Section 545.061 of the Texas Transportation Code states that a driver must yield to traffic on his/her left when entering a lane from the right, on a roadway divided into three or more lanes for one-way traffic. Put simply, this means drivers entering a Texas highway or freeway must legally yield to vehicles already driving. This is the common sense solution – otherwise, the vehicle entering the highway would collide with moving traffic or force traffic to come to a halt, creating a dangerous roadblock.
If drivers yield the right-of-way to vehicles entering the highway, this is courtesy and not a legal requirement. Drivers may yield to avoid an unnecessary collision, but it is the merging driver’s duty to slow or come to a stop until it is safe to merge onto the highway.
This statute also applies to vehicles changing lanes on the freeway. The vehicle doing the merging must yield to vehicles already driving in the lane.