Fail to Yield Right-of-Way: What the VA Code Says

“Failure to yield the right-of-way” is two different offenses in Virginia, and the summons will say which one. Under Va. Code § 46.2-820 and § 46.2-821 it is a traffic infraction, with a fine of up to $250 and four demerit points. Under Va. Code § 46.2-863 the identical words describe reckless driving — a Class 1 misdemeanor, a criminal conviction carrying up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

Anyone reading a VA code fail to yield right-of-way charge should look at the section number before anything else, because nothing about the two charges is alike except the name.

The VA Code sections for fail to yield right-of-way, side by side

	Infraction	Reckless driving
Sections	§§ 46.2-820, 46.2-821	§ 46.2-863
Nature	Traffic infraction, not a crime	Class 1 misdemeanor, a crime
Maximum fine	$250 — the Title 46.2 default	$2,500
Fixed court costs	$51	$61
Jail	None	Up to 12 months
Demerit points	4 points, 3 years	4 points, 11 years
Criminal record	None	Yes

The point value is the same. Everything else is not. Eleven years on the driving record against three, a criminal conviction against a ticket, and jail on the table in one column and absent from the other.

When failing to yield is only an infraction

Uncontrolled intersections — § 46.2-820

The rule for an intersection with no sign and no signal is a single sentence: when two vehicles approach or enter an uncontrolled intersection at approximately the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right. That is the whole of § 46.2-820, subject to the rest of the article.

Stop signs and Yield signs — § 46.2-821

Va. Code § 46.2-821 does two jobs. At a stop sign, the driver must stop — at a clearly marked stop line; failing that, before the crosswalk on the near side; failing that, at the point nearest the intersecting roadway where he can see approaching traffic — and must then yield to any vehicle approaching on the other highway from either direction.

Where a Yield Right-of-Way sign is posted, the driver must slow to a speed reasonable for conditions, yield to another driver approaching or entering the intersection from another direction, and stop if safety requires it.

Neither section names a fine, so the default in Va. Code § 46.2-113 applies: a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of not more than that set for a Class 4 misdemeanor under § 18.2-11, which is $250. Court costs are separate and fixed: Va. Code § 16.1-69.48:1 D assesses $51 in a traffic infraction, and subsection B assesses $61 in a district court misdemeanor such as the reckless charge below.

When failing to yield is reckless driving

Section 46.2-863 is short enough to read in full, and it is worth reading carefully because the trigger is geometric:

A person shall be guilty of reckless driving who fails to bring his vehicle to a stop immediately before entering a highway from a side road when there is traffic approaching on such highway within 500 feet of such point of entrance, unless (i) a “Yield Right-of-Way” sign is posted or (ii) where such sign is posted, fails, upon entering such highway, to yield the right-of-way to the driver of a vehicle approaching on such highway from either direction.

Two things put a driver inside it:

1. Entering a highway from a side road without stopping, while traffic is approaching on that highway within 500 feet — unless a Yield sign is posted there.
2. Where a Yield sign is posted, entering and failing to yield to traffic approaching from either direction.

No injury is required. No excessive speed is required. A driver who rolls out of a side road in front of a car a few hundred feet away has committed a Class 1 misdemeanor on the face of the section, and the DMV assesses 4 demerit points that stay on the record for 11 years rather than three.

Because it is a misdemeanor rather than an infraction, the Commonwealth has to prove the elements of reckless driving, and a conviction is a criminal conviction that can appear on a background check.

What the Commonwealth has to prove

Each section has its own pressure points, and they are different.

On a § 46.2-821 charge the questions are where the stop line or crosswalk was, whether the driver stopped at the point where approaching traffic first became visible, and whether there was a vehicle to yield to. The sign itself is also open to challenge: Va. Code § 46.2-830 provides that no provision about disobeying a traffic control device may be enforced if the device was not in proper position and sufficiently legible to be seen by an ordinarily observant person, which reaches a stop or yield sign that is obscured or turned. The cost and defenses on a sign charge work through that in more detail.

On a § 46.2-863 charge the fight is usually about the 500 feet and about whether the road was a “side road” entering a “highway” at all. That is a measurement and a map question, and it is the reason these cases are sometimes reduced. Where the degree of culpability is slight, a court may find a person charged with reckless driving not guilty of reckless driving but guilty of improper driving under Va. Code § 46.2-869 — a traffic infraction punishable by a fine of not more than $500 — and the Commonwealth’s attorney may make the same reduction before the court decides.

Pedestrians and crosswalks

Searches for failure to yield in Virginia frequently mean a pedestrian rather than another car. That duty sits in a different part of Title 46.2 from the sections above, and the right place to check it is the current text on law.lis.virginia.gov rather than a summary written about vehicle right-of-way. What this page can say is that a pedestrian charge is not § 46.2-820 or § 46.2-821, so neither the $250 ceiling nor the reckless-driving trigger described here can simply be read across to it.

What to do with the summons

Start with the section number printed on it.

• § 46.2-820 or § 46.2-821. An infraction. Where the court allows the ticket to be paid in advance, paying it is a conviction and sends four points to the DMV for three years; appearing keeps open the questions above and the legibility defense in § 46.2-830.
• § 46.2-863. Reckless driving. It is a criminal charge, and it is the kind of case where a Virginia traffic attorney’s reading of the intersection is worth having before the court date.

Either way, the points land on the same record as everything else. Drivers who already carry points from a signal or camera matter or a following too closely charge have more riding on the outcome than the fine suggests, and how quickly Virginia’s demerit points add up is worth reading before prepaying anything.