2009 MUTCD Yield Sign Application Compliance Dates

Yield Sign Requirements

The following indicates the YIELD SIGN requirements to meet the 2009 MUTCD Code for signs that fall under the regulations of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

Compliance dates:

  • January 17, 2011 (a) – 2B.09 – Changes in YIELD sign application criteria from the 1988 MUTCD to the 2003 MUTCD.
  • December 22, 2013 (b) – 2B.10 – Signs mounted on the back of STOP or YIELD signs should not obscure shapes of STOP sign, with exception for DO NOT ENTER signs (2003 MUTCD Sections 2B.96 and 2B.10(*)
  • December 22, 2013 (b) – 2B.11 – New section 2B.11 in the 2003 MUTCD (*) – YIELD here to Pedestrians signs and STOP here for Pedestrians signs (R1-5 series)

 

Quoted MUTCD Standards

Section 2B.08 YIELD Sign (R1-2)

Standard:
The YIELD (R1-2) sign (see Figure 2B-1) shall be a downward-pointing equilateral triangle with a wide red border and the legend YIELD in red on a white background.

Support:
The YIELD sign assigns right-of-way to traffic on certain approaches to an intersection. Vehicles controlled by a YIELD sign need to slow down or stop when necessary to avoid interfering with conflicting traffic.

 Section 2B.09 YIELD Sign Applications

Option:
YIELD signs may be used instead of STOP signs if engineering judgment indicates that one or more of the following conditions exist:
A. When the ability to see all potentially conflicting traffic is sufficient to allow a road user traveling at the posted speed, the 85th-percentile speed, or the statutory speed to pass through the intersection or to stop in a reasonably safe manner.
B. If controlling a merge-type movement on the entering roadway where acceleration geometry and/or sight distance is not adequate for merging traffic operation.
C. The second crossroad of a divided highway, where the median width at the intersection is 9 m (30 ft) or greater. In this case, a STOP sign may be installed at the entrance to the first roadway of a divided highway, and a YIELD sign may be installed at the entrance to the second roadway.
D. An intersection where a special problem exists and where engineering judgment indicates the problem to be susceptible to correction by the use of the YIELD sign.

Standard:
A YIELD (R1-2) sign shall be used to assign right-of-way at the entrance to a roundabout intersection.

 

Section 2B.10 YIELD Sign Placement

Standard:
The YIELD sign shall be installed on the right side of the approach to which it applies. YIELD signs shall be placed on both the left and right sides of approaches to roundabout intersections with more than one lane on the signed approach where raised splitter islands are available on the left side of the approach.
When the YIELD sign is installed at this required location and the sign visibility is restricted, a Yield Ahead sign (see Section 2C.29) shall be installed in advance of the YIELD sign.
The YIELD sign shall be located as close as practical to the intersection it regulates, while optimizing its visibility to the road user it is intended to regulate.

YIELD signs and STOP signs shall not be mounted on the same post.

Guidance:
Other than a DO NOT ENTER sign, no sign should be mounted back-to-back with a YIELD sign in a manner that obscures the shape of the YIELD sign.

Support:
Section 2A.16 contains additional information about separate and combined mounting of other signs with YIELD signs.

Guidance:
Yield lines, when used to supplement a YIELD sign, should be located at a point where the road user should yield (see Section 3B.16).
Where two roads intersect at an acute angle, the YIELD sign should be positioned at an angle, or shielded, so that the legend is out of view of traffic to which it does not apply. Except at roundabout intersections, where there is a marked crosswalk at the intersection, the YIELD sign should be installed in advance of the crosswalk line nearest to the approaching traffic.
At a roundabout intersection, to prevent circulating vehicles from yielding unnecessarily, the face of the YIELD sign should not be visible from the circulatory roadway.

Option:
At wide-throat intersections or where two or more approach lanes of traffic exist on the signed approach, observance of the yield control may be improved by the installation of an additional YIELD sign on the left side of the road and/or the use of a yield line. At channelized intersections, the additional YIELD sign may be effectively placed on a channelizing island.

Section 2B.11 Yield Here To Pedestrians Signs (R1-5, R1-5a)

Standard:
If yield lines are used in advance of an unsignalized marked midblock crosswalk, Yield Here To Pedestrians (R1-5 or R1-5a) signs (see Figure 2B-2) shall be placed 6.1 to 15 m (20 to 50 ft) in advance of the nearest crosswalk line (see Section 3B.16 and Figure 3B-15).