It is not uncommon for a collision to occur on a highway because someone moved when they did not have the right-of-way. Failure to yield accidents in Winter Garden can be devastating but you have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit if you suffered damages due to the negligence of another driver. Ask one of our knowledgeable auto accident attorneys for help in your legal pursuit.
Failure to yield involves one party having a statutory obligation to yield the right of way to someone else in traffic, whether it be at an intersection, a stop sign, or a parking lot.
A great example of that would be turning left at a traffic light. In Florida, a driver can turn left on a solid green light, yet they also have a statutory obligation to ensure that it is safe to enter an intersection. The burden is on the driver making that left turn to yield to those who have the right of way going straight ahead.
People misjudge the speed or angle of oncoming traffic and do not see it until it is too late. The roads in this region are set up in such a manner that someone may be at a light waiting to turn left, and across from them is a car waiting to turn left as well – and in doing so that car is blocking their view of the traffic further down.
There may be an intersection in winter Garden that has two stop signs, but the cross-traffic has the right of way. Oftentimes, individuals fail to acknowledge that the cross traffic does not have to stop and will enter that intersection, assuming that that a car will stop. That type of accident comes from that at-fault driver not being aware of their surroundings and understanding the traffic laws.
There may be an intersection that is not a four-way traffic light, but there is cross traffic that does not stop. There are signs that simply say, “Yield to oncoming traffic.” This means the driver has to merge into traffic, whether it be the lane ending or the driver is coming off an exit ramp.
One of the most common failure-to-yield accidents is a vehicle turning left when they are technically allowed to do so, but they have entered the intersection when it was not yet safe, resulting in T-bone accident.
Insurance companies are going to try to apportion a certain level of fault on the individual who nonetheless had the right of way. They will try to determine if the person could have hit their brakes sooner or changed lanes.
Speed or lack of attention could be a factor in determining apportionment of liability. If the person with the right of way was texting or was going twice the speed limit, that type of behavior could, in theory, have contributed to the accident. A jury could then apportion a percentage of that negligence onto that party, even though they have the right of way.
It is important to make sure that there are photos of the property damage to the vehicles before any damages are prepared or any cars are scrapped. A failure to yield accident lawyer in Winter Garden could check to see if there is any surveillance footage from convenience stores or gas stations at an intersection or any red-light cameras.
It is important to make sure that the witness statements are confirmed. If there are any witnesses to the incident, law enforcement may not have done a detailed statement with that individual, so someone from the lawyer’s team needs to investigate and obtain statements while it is fresh in the mind of the witnesses. If liability is disputed, that completely non-biased eyewitness could become key, and it is important that if the plaintiff wants to file suit in two years’ time, that the witness remembers what they saw.
If you obeyed the rules of the road and still suffered a crash, it may be that another driver was responsible. A Winter Garden failure to yield accident lawyer could provide legal guidance on what your next steps should be. Call us today to schedule a free consultation.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys
