# Ye olde Yield Sign....might as well be a tree **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 9, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-olde-yield-sign-might-as-well-be-a-tree/283823 "2005-01-09T02:39:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Roboto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr.Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Roboto)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-olde-yield-sign-might-as-well-be-a-tree/283823/1 "2005-01-09T02:39:14Z")
People just don’t give a rats ass about Yield Traffic signs. Inevitably, as I am driving in my lane (right of way), Driver B, on the frontage road approaching the Yield sign, will speed up and “The race with the Devil is on”! The mindset of Driver B must be “I don’t have to stop and I’ll be damned if I will” To complicate matters, we have a large senior retirement community in town and I have seen confused elderly drivers on the main road, slow down and brake because of the non-yielding scofflaws. Time for a stop sign Cal-Trans. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-olde-yield-sign-might-as-well-be-a-tree/283823/2 "2005-01-09T03:06:54Z")
I love the old yield signs at 4-way intersections. To me, it says that you must pause and yield to cross-traffic but some persnickety cop on a power trip isn’t going to write you up for a $100 fine because you “almost stopped” but not quite. Here’s a story: I determined that I lived near a dangerous “T” intersection, so I called my city sign dept. and requested a yield sign where the “base” of the “T” meets the cross-street. I requested a yield sign because I felt it would slow drivers down as theY approached the T, but I wouldn’t have to ever worry about coming to a pesky and unnecessary complete stop. The guy at the sign dept. was puzzled by my request and asked, “YIELD!? Who should they yield to?” I said, “All opposing traffic on the cross-street. I’ve seen it done that way in other intersections in this neigborhood.” He replied, “Well, we don’t use yield signs like that anymore. We just put in stop signs.” A couple of weeks later, a stop sign was installed, dammit! I never said it was an INTERESTING story. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Roboto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr.Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Roboto)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-olde-yield-sign-might-as-well-be-a-tree/283823/3 "2005-01-09T22:29:49Z")
Bear… as I look over my local area, concievably, 15% of the stop signs should be yield signs. However, with the mentality of Southern California drivers, the signs would be useless and ignorred and Soccer moms on their cellphones would blow thru them like “Bats out of Hell”. So we must all stop when we don’t really need to. People now get pissed -off when you come to a complete stop versus a rolling stop. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-olde-yield-sign-might-as-well-be-a-tree/283823/4 "2005-01-10T17:57:42Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > He replied, “Well, we don’t use yield signs like that anymore. We just put in stop signs.” > > A couple of weeks later, a stop sign was installed, dammit! If the typical Sacramento driver is anything like ours, those are indeed Yield signs. They just happen to be red, octagon-shaped, and say “STOP”. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-olde-yield-sign-might-as-well-be-a-tree/283823/5 "2005-01-10T19:04:23Z")
We have a particular turn in our neighborhood, or rather, two right turns close together. The first does not have a Yield. The second does. Amazing, the amount of people who yield or STOP! at the first one, and then blow right through the second one. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-olde-yield-sign-might-as-well-be-a-tree/283823/6 "2005-01-10T19:11:37Z")
I too, must deal with people too dumb to know how to yield properly. It is a very, very complicated situation. I have to go straight through an intersection and then merge into the right lane to get onto the freeway. Meanwhile, the right turn only lane (for traffic coming from my right to get into the same lane) has a red light and a yield sign. So OF COURSE that means none of them have to stop, right?!?!?! Because after all I only have a green light. My green light means I should stop, compared to their red light _and_ yield sign, right?!?!? Grumblemumblesassenfrackenrackensacken drivers… ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-olde-yield-sign-might-as-well-be-a-tree/283823/7 "2005-01-10T21:23:09Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > If the typical Sacramento driver is anything like ours, those are indeed Yield signs. They just happen to be red, octagon-shaped, and say “STOP”. Well, the way they teach it 'round these parts, any of those red, octagonal signs that read “STOP” that also have a white border around them are entirely optional. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-olde-yield-sign-might-as-well-be-a-tree/283823/8 "2005-01-11T03:28:34Z")
This goes along with the dimwits who expect two lanes of traffic traveling side by side to part like a Moses-ordered-sea rather than adjusting their speed up or down (Og forbid) to actually safely merge. (What a concept?) The worst part of these bastards is that they give me the evil eye like I was supposed to stick my truck in my armpit or something just to make space for oh-so-important them. Makes me wish for a castle shaped SUV with warriors atop to hurl boiling oil, dead animals and the like at offending motorists. Not practical, but amusing. 😃