# Yield signs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 15, 2020, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yield-signs/851848 "2020-04-15T12:57:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yield-signs/851848/21 "2020-04-16T20:46:57Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > If you need to brake hard, use the front brake with your left hand - and signal using your right hand. Do not brake hard with only the front brake unless you want to launch yourself over the handlebars. > [@dtilque](#): > > He had a yield sign and I had no control Well, there’s your problem, right there. Every vehicle is required be in control at all times. > [@](#): > > Now I was going down a hill, so I had to use both hands to slow my approach. Which means I couldn’t signal. Going down a hill _per se_ does not mean you have to use both hands to brake. Given this particular situation, the correct maneuver is to slow well ahead of the intersection until you slow to a speed where you can stay in control with just the rear brake, and signal. I assume you are familiar with the intersection and were not taken by surprised by the hill and intersection. I have done this a few times starting at about 28 MPH. The truck probably thought he could safely turn and still leave you enough space if you had gone straight. That would not be true if you had been driving a car instead. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yield-signs/851848/22 "2020-04-17T11:55:31Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Do not brake hard with only the front brake unless you want to launch yourself over the handlebars. This is bad advice. You can brake _extremely_ hard using the front brake, provided you manage your body weight: get your ass off of the saddle and move your weight low and back over the rear wheel, as far aft of the front wheel as you can. Safety-conscious riders should learn how to do this, because the ability to decelerate extremely rapidly can make the difference between a close call and tragedy. Practice, practice, practice, learn how hard you can brake without lifting the rear wheel off the ground, how much you have to move your body to prevent it, and so on. [This video is instructive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frIKK_XU-qE), particularly the segment that starts at 0:42. Obviously that kind of body english is difficult or impossible with only your left hand on the handlebars, but even with your butt glued to the saddle, you can still brake much harder with the front brake (short of going over the bars) than you can with the rear. As above, it’s important to develop a feel for how hard you can brake without going over the bars. ---
**Author:** ![ASGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@ASGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yield-signs/851848/23 "2020-04-17T14:11:25Z")
> [@Joey P](#): > > Every intersection, IMO, should at the very least have stop signs for one of the roads (in a standard 4 way intersection). I disagree. Yield signs provide one nice thing: they allow unobstructed traffic to _not stop_. Years ago I attended a public hearing concerning traffic calming in the city I lived in. My specific neighbordhood was on the list of areas being considered. A city traffic engineer gave a presentation about the impact of stop signs in _residential areas_. He made a big deal about the extra noise a stop sign generates at intersections. A vehicle having to stop typically has to rev up its motor in order to begin moving. A yield situation eliminates those noise incidents. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yield-signs/851848/24 "2020-04-17T15:54:00Z")
Living where I do in NYC, what I hate most is when there is a STOP sign for a smaller street intersecting a larger, major one (an “avenue”) instead of a traffic light, yet that avenue allows curbside parking right up to the end of the block where this street is. Meaning, if I am driving or riding a bicycle on that side street and stop at the avenue, if there is a large vehicle - and those giant SUVs are super popular nowadays, as well as vans, pickup trucks, or commerical trucks - parked right at the corner - you can’t see oncoming traffic. At all. Especially if they have blackout tinted windows. You have to do the cautious, nosing out little by little thing while craning your neck to peek around the obstruction. And hoping whatever is coming down the avenue is not speeding at such a rate that you can’t see it until it’s right on top of you because of the blockage. If they’re not going to put either a 4-way stop there or an actual traffic signal, they need to put up NO STANDING ANYTIME signs banning vehicles from being 30 feet from the corner. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yield-signs/851848.md?page=1)