thumb|253x253px|A modern yield sign

In road transport, a yield or give way sign indicates that merging drivers must prepare to stop if necessary to let a driver on another approach proceed. A driver who stops or slows down to let another vehicle through has yielded the right of way to that vehicle. In contrast, a stop sign requires each driver to stop completely before proceeding, whether or not other traffic is present. Under the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, the international standard for the modern sign is an inverted equilateral triangle with a red border and either a white or yellow background. Particular regulations regarding appearance, installation, and compliance with the signs vary by some jurisdiction.

Terminology

While give way and yield essentially have the same meaning in this context, many countries have a clear preference of one term over the other. The following table lists which countries and territories use which term. This chart is based on official government usage in the English language and excludes indirect translations from other languages.

Areas where give way is used

Areas where yield is used

History

125px|thumb|Blue give-way sign as used in Czechoslovakia, 1938

A black triangle (within the standard down-arrow-shape of stop signs) was a symbol of "stop for all vehicles" from about 1925 in Germany. The triangular yield sign was used as early as 1937, when it was introduced in Denmark in red and white (matching the Danish flag), in 1938 when it was codified in Czechoslovakia in a blue-white variant without words, and in 1939 in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia which adopted the current red-white variant.

In the United States, the first yield sign was erected in 1950 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, designed by Tulsa police officer Clinton Riggs; Riggs invented only the sign, not the rule, which was already in place. Riggs' original design was shaped like a keystone; later versions bore the shape of an inverted equilateral triangle in common use today. The inverted equilateral triangle was then adopted by the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals as the international standard.

Country specifics

thumb|200px|Yield sign Leipzig, East Germany 1951

Australia

In Australia, the give way sign evolved similarly to its counterpart in the United States. During the 1940s and 1950s, the sign was a yellow circle. In 1960, the sign changed to a red triangle. In the 1980s, the sign adopted its modern design and gained a counterpart for use at roundabouts. On Home Island in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, give way signs are bilingual in English and Cocos Malay.

<gallery class="center">

Image:Early Australian road sign - Give Way.svg|Original design (1940's–1960)

Image:Australia R1-2 (old).svg|Second version (1960–1974)

Image:Australia road sign R1-2.svg|Modern design since 1974

Image:Cocos (Keeling) Islands give way sign.svg|Cocos (Keeling) Islands design

</gallery>

Ireland

In Ireland, the yield sign reads in most areas, although in Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) areas the text is ("yield right of way") instead. Signs erected from 1962 until 1997 read , which remains legally permitted.

<gallery class="center">

Image:IE road sign 201 (1956–1962).svg|1956–1962

Image:IE road sign 201 (1962–1997).svg|1962–1997

Image:IE road sign RUS-026.svg|English-language version (1997 – present)

Image:IE road sign RUS-026G.svg|Irish-language version (1962 – present)

</gallery>

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the original design also used the keystone shape as in the US but used a black background with a red border. In 1987, the modern design was taken. On sealed roads, the give way sign is always accompanied by a white line painted on the road to clarify the rule to road users even if the sign is obscured or missing.

<gallery class="center">

Image:New Zealand road sign R2-2 (–1987).svg|Original design (1966–1987)

Image:New Zealand road sign R2-2.svg|Modern design since 1987

</gallery>

South Africa

In South Africa, the original version of the sign in red-bordered triangle pointed down in a red circular border. In 1974, the second version using a blue triangle pointed down with a red border. In 1993, the current version using a white triangle pointed down with a red border.

<gallery class="center">

Image:Pre 1970's SACU Road sign R015.svg|Original design (1951–1974)

Image:SACU road sign R2.svg|Second version (1974–1993)

Image:SADC road sign R2.svg|Modern design since 1993

</gallery>

United Arab Emirates

In the mid-2010s, the text on the sign were removed from the sign, making it blank.

<gallery class="center">

Give way sign (United Arab Emirates).svg|Original design (19??-mid 2010s)

AE road sign 302.svg|Modern design since the mid-2010s

</gallery>

United Kingdom

alt=The United Kingdom's give way sign|thumb|The United Kingdom's give way sign

thumb|right|A bilingual sign in [[Welsh language|Welsh and English, warning of a "give way" junction 50 yards (46 metres) ahead]]

thumb|Accompanying road markings for a give way sign as found in the UK

The United Kingdom's Road Traffic Act calls for signs and road markings at junctions (crossroads) where the give-way rule is to apply. The road marking accompanying the sign consists of a large inverted triangle painted just before the place to give way, which is marked by broken white lines across the road.

In Wales, some signs bear a bilingual legend: the Welsh appears above .

In the United Kingdom, a stop or give-way sign may be preceded by an inverted, blank, triangular sign with an advisory placard such as .

United States

In the Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, a yield sign may be warranted

<!-- Quotation marks added to ensure it's recognizable as a quotation - WP:IAR -->

The sign went through several changes from its original design to the sign used today. Originally invented in 1950 and added to the MUTCD in 1954, the sign used the "keystone" shape before adopting the more readily recognized triangular shape. In 1971, the sign evolved into its modern version and changed from yellow to red, paralleling the same change that had earlier been made by STOP signs.

<gallery class="center">

Image:United States sign - Yield (v1).svg|Early design (1950–1954)

Image:United States sign - Yield (v2).svg|Second version (1954–1961)

Image:United States sign - Yield (v3).svg|Third version (1961–1971)

Image:MUTCD R1-2.svg|Modern design as agreed to in 1971

</gallery>

Zimbabwe

In 2016, a white triangle pointed down with a red border of this sign replacing a circular version in red with the word "GIVE WAY" in a yellow triangle.

<gallery class="center">

Image:Give Way sign in Zimbabwe.svg|Original design (1965–2016)

Image:SADC road sign R2.svg|Modern design since 2016

</gallery>

Other countries

thumb|Yield sign in [[Mexico.]]

  • Most countries around the world use a red and white inverted triangle with no text.
  • Cuba, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Kuwait, Nigeria, Poland, Sweden and Vietnam use a red and yellow version of the sign.
  • United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, Bhutan and most Commonwealth nations use a version of the sign that reads .
  • Dominica, Fiji, Liberia, New Zealand, and Samoa display text in red.
  • Singapore places the sign inside a white round square.
  • Belize, Brazil, Canada and Romania use a much thicker red border.
  • Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela use .
  • Puerto Rico uses a version of the American sign translated into Spanish which reads .

<gallery class="center">

Image:Vienna Convention road sign B1-V1.svg|International standard with white background

Image:Vienna Convention road sign B1-V2.svg|International standard with yellow background

Image:CA-MUTCDC RA-002.svg|Brazil, Canada, Romania

Image:SACU road sign R2.svg|SACU standard

</gallery>

Signs with text in English

<gallery class="center">

File:UK traffic sign 602.svg|Anglophone Africa, Anglophone Caribbean (Lesser Antilles), India, Mauritius, Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom

File:Australia road sign R1-2.svg|Australia, Guyana, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu

File:Dominica Give Way sign.svg|Dominica

File:New Zealand road sign R2-2.svg|Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa

File:IE road sign RUS-026.svg|Ireland

File:Jamaica road sign R1-1.svg|Jamaica

File:Liberian Road Signs - Regulatory Sign - Yield.svg|Liberia

File:Nigeria road sign - Give Way.svg|Nigeria

File:Singapore road sign - Mandatory - Give way.svg|Singapore

File:Tonga - Give Way sign.svg|Tonga

File:MUTCD R1-2.svg|United States

</gallery>

Signs with text in Spanish

<gallery class="center" classes="center">

File:Argentina MSV 2017 road sign R-28.svg|Argentina

File:SIECA road sign R-1-2.svg|Central America

File:Colombia road sign SR-02.svg|Colombia

File:Cuban Give Way sign.svg|Cuba

File:Ecuador road sign R1-2.svg|Ecuador

File:MX road sign SR-7.svg|Mexico

File:Jalisco TR-2.svg|Mexico (Jalisco)

File:Mexico road sign SR-17.png|Mexico (no longer used)

File:Panama road sign R-2.svg|Panama

File:PE road sign R-2.svg|Peru

File:MUTCD-PR R1-2.svg|United States (Puerto Rico)

File:Spain traffic signal r1 (Variante).png|Spain

</gallery>

Signs with text in other languages

<gallery class="center">

File:BN road sign - Give Way.svg|Brunei (Malay)

File:CN road sign 禁 2.svg|China (Mandarin)

File:France road sign AB3a.svg|France, Francophone Africa, Monaco (French)

File:Haiti Yield sign.svg|Haiti (French)

File:IE road sign RUS-026G.svg|Ireland (Gaeltacht; Irish)

File:Malaysia road sign RP13.svg|Malaysia (Malay)

File:Maldives Give Way sign.svg|Maldives (Maldivian)

File:Taiwan road sign f2.svg|Taiwan (Mandarin)

File:Thailand road sign บ-2.svg|Thailand (Thai)

</gallery>

Signs with bilingual text

<gallery class="center">

File:Cocos (Keeling) Islands give way sign.svg|Australia (Cocos (Keeling) Islands; English and Cocos Malay)

File:BH road sign - give way.svg|Bahrain (Arabic and English)

File:CA-ON road sign Ra-002 + Ra-002t (B).svg|Canada (Ontario; English and French)

File:QA road sign R101+P200.svg|Egypt, Qatar, Yemen (Arabic and English)

File:France road sign AB3a (Breton).svg|France (Brittany; French and Breton)

File:Hong Kong Road Sign 102.svg|Hong Kong (English and Cantonese)

File:KW road sign 401.svg|Kuwait (Arabic and English)

File:MA road sign 202.1 + 84.02.svg|Mauritania and Morocco (Arabic and French)

File:Philippines road sign R1-2P.svg|Philippines (English and Filipino)

File:KR road sign 228.svg|South Korea (Korean and English)

File:Yield sign (Tunisia).svg|Tunisia (Tunisian Arabic and French)

File:Give way sign (United Arab Emirates).svg|United Arab Emirates (Arabic and English)

File:UK traffic sign 602–WLS.svg|Wales (Welsh and English)

</gallery>

See also

  • Stop sign
  • Traffic sign

Notes

References

  • A Collection of Stop and Yield Signs
  • History of the Yield sign