Failure to Yield
South Florida Right-of-Way Violation Lawyers
A driver can be ticketed in Florida for failing to yield if he or she does not slow down or stop for a pedestrian or another vehicle. These citations are most often issued following traffic accidents.
Being cited for this offense will usually result in a fine for the motorist, but the amount of the fine and any associated penalties may be higher if the crash resulted in injuries to another person or police charge the driver with another crime such as speeding or reckless driving.
Additionally, a violation of failing to yield can result in points being added to a driver’s record, which negatively impacts insurance rates and may even result in a suspension of driving privileges.
Attorney for “Failure to Yield” Tickets in South Florida
If you were recently cited for failing to yield in South Florida, you should strongly consider seeking legal representation for help fighting the citation and removing this violation from your record. Meltzer & Bell, P.A. assists people who have been accused of this offense in Palm Beach County, Broward County, and Miami-Dade County.
Our “failure to yield” traffic ticket attorneys offer a money back guarantee for certain noncriminal cases not involving accidents, which means you incur no points and are not sentenced to any traffic school (some additional restrictions may apply).
We provide a free consultation to review your case when you call (561) 557-8686 today.
Elements of Failing to Yield Right-of-Way
In traffic court, facts must be presented to prove the elements of the traffic infraction beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt. Although the Defendant is presumed innocent, that innocence is stripped away by proof of guilt beyond and to exclusion of every reasonable doubt.
For the civil infraction of failure to yield right of way, the elements of the infraction include:
- the existence of a favored vehicle which is entitled to right-of-way;
- the defendant was required by a traffic-control device, sign, or law to yield to the favored vehicle;
- the defendant has the opportunity, through the use of presumed reasonable caution and skill, to ascertain that the favored vehicle constituted an immediate hazard; and
- the defendant failed to yield to the favored vehicle.
The court will consider several presumptions that might arise in these cases including:
- the fact that a collision occurred within the intersection of a stop street and uncontrolled street creates a reasonable inference that the defendant’s vehicle proceeded into the intersection when the approaching favored vehicle constituted an immediate hazard.
- Unless demonstrated to the contrary by a showing of the existence of circumstances beyond the defendant’s control, it is presumed that the defendant possessed the skill and judgment to calculate the speed of the oncoming vehicle and the time he would need to negotiate the intersection to avoid the oncoming vehicle.
Defenses to the Failure to Yield Infraction
One of the most commonly asserted defenses in a trial for an infraction for failing to yield right of way is that the other vehicle was traveling at an excessive speed. That defense, in and of itself, is not often successful because a showing that the other vehicle was traveling at an excessive speed is difficult to establish through evidence at the trial. The burden of showing excessive speed applies equally to both defense and state.
Even when it can be shown that the oncoming vehicle was traveling at an excessive speed, that fact alone is not an absolute defense because it is presumed that the defendant ordinarily possesses the necessary skill and judgment to calculate the speed of that vehicle and can avoid it by using such skill.
Successful defenses at trial for an infraction of failure to yield often involve a showing of circumstances beyond the defendant’s control which impeded or made it impossible to calculate the speed or position of the oncoming vehicle. The circumstances that might constitute a defense in a trial for an infraction of failing to yield include a showing that:
- the oncoming vehicle was obscured by other traffic darting around a line of stationary cars;
- the oncoming vehicle approached on the right curb;
- the oncoming vehicle was driving at night without headlights;
- the oncoming vehicle was driving in an unauthorized lane or position;
- the speed of the oncoming vehicle, together with other factors obscured the view of the vehicle until the last minute.
Those other factors that might obscure the view might include the terrain or the curvature of the approach.
Florida Failure to Yield Information Center
- What are Florida yield laws relating to red and green lights?
- Are there laws specifically for construction workers?
- When do buses have right-of-way in Florida?
- What are the general intersection yield practices?
- Who is a driver supposed to yield to when turning left?
- Are there additional requirements for specific yield signage?
Traffic Control Signal Devices (Florida Statute § 316.075)
Under this statute, drivers are expected to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians and other vehicles in certain situations, depending on the colored light. With a green indication:
- Vehicular traffic—including vehicles turning right or left—must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians and other vehicles lawfully within an intersection or adjacent crosswalk at the time a circular green signal is exhibited.
- Vehicular traffic facing a green arrow signal—shown alone or in combination with another indication—must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians lawfully within an adjacent crosswalk and to other traffic lawfully using the intersection.
With a steady red indication, drivers must stop before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection (if applicable) or before entering the intersection. They must remain there until a green indication is shown, although:
- Drivers may make right turns at steady red signals, but they must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians and other traffic proceeding as directed by the signal at the intersection.
- A driver on a one-way street that intersects another one-way street on which traffic moves to the left must stop in obedience to a steady red signal, but may make a left turn into the one-way street so long as the driver yields the right-of-way to pedestrians and other traffic proceeding as directed by the signal at the intersection.
- Drivers facing steady red signals must stop before entering the crosswalks and remain stopped to allow pedestrians with permitted signals to cross roadways when they are in the crosswalks or step into the crosswalks and are upon the halves of the roadways upon which the vehicles are traveling or when the pedestrians are approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadways as to be in danger.
Duty to Yield to Highway Construction Workers (Florida Statute § 316.079)
Provided that a driver is reasonably and lawfully notified of the presence of such workers or vehicles by flagpersons, warning signs, or devices, it is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a moving violation if a driver either:
- Fails to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian worker or flagperson engaged in maintenance or construction work on a highway.
- Fails to yield the right-of-way to an escort vehicle or pedestrian flagperson that is engaged in the management of highway movements of an oversize vehicle.
Duty to Yield to Public Transit Vehicles (Florida Statute § 316.0815)
Drivers must yield the right-of-way to publicly owned transit buses traveling in the same direction which have signaled and are reentering traffic flows from specifically designated pullout bays.
Vehicles Approaching or Entering Intersections (Florida Statute § 316.121)
It is a noncriminal traffic infraction punishable as a moving violation if a driver:
- Approaches an intersection and fails to yield the right-of-way to a vehicle which has entered the intersection from a different highway.
- Is the vehicle on the left when two vehicles enter an intersection from different highways at the same time and fails to yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right.
- Is about to enter or cross a state-maintained, county-maintained, or city-maintained road or highway from a paved or unpaved road and not subject to control by an official traffic control device but fails to yield the right-of-way to vehicles approaching on the state-maintained, county-maintained, or city-maintained road or highway.
Vehicle Turning Left (Florida Statute § 316.122)
It is a noncriminal traffic infraction punishable as a moving violation if a driver intending to turn left within an intersection or into an alley, private road, or driveway fails to yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction or any vehicle lawfully passing on the left of the turning vehicle.
Vehicle Entering Stop or Yield Intersection (Florida Statute § 316.123)
It is a noncriminal traffic infraction punishable as a moving violation if a driver:
- Fails to stop and yield the right-of-way to any vehicle which has entered a stop intersection from another highway or which is approaching so closely on that highway as to constitute an immediate hazard during the time when the driver is moving across or within the intersection.
- Fails to yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right when the driver is the vehicle on the left after two or more vehicles reach a four-way stop intersection at the same time.
- Fails to slow down to a speed reasonable for the existing conditions and, if necessary, stop before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection when approaching a yield sign. It is important to note that if a driver is involved in a collision with a pedestrian in a crosswalk or a vehicle in the intersection after driving past a yield sign without stopping, the collision is deemed prima facie evidence of the driver’s failure to yield the right-of-way.
Finding a Lawyer for “Failure to Yield” Tickets in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Were you issued a traffic ticket for failing to yield in South Florida? Instead of just pleading guilty and facing multiple consequences, it could be in your best interest to have legal counsel help you get the charges thrown out—especially if the police officer or witness does not show up in court.
We represent clients throughout South Florida including Palm Beach County, Broward County and Miami-Dade County.
Meltzer & Bell, P.A. aggressively defends clients from Delray Beach, Wellington, Lake Worth, Boca Raton, Jupiter, Royal Palm Beach, Greenacres, West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, Boynton Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, and many other nearby areas.
You can have let our failure to yield attorneys review your case by calling Meltzer & Bell, P.A. right now to schedule a free, no obligation consultation.