Driver's License Test Prep
US Road Signs Road Markings

The word YIELD is painted in white across the lane ahead of you. What does this marking require?

The word YIELD in white uppercase block letters, centered on a dark gray background.
  1. A.
    Slow down, prepare to stop, and yield to cross traffic or pedestrians. Correct
  2. B.
    Come to a complete stop before the word and proceed when clear.
  3. C.
    Merge into the adjacent lane before reaching the marking.
  4. D.
    Maintain speed and continue straight through the intersection.
The Why

The answer is "Slow down, prepare to stop, and yield to cross traffic or pedestrians."

The white YIELD legend supplements a Yield sign and tells you to slow, be ready to stop, and hand right-of-way to whatever cross traffic, pedestrians, or merging vehicles are ahead. The trap is the answer that treats the marking as a stop legend. A driver used to the octagonal STOP marking assumes any word painted across the lane commands a full halt, but YIELD only forces a stop when yielding actually requires one.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

B. Come to a complete stop before the word and proceed when clear.

A yield does not demand a full halt unless yielding requires it, so treating the word as a stop overstates what the marking commands. This answer reads the painted YIELD as a mandatory full stop like a STOP legend.

C. Merge into the adjacent lane before reaching the marking.

The YIELD marking sits in your lane to govern how you enter what is ahead, not to send you into another lane. This answer confuses the word marking with a lane-drop or merge arrow that reassigns lanes.

D. Maintain speed and continue straight through the intersection.

Ignoring the marking skips the whole point of the legend, which exists to make sure you slow and prepare to give way. This answer treats the painted word as advisory decoration rather than a right-of-way command.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Road Markings on the roads of every US state . Source: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, marking 3B.21 (YIELD Pavement Word Marking)..

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