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NY failure to yield tickets are some of the most common tickets in the state. In 2017, police officers in NY issued over 50,000 traffic tickets for failing to yield.
There are many different kinds of failure to yield tickets including failure to yield to a pedestrian, failure to yield during a left-hand turn, and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. All of these tickets and the other kinds can have serious consequences.
What Does “Failure to Yield” Mean?
The phrase “failure to yield” means that you didn’t follow the rules of the road regarding right of way. Right of way refers to whichever person has the legal right to go. That could be at a crosswalk, when passing an emergency vehicle, or even when making a simple turn.
These laws are written in the Vehicle and Traffic Law, often referred to as the VTL or the VAT Laws. VTL section 1140, for example makes it illegal to disobey the rules of the road at an intersection.
Penalties for Failing to Yield
The penalties for a failure to yield ticket can include fines, surcharges, and auto insurance increases among other things. For the most common failure to yield tickets, you can also expect to get three points on your license.
Fines
VTL 1141 (failure to yield for a pedestrian) is the most common kind of failure to yield tickets in New York. If a driver drives through an intersection without right of way, they could be facing fines of up to $150. That’s a hefty price to pay.
Like most traffic tickets in New York, these fines can increase if you commit the same violation multiple times. Each additional violation can add hundreds of dollars to your fine.
Surcharge
New York has a long list of surcharges that courts can apply to a traffic ticket. A small handful of those surcharges apply to almost every single traffic ticket on the books. To save you the jargony details, all you need to know is that they add up to either $88 or $93.
Which sum you have to pay depends on where you got your ticket.
Auto Insurance Increase
Auto insurance increases quite a bit once the court convicts you of any kind of failure to yield violation. The average auto insurance increase for a failure to yield ticket is 19%. In order to find out what your new insurance rate might be, multiply your current monthly payment by 1.19.
In New York traffic violations like these stay on your record for up to four years, leading to a total average increase of $1,282.88. (These numbers are based on the average annual cost of auto insurance in New York: $1,688.)
Can You Fight a Failure to Yield Ticket in New York City?
The short answer is “yes.” The long answer is “yes, but hire a lawyer.”
Fighting a failure to yield ticket in New York City is a walk in the park for expert traffic ticket attorneys. They understand the common defenses for this kind of ticket and exactly what they need to do to increase your chances of getting off with the ticket.
Defenses for a Failure to Yield Ticket
If you got your ticket as a result of a car accident, your lawyer might try to prove that there are no witnesses that can say you violated the right of way.
If you got your ticket for simply violating the right of way, you’ll have to obtain concrete facts proving that you did actually have the right of way. That is a significant challenge, even if you have a lawyer.
If an officer saw you commit the violation, there’s little you can do to beat the ticket. That’s because police officers are considered expert witnesses in New York traffic courts.
How Long Will a Failure to Yield Ticket Stay On My Record?
The first thing you need to know is that there is a lifetime record and an abstract. Tickets stay on your lifetime record forever, but only stay on your abstract for a set period of time.
Drivers who violate the right of way in New York can find those tickets staying on their record for up to four years at most. The specific timeline is until the end of the year in which the violation took place, plus three more years.
If you got your ticket as the result of a car accident, you can expect it to stay on your record for even longer.
Hiring an Attorney for a Failure to Yield Ticket
Hiring an attorney is the best way to win your case. The WinIt app makes it easier than ever to find a qualified attorney in your area. Through the smartphone app—available on Android and iPhone—you can select your favorite attorney supported by countless reviews.
FAQs About NY Failure to Yield Tickets
There are about a dozen ways to get a ticket for failure to yield. Some of them, you would never even guess. For example, you can get a failure to yield ticket for not moving lanes to accommodate horses on the side of the road.
Here are a few of the most common questions we get here at WinIt:
Do I have to come to a complete stop at a yield sign?
No. Yield signs are not the same as stop signs. At a yield sign, you are only required to slow down and make sure that it is safe to pass before continuing on. However, a yield sign at an intersection follows the same rules regarding right of way as a stop sign.
Do I have to pull over for an emergency vehicle if it’s coming toward me from the opposite direction?
Yes. Even if an emergency vehicle is coming toward you from the opposite direction, you are required to pull over. This is to help these emergency vehicles have as much control of the road as possible.
What happens if I don’t pay my failure to yield traffic ticket?
Failure to pay a traffic ticket can get you yet another traffic ticket for failure to pay. Tickets for failure to pay can have significantly worse consequences. You can face higher fines, interest costs, and might even lose your license.
