Damn it Jaie!  Quit telling all our secrets!  Ok, lets clairify...SHELLY does not think you should speed up and like, run over people exiting the freeway.  But I DO want to just drive right over the crazy people who find it necessary to come to a complete STOP on the access road to allow traffic to exit the freeway.  I mean...hello?  Yeild is "slow down"  it's not a STOP sign.  Here is Shelly...minding her own business...going 45 MPH down the access road....and then BLAM!!!! I smash into the dingle head stopped right in front of me waiting for the imaginary cars (no...they really aren't there) to exit.  Yield is Yield. Stop is Stop.

They had this same argument about 3 months ago.  It's a no win situation.  You have all the 'super safety drivers' who say you HAVE to yield the right-of-way to a car exiting the freeway, and if you must stop to do that, you do it. It doesn't matter if you're halfway down the frontage road before the car comes off the ramp.  Stop, put your car in reverse, back up the opposite way down the frontage road, and let the car get in front of you!!   I agree with everything Jaie has to say.  I think her logic is the correct way to look at the proper yielding technique.  But believe me, there will be dozens of posts here from the paranoid safety drivers who will stand their ground and stop at a yield sign, whether someone is coming off the ramp or not.

It is a no win situation, we have all been on both sides of this fence. I try to exit the freeway at some sane speed and when I am on the access road I try to merge in when I can. Of course this town has it's share of folks that are oblivious to about everything around them and that is when you have a problem.

It is just silly that if we were in HEB we yield all the time, but we get in our cars and lose our minds.

Yield signs do not mean "slow down"...that is what they used to mean, back when they were yellow. The law changed when the yield sign changed to red!
It now means that you stop if necessary, to yield to the exiting traffic. I will be glad when they completely get rid of the signs and just have the double line you can not cross...that way drivers will have to compromise with each other rather than getting attitudes.

This question brought out the idiots a couple of months ago.  The sign says yield.  It means yield.  You do not have to stop or even slow down if there is no traffic exiting.  If there is traffic exiting you have to yield.  Anyone who does not understand what that means can look it up in a dictionary or just ask someone who speaks English.  If you have to yield, you may just have to slow down.  You may have to come to a complete stop.  You may have to stop for a while if there are a lot of cars exiting.  Yes, you may be rear ended by some moron who does not intend to yield.  If Mens Health pointed out that this is a dangerous city to drive in, they are only pointing out the obvious.  There are bad drivers every where.  I have lived in several large cities and I believe that most of the bad drivers in most cities are malicious punks who just drive like ass holes.  We have those here too but the worst are the fools who do not know the rules and they are the most dangerous.  This city is full of them.  The punks are bad but they aren't usually Kamikazis.  The fools driving obliviously through the yield signs can kill you.  The yield sign applies to all lanes of the access road.  I feel like I am taking my life in my hands every time I exit a freeway.

Here is how bad not yielding is in this city- Just last week I saw a story on the TV news on another channel.  A driver exited the freeway with his turn signal on.  He was going the speed limit and obeying all laws.  He was almost run into by a police car!  He honked his horn at the cop who then pulled him over and gave him a ticket for improper use of his horn (or something like that).  The cop told the almost hit driver that he didn't have to yield to him.  Someone will put up a post about how this is proof that you don't have to yield to exiting traffic if you are in the right lane.  Before you do that- the police spokesman would not address this particular incident (because the cop was so obviously in the wrong) except to say that the police are required to follow the law too.

Now that this is up for comment again:  POLICE DEPARTMENT, PLEASE START GIVING TICKETS TO THE IDIOTS WHO ARE TRYING TO KILL ME AT FREEWAY EXITS SO MAYBE THEY WILL STOP.

SAILOR, YOU ARE RIGHT.  YOU JUST CANNOT ALLOW SOME PEOPLE TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT TO DO AT AN INTERSECTION.  YOU WOULD THINK THAT A SIGN SAYING YIELD WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO MISINTERPRET.  SOMEHOW TO SOME PEOPLE THINK IT IS OPTIONAL.

As usual, no one really knows what the law says.  The yield sign on the access road means to yield if someone is off the highway and already in front of you.  If you can't see them because they are off to the side then you can go on because they have to slow down to reach the speed limit of the access road, or else they are breaking the law.  It's just common sense.

Roadman, why don't you use a little of that common sense yourself.  Do you really mean to say that those yield signs are only there because someone who just got off the freeway might be going slower than you are so you might have to slow down.  It is already illegal to ram another car from behind.  Why would the state only put that sign at freeway exits.  You have to slow down to avoid running into other traffic anywhere.  That is common sense.

So I guess if some driver is exiting right next to you your idea is that they have to stop to avoid hitting you?  You are the kind of abject idiot who makes it dangerous to drive a car in this city.

Please tell us where you drive roadman.  We would like to drive somewhere else.

Excuse me?  Which part of the yield sign do you not understand?  If there's no one in front of you then you just go.  If there is someone in front of you the yield sign says you better not run into them or you will get a ticket.  They put yield signs up wherever there is a danger of a rear end collision.  Have you ever seen a yield sign at an intersection?  I don't think so.

My favorite post so far is from NOT AGAIN... who basically agreed with everything I said.  The only part I didn't like is when you called me a she.

I cannot understand why so many people have such a difficult time understanding what a sign that directs drivers to yield the right of way means.  The only way I can see to yield the right of way is to yield the right of way.  What could that possibly mean other than do what is necessary to give the other driver the right of way?  How could there be a disagreement between people who read and understand the language as to what that means.  The law does not state the exact move that is required other than to require the right of way be given up.  If you have to slow down, do so.  If you have to stop to yield the right of way and you do not stop then you have not yielded the right of way.  What is so hard to understand about that?

Yield signs and also also traffic signals seem to be merely a suggestion around here.  The fact that vehicles are are slowing down from exiting the highway appears to be missed.  As we all know, if you try to slow down on the highway just prior to the desired exit, there is a strong possibility that you will get rear-ended by the one person attempting to set the next speed record in the slow lane.  
But the real problem is time.  If we all weren't hellbent on getting to where we had to be in the blink of an eye, we would take the time to slow down and give the the exiting vehicle room to merge. And on that note, I would like to recognize the individual that failed to yield and give me the right of way while I was exiting I-35, I assume that after your head was removed from you FIFTH point of contact, you were able to maneuver your vehicle out of the grass.  

Loud Pipes Save Lives.

I have to agree with both Shelley and Leslie.  But first, the yield sign is no longer yellow it is RED and white.  That means if we are on an access road and an exiting vehicle from the highway is coming up to the merge area at the same time we have to slow down or STOP if necessary.  On the other hand, if we're ahead of the traffic coming off the highway then that person needs to know we're on the feeder road and don't have to yield at all.  They're supposed to slow down to that suggested speed that's on the yellow (caution) sign so they don't run over every person sitting at a stop sign or light.  It's COMMON SENSE!! Of course since all the northerners, Californians and people from other countries have moved to our beautiful Texas there go the road rules and friendliness.

To yield , or not to yield.
That is the question.
Whether tis nobler in the mind to observe the yield sign,
or to take offense and just blast through
and by opposing, crash into other drivers observing the rules.

Me thinks the town be full of idiots intent on suicide.

I haven't read Men's Health in quite a while, but if they have stared that San Antonio is a city with a lot of dangerous drivers, I am afraid I have to agree.  I used to be a salesman and I had to travel all over the South.  I have lived in both Houston and San Antonio in Texas and on the East Coast.  I have driven all over the West and Southwest as well.  I can tell you from experience that there are dangerous drivers in every city and town in the country.  Most bad drivers are aggressively bad drivers.  You see them every day weaving in and out of traffic trying to gain a few feet here, a few feet there.  They are mostly men and mostly under 40.  Sometimes I feel like shooting them for their own good.              
                                                                                                                     I hate to see people coasting along down the left lane at a speed they are perfectly comfortable with while everyone else is having to pass them in the slow lane, that is if there is no slow traffic in the slow lane going slow.  They are mostly older and more often women.  The left lane is the passing lane.  If you are not passing every car in the slow lane you need to get over into the slow lane.    
                                                                                                                    Cell phones are a menace.  I have one too.  Who doesn't.  I can't say I never talk on them while driving but I try not to and if I am called by someone I have to talk to I try to keep it short.  It is just too hard to keep up a conversation and really pay attention to the traffic.  It seems like when I see some driver commit some really egregious offense they are usually talking on a cell phone.  Most really bad drivers are men, but I have to say that women are far and away the worst cell phone offenders.  some states have laws against driving while talking on a cell phone and I would gladly give up the right to use mine while driving if it would keep the bozos off theirs.

People who tailgate are self defeating.  If I am tailgated I always slow down because I know I can't stop quickly or the fool behind me will hit me.  I slow down and increase the distance between me and the next car in self defense.  They are usually in small cars and usually very young.  Both sexes are equally offensive in this case.

The worst are the maniacs who do not yield to cars exiting freeways.  When a car exits a freeway, all of the traffic on the access road has to yield to that car.  The new way of increasing the width of the access for a short distance with protected lanes is best but that is not how it is on most exits.  No one likes to have to yield to the exiting traffic.  Sometimes if I know I am going to go past a heavily used exit I will get on the freeway for just that one exit so I don't have to be the yielder.  The Heubner/Blanco exit on 1604 is a good example.  I did that just yesterday.  The car exiting the freeway has the right of way on every lane of the access, including the far right lane.  A lot of people here think the yield sign(which is usually on the far right) only applies to the far left for some unfathomable reason.  To yield the right of way you sometimes have to stop.  If you don't like it, you still have to yield.  People who do not are putting their lives and the lives of other drivers at risk.  I have heard all kinds of nonsense theories and hair splitting explanations of what yield signs mean, but they only mean that you have to yield to the traffic exiting the freeway period.  You are required to do what ever is necessary to make sure that exiting vehicle has the right of way on every lane of the access road as they exit.  Like it or not that is the way it is and until billions of dollars are spent to change all the exits to the "do not cross white line" kind that is the way it is going to be.

As far as a vehicle exiting the freeway and having access to all lanes - NOOOO!!!  For instance the exit off of I-10 and DeZavala - it has three lanes on the access road. You think a car coming off the freeway has the right to cros THREE lanes of taffic immediately so they can get to Traget or Starbucks?  Talking about an accident waiting to happen.  That's one of the most congested and heavily travel intersection in this city.  During rush hour, all three lanes backup to almost the exit ramp.  So all three lanes are supposed to come to a screeching halt so some coffee freak can get all the way over to get her Latte at Starbucks?  Get real.  The person exiting has the right of way, but also has to merge with existing traffic on the feeder road.  If not, why even have yeild signs?  Just stick a stop light up at every exit ramp, and force the traffic to stop.

The other problem with exit ramps are the stupid designs the moronic TXDot engineers created.  The same DeZavala exit lane is also the entrance ramp onto I-10 just 500 feet up the road.  So when you do take the DeZavala exit, you have to contend and fight with all the drivers that are trying to get over into the same lane, so they can get onto the highway!!  It's the same design all over town.  Who was the idiot who came up with that idea?

You all need to go to Germany and learn how to drive correctly....

Yield means if you are about to intersect an exiting vehicle, it is YOUR responsibility to yield or "Give Way" as our British friends like to say.  If this means you have to come to a complete stop, then so be it.  Yield, however, does not mean:

A)  Speed up to 90 mph so you won't have to yield to an exiting vehicle
B)  Stop and wait for a vehicle to yield to

San Antonio was rated as one of the worst cities to drive in and, sadly, I must agree.  It would help if people were more courteous, actually focused on driving and not cell phones, personal hygiene, and the other vast array of things people do while behind the wheel instead of driving, and able to drive on well maintained and properly engineered roads - you listening TxDOT!?!?!?!?

There are extraordinarily bad drivers in SA!  I think most of it comes from the arrogance of people thinking their time is more valuable than anyone else's and that they certainly don't have to wait in line (or yield).  Granted there are enough stupid people out there too, but combine arrogance with stupidity and you have created the most dangerous San Antonio driver.  However, their ability to move with any purpose at all seems confined to their vehicles.  Have you ever been forced to walk behind these people in a mall, or had to wait for them to cross a street?  No slower people on the planet when it involves moving their 2 feet - but put them behind the wheel and they forget everything but beating out the car next to them.

TRANSPORTATION CODE

CHAPTER 544. TRAFFIC SIGNS, SIGNALS, AND MARKINGS


§ 544.001. ADOPTION OF SIGN MANUAL FOR STATE
HIGHWAYS.  The Texas Transportation Commission shall adopt a
manual and specifications for a uniform system of traffic-control
devices consistent with this chapter that correlates with and to
the extent possible conforms to the system approved by the American
Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

§ 544.010. STOP SIGNS AND YIELD SIGNS.  (a) Unless
directed to proceed by a police officer or traffic-control signal,
the operator of a vehicle or streetcar approaching an intersection
with a stop sign shall stop as provided by Subsection (c).
(b)  If safety requires, the operator of a vehicle
approaching a yield sign shall stop as provided by Subsection (c).
(c)  An operator required to stop by this section shall stop
before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection.  
In the absence of a crosswalk, the operator shall stop at a clearly
marked stop line.  In the absence of a stop line, the operator shall
stop at the place nearest the intersecting roadway where the
operator has a view of approaching traffic on the intersecting
roadway.

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.      

(b)  If safety requires, the operator of a vehicle
approaching a yield sign shall stop as provided by Subsection (c).

Define "If safety requires".  Whose safety?  That of the exiting vehicle, or that of the vehicle that is required to yield?  At what point do you deem it safe?  If the vehicle on the access road who has the yield sign already passed the "place nearest the intersecting roadway where the operator has a view of approaching traffic on the intersecting roadway.", does this mean the vehicle that doesn't have the yield sign is now required to stop  "If safety requires"?

Why can't people simply learn how to properly merge?  It's not rocket science.  No matter how many cars are coming off an exit ramp, if you adjust your speed accordingly, you should be able to merge in between any exiting vehicle without coming to a complete stop.  The problem is the jerks who come off the freeway still doing 70, and expect to be able to cross three lanes on the access road so they can turn into a parking lot.  If they would reduce their speed to the speed of the access road, vehicles coming down the access road could merge a lot easier.

The reason the yield sign is placed all the way over on the right of the furthest right lane is to inform drivers in all lanes that they have to yield, so the answer to your question, Mr You Are Wrong Homero, is yes.

The quotation provided by someone with some sense above (which by the way is in plain English and not at all convoluted) should answer any questions about what a yield sign means.  Note that the State of Texas has seen fit to address the issue in the same section as stop signs since they are so similar.

There are plenty of people who do not want to yield, as foolish and dangerous as that attitude may be, and they come up with all kinds of convoluted definitions for the word "Yield".  It is really quite simple though.  It means yield.  It does not mean merge.  That direction has a separate definition.  The questioner above who seeks to split hairs about "Who's safety?"- What difference could that possibly make?  You are required to yield to those drivers exiting.  If they are breaking the law it is not your right to run into them and compound the situation by breaking another law.  I believe you are quite likely the rocket scientist "Just obey the laws" who spouted a similar theoretical pool or urine the last time this question was asked.  If not, there are two who believe as you do.

I suspect the large number of bad drivers in San Antonio has a lot to do with the many uneducated drivers on the road.  In most cities, teenagers go to drivers ed classes to get their license.  Here, too many drop out before drivers ed, are unable to afford private classes due to the low pay in their career as a dish washer and just wait until they are old enough to get a license without the class.  As a result they really don't know how to drive and they do not understand the rules.  Also they can't be too concerned about their old bomb and if they cared about themselves they would have stayed in school.  All together this makes for a dangerous group speeding down the road.  

who cares, i drive a big truck, ill just plow into you if you get in my way, so what if you get hurt, you should gotten out of my way, foo

Two things... First, the majority of Yield signs along the freeways in San Antonio have been removed and replaced with signs that say Do Not Cross The Double Striped Line - meaning it is now a Merge and not a Yield. Look for yourself if you don't believe me.

Second, in the late 80's the federal government mandated that Yield signs be changed from yellow and black to red and white. The reason they did this was to indicate that you are REQUIRED to stop IF NECESSARY. If you can merge, by all means merge, if there is too much traffic coming from the area with the right of way you HAVE to stop. I promise you that if you don't stop and you get into an accident, you will be ticketed.

Sneavis comes forth to prove my point

All you white people are just woried about getting dents on your fancy cars.  jsut get over when you see us coming. Viva la Raza!

Two months ago I was hit by another driver who ran into me while I was getting off the freeway.  He got a ticket and his insurance had to pay to fix my car.  He was real mad about it but the policeman said he was at fault because he didn't yield.

Mens Health is on the right track.  There are a lot of awful drivers in San Antonio.  There are several reasons we have such a bad road situation here.  We don't have any more young teenagers on the road than any other city but we do have our share.  They lack experience and common sense.  That is a dangerous combination.  We also have a large retired population.  Let's face it- as you get older your response time slows and so does your driving.  Eye sight begins to fail and every other sense begins to diminish.  That has a lot to do with the problem here.  They have the same problem in Arizona and South Florida where there is a significant retired population.  This is also one of the most poorly educated cities in the country.  There are parts of our city where fully 40% of the population does not graduate from high school.  Part of the education they lack is how to drive.  We also have a lot of illegal aliens on the road here.  None of those people are licensed to drive here, they do not know the rules of our roads and they are often driving their first vehicle because they could never afford one before.  In addition many of those illegals come from the countryside of Mexico where there is no such thing as traffic.  We also have a worse than normal driving while drunk problem.  Most cities in this country who have a large population from beer drinking societies have that problem.  That is not a racist comment.  True, our beer drinking society is Mexico, but the cities of the US with large North European populations have the same problem.  We also have those who do not understand the rules, but they are a tiny minority and are usually found in one of the other categories I have mentioned.  It is the combination of all of the above combined with the normal dose of people who never learned to drive or have their own particular and peculiar set of rules (one can be found attacking a posting of the actual law regarding the requirement to yield right of way)  that causes San Antonio to be such a dangerous place to drive.

The specific question you have raised is that of Yielding or failing to yield at freeway exits.  You would have made yourself look less foolish had you done a little investigative reporting for yourself on that issue before you posted your blog.  You might as well have asked;"To Follow the law or not to follow the law".  The law is quite clear and was actually posted above under "Safety is the Only concern".  The history of how that law came to be is then explained by Brian.  David Burne pretty much sums it up: The sign says yield and that is what it means.  I too have noticed (Noticed? I have had it rubbed in my nose) that at least half of the population has not a clue what a yield sign means; either that or they just don't care.

Last time you were 51 years old.  Did you start driving when you were 25?
Loser.

Actually, I turned 49 today, thank you very much.  Also, I started driving when I was 16.  In the 33 years I've driven, I've had two accidents, neither my fault.  Can you claim that Amused?

Well I agree that San Antonio has horrible drivers...though I know how to fix that...just require a basic IQ test before re-newing someone's drivers license...that should cut down 50% of teh drivers and most all of the morons.

Anyway, my opinion is if someone is coming off the ramp and is within a resonable distance (a car length or two) then brake lightly and YIELD to them...if they are a few car lengths back, accelerate up a bit so that they don't have to break when coming off the ramp...if tey are a few car lengths back, you should be able to do this...unless your car is a piece...like a Suzuki Samuri or something crappy like that)...if you have a wimpy little car that can't accelerate worth a damn, just come to a complete stop.

FINALLY!  Someone that understands the logic of merging.  Thank you The T4 Program, you actually get it.  Now all we need to do is get the DPS to develop a training program to teach the idiots like Homero how the concept works.

Yes I agree.  You should never stop unless you have to for cars coming off the ramp.

It looks to me as if the main question is answered in the section of the traffic law that is quoted above.  It does not say you have to stop but it does say you have to stop before you enter the intersection if safety requires.  I would take that to mean that if an accident is possible if you keep going then you have to stop.  Other wise you can slow dow or speed up or just keep on going as you were.  It doesn't seem to be complicated to me.

Drivers here are at least as bad here as anywhere else and I kind of think they really are worse.  You would think some of them don't realize there is anyone else on the road.

Maybe they should stop issuing drivier's licenses in San Antonio.....or we should all be required to take a tedious driving test AGAIN.....

How about we all just use a little common sense...if you see someone...yield, if you don't, then keep moving. If someone is too far, keep going. If someone is too close...yield or stop.

There is a speed at which the vehicle is exiting should go at which from my understanding is no higher than 40 mph. So NO ONE should be blazing out of the freeway.....

COMMON SENSE PEOPLE.....COMMON SENSE!!!!!!!

The yield sign on a right turn lane at a busy intersection doesn't seem to generate the same arguements, but it means the same thing.  Maybe it is the sight of a 2000 pound vehicle coming right at you that relieves you of the need to argue about what yield means.

What I liked best about this thread was the buffoon who wanted to debate and argue with the section of the traffic code that was posted by "Safety is the only concern".  He is an idiot who thinks he is smart.  It is plain English you fool but it will not respond to your brilliant line of questioning.  Look out world, this fool is coming through.

My son was involved in an accident on a frontage road with 2 lanes that branches out to 4 lanes after the gore point.  My son was was in the far right curb lane. An old man came hauling off the freeway into his designated lane , changed into another lane which was to the left of my son and was completely backed up with traffic, he came to a stop then tried to change into my sons lane and hit and rolled my sons vehicle. His insurance company is trying to say it's my sons fault because he should have yielded to him. When does your merging privaleges end?  You mean to tell me that just because you are coming off the freeway you have full access to any lane you want, even if that means you have to cross 3 lanes? And if anyone is in your way, you can just hit them and it's their fault?

I have no problem yielding to vehicles coming off the highway.  I do have a problem with people who think a yield sign is a get out of jail free card.  They think they can come shooting off the highway at 80 mph and cut across three lanes of traffic to turn into a parking lot.  I think it's asinine when people exiting the free way come off at 80 mph over on 410 around Nacogdoches where all that construction is.  That area is just plain confusing with all the construction.  I saw a guy come off the freeway doing about 60 mph, and he honked at me because he didn't think I would yield.  Then he kept going fast in a construction zone and tailed the driver in front of him when the feeder was down to only one lane.

The problem is that people have a sense on entitlement when they are driving.  The same entitled driver who comes off the highway at 80 mph honking at every body, is the same driver who doesn't think they have to yield to people coming off the highway.  It's a vicious cycle.

Also, I wished people would quit playing traffic cops.  If you are not some kind of law enforcement, then you don't need to go around teaching people lessons for not yielding or speeding.  Chances any one of us, if we were followed, could be found breaking a traffic law.

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