bigger in Texas—and Failure to Yield tickets are no exception to that. If you’re convicted of one of these violations, you could find yourself paying thousands of dollars in fines, fees, and insurance premium increases.

What Is Failure To Yield in Texas?

Failure to Yield tickets can be found just about everywhere, no matter which state you drive in. In Texas, these tickets apply to people who violate §544.003, §544.010, or §545.153 of the Texas Transportation Code. That is, if you fail to yield at a stop or yield sign, as instructed by a police officer or traffic control device, or to another driver or pedestrian respectively.

To better understand these tickets, you’ll need to understand a legal concept called “the right of way.” That phrase refers to the right to use the roadway. That is, whoever has the right of way in any given situation has the right to use the road. Pedestrians, bicyclists, and other drivers are all responsible for knowing when they have the right of way—lest they be charged with Failure to Yield.

The following list highlights the hierarchy of the right of way in Texas (that is, who gets it first and who gets it last):

1. Trains and active-duty emergency vehicles.
2. Construction crews.
3. School buses and students in school zones.
4. Drivers who were already in the intersection when you got there.
5. Pedestrians at marked or unmarked crosswalks.
6. Drivers who got to the intersection first, then second, and so on.
7. Drivers going forward.
8. Drivers turning right.
9. Drivers turning left.
10. Drivers to the right (90 degrees) of you.
11. Drivers entering the roadway from a parking space, parking lot, unpaved road, etc.

Violating that order in any way can result in you receiving a Failure to Yield ticket in Texas.

How Does One Yield at an Intersection?

To avoid getting tickets for this offense, you’ll need to commit the above list to memory. To help with that, we’ll describe the process you should follow for each of those steps.

When you arrive at an intersection with a stop or yield sign, the first thing you should do is slow to a stop and examine the surroundings. Look for other vehicles, pedestrians, wildlife, and just about anything else you can think of. An often overlooked legal fact is that you do not have the right of way if proceeding would pose a hazard to somebody else. That’s true even if you would otherwise meet the requirements outlined in this article.

If there is another vehicle or a pedestrian actively using the intersection when you arrive, you must yield the right of way to them. Wait for them to exit the intersection and safely reach the other side.

If there are any emergency vehicles approaching the intersection, wait for them to exit it. Similarly, if there are any work crews performing construction on the intersection, they have the right of way and you may need to wait for them to signal before you can proceed.

School buses always have the right of way when loading and unloading students, regardless of whether they are within a school zone. When within a school zone, student pedestrians always have the right of way.

If there are any pedestrians waiting to use a marked or unmarked crosswalk, let them do so before you proceed. If they are not attempting to cross the road that you’re traveling on, then you do not need to wait for them to finish.

If another vehicle arrives at the intersection before you, yield the right of way to them. If they are in oncoming traffic and you are not going to cross each other’s path, then you may both go at the same time.

If you and another vehicle arrive at the intersection at the same time, whoever is going forward has the right of way. If one of you does not have any stop or yield sign, that person gets the right of way first. If you are turning left across their lane, you will need to yield the right of way to them.

If multiple vehicles arrive at the intersection at the same time, the driver furthers to the right has the right of way.

Penalties for Failure To Yield in Texas

Failure to Yield tickets in Texas come in three varieties: standard, personal injury, and death. Depending on whether somebody were injured or killed as a result of your failure to yield the right of way, the penalties can become far more severe. See the table below for more information:

Failure To Yield to an Emergency Vehicle in Texas

You might have noticed that we made specific mention of emergency vehicles several times in this article. That leads us to our next point: failure to yield to emergency vehicles is also a crime.

What Is It?

This crime is not covered under the same laws as the aforementioned Failure to Yield varieties. Rather, it is detailed in §547.305 and §547.702 of the Texas Transportation Code. These sections state that all drivers must yield the right of way to approaching emergency vehicles when those vehicles are using audible and visual signals (sirens and lights).

To satisfy this requirement, you will need to move out of the way of the vehicle, potentially getting off the road or up a curb, to clear the way for the emergency vehicle to pass. Failure to do so can result in many of the same penalties as the standard varieties mentioned above.

Hire an Attorney Through appwinit.com To Fight Your Case

If you’ve gotten a traffic ticket for failing to yield the right of way in Texas, then your case starts now. You only have 30 days to respond—hardly enough time to decide how you’re going to beat the system. That’s why it’s so important to hire an expert traffic ticket attorney who knows the local laws in your area.

With help from an attorney on the WinIt app (or at www.appwinit.com), you stand a much greater chance of getting off scot free. A dismissal means no fines, no fees, no insurance increases, and no jail time. So why pay thousands of dollars in fines and other penalties when you can potentially take your case to court and win it with WinIt?