yield sign

In road transport, a yield or give way sign indicates that merging drivers must prepare to stop if necessary to let a driver on another approach proceed. A driver who stops or slows down to let another vehicle through has yielded the right of way to that vehicle. In contrast, a stop sign requires each driver to stop completely before proceeding, whether or not other traffic is present. Under the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, the international standard for the modern sign is an inverted equilateral triangle with a red border and either a white or yellow background. Particular regulations regarding appearance, installation, and compliance with the signs vary by some jurisdiction.

Terminology

While ''give way'' and ''yield'' essentially have the same meaning in this context, many countries have a clear preference of one term over the other. The following table lists which countries and territories use which term. This chart is based on official government usage in the English language and excludes indirect translations from other languages.

History

A black triangle (within the standard down-arrow-shape of stop signs) was a symbol of "stop for all vehicles" from about 1925 in Germany. The triangular yield sign was used as early as 1937, when it was introduced in Denmark in red and white (matching the Danish flag), in 1938 when it was codified in Czechoslovakia in a blue-white variant without words, and in 1939 in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia which adopted the current red-white variant.
In the United States, the first yield sign was erected in 1950 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, designed by Tulsa police officer Clinton Riggs; Riggs invented only the sign, not the rule, which was already in place. Riggs' original design was shaped like a keystone; later versions bore the shape of an inverted equilateral triangle in common use today. The inverted equilateral triangle was then adopted by the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals as the international standard.

Country specifics

Australia

In Australia, the Give Way sign evolved similarly to its counterpart in the United States. During the 1940s and 1950s, the sign was circular and yellow. In 1964, the sign changed to a red triangle. In the 1980s, the sign adopted its modern design and gained a counterpart for use at roundabouts.

Image:Early Australian road sign - Give Way.svg, Original design (1940-1964)
Image:Australia R1-2 (old).svg, Second version (1964-1974)
Image:Australia road sign R1-2.svg, Modern design since 1974

Ireland

In road signs in Ireland, the yield sign reads in most areas, although in Gaeltacht ( Irish-speaking) areas the text is ("yield way") instead. Signs erected between 1962 and 1997 read , which remains legally permitted. Signs 1956–62 had a blank white interior.

Image:IE road sign 201 (1956–1962).svg, 1956 – 1962
Image:IE road sign 201 (1962–1997).svg, 1962 – 1997
Image:IE road sign RUS-026.svg, English-language version (1997 – present)
Image:IE road sign RUS-026G.svg, Irish-language version (1962 – present)

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the original design also used the keystone shape as in the United States but used a black background with a red border. In the 1980s, the modern design was adopted. On sealed roads, the give way sign is always accompanied by a white line painted on the road to clarify the rule to road users even if the sign is obscured or missing.

Image:New Zealand road sign R2-2 (–1987).svg, Original design (1964-1987)
Image:New Zealand road sign R2-2.svg, Modern design since 1987

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom's Road Traffic Act calls for signs and road markings at junctions ( crossroads) where the give-way rule is to apply. The road marking accompanying the sign consists of a large inverted triangle painted just before the place to give way, which is marked by broken white lines across the road.

In Wales, some signs bear a bilingual legend: the Welsh appears above .

In the United Kingdom, a stop or give-way sign may be preceded by an inverted, blank, triangular sign with an advisory placard such as .

United States

In the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, a yield sign may be warranted

The sign went through several changes from its original design to the sign used today. Originally invented in 1952 and added to the MUTCD in 1954, the sign used the "keystone" shape before adopting the more readily recognized triangular shape. In 1971, the sign evolved into its modern version and changed from yellow to red, paralleling the same change that had earlier been made by Stop signs.

Image:United States sign - Yield (v1).svg, Early design (1950-1954)
Image:United States sign - Yield (v2).svg, Second version (1954-1961)
Image:United States sign - Yield (v3).svg, Third version (1961-1971)
Image:MUTCD R1-2.svg, Modern design as agreed to in 1971

Other countries

*Most countries around the world use a red and white vertical triangle with no text.
*Finland, Greece, Iceland, Kuwait, Poland, Sweden and Vietnam uses a red and yellow version of the sign.
*United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, Bhutan and most Commonwealth nations use a version of the sign that says
*Australia, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu use a different version of the sign which has an advance sign typeface and a different font.
*Dominica uses a version of the British sign with "Give Way" text in red.
*Fiji, New Zealand, and Samoa use a version of the sign with "Give Way" in the type of road sign font used in the United States and in red.
*Ireland uses a version of the British sign that uses instead of .
*Liberia uses a version of the sign that says in red text and in a different font.
*Nigeria uses a red and yellow version of the Give Way sign used in the UK and many other Commonwealth nations.
*Singapore uses a UK-Inspired Give Way sign placed inside a white round square.
*The United States uses a Yield sign where the white triangle is smaller and says in red.
*Canada uses a version of the international standard triangle sign without any words.
*Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay use except Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela, which use a version of the sign with smaller text and in a different font.
*Cuba uses a red and yellow version of the Spanish Give Way sign.
*Puerto Rico uses a version of the American Yield sign translated into Spanish which says .

Gallery

Image:Vienna Convention road sign B1-V1.svg, International standard with white background (most countries around the world use this version)
Image:Vienna Convention road sign B1-V2.svg, International standard with yellow background (Finland, Greece, Iceland, Kuwait, Poland, Sweden, Vietnam)
Image:SACU road sign R2.svg, SACU standard (Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa) (no longer used, the blue background has since been phased out in favour of white)

Signs with text in English

Image:UK traffic sign 602.svg, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bhutan, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guernsey, India, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jersey, Kenya, Malta, Mauritius, Montserrat, Pakistan, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom
Image:Australia road sign R1-2.svg, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Vanuatu
Image:Dominica Give Way sign.svg, Dominica
Image:New Zealand road sign R2-2.svg, Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa
Image:IE road sign RUS-026.svg, Ireland
Image:Liberian Road Signs - Regulatory Sign - Yield.svg, Liberia
Image:Nigeria road sign - Give Way.svg, Nigeria
Image:Singapore road sign - Mandatory - Give way.svg, Singapore
Image:MUTCD R1-2.svg, United States
Image:Give Way sign in Zimbabwe.svg, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia (no longer used)

Signs with text in Spanish

Image:Mexico road sign SR-07.svg, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay
Image:Panama road sign R-2.svg, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela
Image:Cuban Give Way sign.svg, Cuba
Image:MUTCD-PR R1-2.svg, Puerto Rico

Signs with text in other languages

Brunei road sign - Give Way.svg, Brunei
Ontario road sign Ra-2 + Ra-2t (B).svg, Canada (Ontario)
China road sign 禁 2.svg, Mainland China
Taiwan road sign 遵-2.svg, Republic of China
France road sign AB3a.svg, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, France, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger

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