Yield sign ahead

What it means

This sign warns that a yield sign controls the junction or merge within a short distance, typically where the actual sign is hidden by a curve or where approach speeds are high. Seeing the inverted triangle symbol in advance lets you plan the scan-and-give-way sequence before you arrive, rather than conducting it at the last moment. The warning buys you real distance: used properly, the entire approach becomes preparation time, and you reach the actual yield sign with your mirrors already checked, your speed already settled and your gaps already identified.

How it gets misread

Drivers sometimes confuse the warning with the instruction itself and stop unnecessarily at the warning sign location. The opposite error is treating the warning as optional and arriving at the real yield sign with no scan already made.

What to do

Use the approach distance to do the yield work early: check mirrors, look along the road you will join, and identify the gaps you could use. Then reach the yield sign prepared either to continue into a gap or to stop cleanly. Never stop at the warning sign itself; the obligation exists where the actual sign stands.

Practise this rule

• Yield Signs: When Must You Stop | CO

  Facing a yield sign, when is a driver actually required to come to a complete stop?

More warning signs

• Pedestrian crossing →
• School crossing →

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