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WPI 70.02.03 Right of Way—Yield Sign

6 WAPRAC WPI 70.02.03Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil

6 Wash. Prac., Wash. Pattern Jury Instr. Civ. WPI 70.02.03 (7th ed.)
Washington Practice Series TM
Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil
April 2022 Update
Washington State Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions
Part VIII. Motor Vehicles
Chapter 70. Motor Vehicles
WPI 70.02.03 Right of Way—Yield Sign
A statute provides that a driver approaching a yield sign shall slow down [to a speed reasonable for existing conditions,] and if required for safety to stop, shall stop [at a clearly marked stop line] [before entering a marked crosswalk on the near side of the intersection] [at the point nearest the intersecting roadway where the driver has a view of approaching traffic on the intersecting roadway before entering the roadway] and then after slowing or stopping, the driver shall yield the right of way to any vehicle in the intersection or approaching on another roadway so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard during the time the driver who has the duty to yield is moving across or within the intersection or junction of roadways.
This right of way, however, is not absolute but relative and the duty to exercise ordinary care to avoid collisions at intersections rests upon both drivers. The primary duty, however, rests upon the driver who faces a yield sign, which duty must be performed with reasonable regard to the maintenance of a fair margin of safety at all times.
[If a driver approaching a yield sign is involved in a collision with a vehicle in the intersection, after driving past a yield sign without stopping, the collision gives rise to a presumption of failure to yield right of way. This presumption is not binding upon you and it is for you to determine what weight, if any, the presumption is to be given.]
NOTE ON USE
Use this instruction when a yield sign is involved. Use bracketed material as applicable. Use the bracketed paragraph on the statutory presumption only if the evidence warrants it.
Use WPI 60.03 (Violation of Statute, Ordinance, Administrative Rule, or Internal Governmental Policy—Evidence of Negligence) with this instruction.
COMMENT
RCW 46.61.190(3). This instruction has been modified for this edition to more closely follow the statute.
RCW 46.61.190(3). RCW 46.61.190 was amended in 2019 to add additional sections stipulating enhanced penalties in some circumstances for a traffic infraction arising out of the conduct of failing to yield sign, now included, without change, within subsections (1) and (3). Laws of 2019, Chapter 403, § 7; Laws of 2020, Chapter 66, § 2.
Duties of drivers in connection with yield signs on the state highway system are set out in RCW 47.36.110, as amended effective October 1, 2020. Laws of 2020, Chapter 66, § 5.
The statute provides that a collision after failure to stop is prima facie evidence of failure to yield right of way. There is no statutory definition of prima facie evidence. This instruction substitutes the word presumption for prima facie. Criminal case law treats prima facie as equivalent to a presumption that is not binding on the jury. State v. Person, 56 Wn.2d 283, 352 P.2d 189 (1960), overruled on other grounds by State v. Rogers, 83 Wn.2d 553, 520 P.2d 159 (1974); City of Olympia v. Sprout, 5 Wn.App. 897, 492 P.2d 586 (1971).
[Current as of February 2021.]
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