A driver commits a failure to yield when they do not give the right-of-way to another vehicle, pedestrian, or cyclist when the law requires them to do so.

That can happen at a stop sign, while turning left across traffic, merging onto a highway, entering a road from a private driveway, or approaching a crosswalk. In plain terms, it means moving into someone else's path when they had the legal right to go first. On crash reports and insurance paperwork, failure to yield often appears as a contributing factor because it helps explain why two road users ended up in the same space at the same time.

In practice, this issue can decide who pays for a collision. A driver who pulls out from a side road in wet or foggy conditions, or who misjudges the speed of an oncoming truck on a narrow mountain road, may be found negligent for failing to yield. That matters even more in West Virginia, where heavy commercial traffic on rural roads and sudden spring flooding can make visibility and timing worse.

For an injury claim, failure to yield can strongly affect fault, liability, and the value of damages. West Virginia follows modified comparative fault under the Comparative Fault Act, W. Va. Code § 55-7-13a (2015). If an injured person is found 50% or more at fault, they cannot recover damages. If they are less than 50% at fault, their recovery is reduced by their share of blame.