Failure to Yield Accidents

Brooklyn streets are narrow and crowded. It’s important that drivers adhere to traffic laws, especially at intersections and lane merges. In a perfect world, drivers know which vehicle has the right-of-way and will yield properly to avoid collision… but that’s not always the case.

Who Causes Them?

Of course, we don’t live in a perfect world. One driver’s failure to yield to traffic can lead to a crash. Automobile accidents have the potential to cause serious injuries or even death to you or someone you love.

A failure to yield is negligence, and when someone else’s negligence causes you injuries, they may be obligated to compensate you for medical bills, lost wages and other expenses.

New York’s Requirements for Yielding to Traffic

Vehicles, including bicycles, must yield to traffic under New York State law. Instances include yielding:

• For pedestrians in a crosswalk
• For people using a white cane or a seeing eye dog
• At uncontrolled intersections where a vehicle is already at the intersection
• While making left turns
• When entering traffic after your vehicle was parked
• When making a turn to enter through traffic

Perhaps the most frequently forgotten rule applies to uncontrolled intersections when two or more drivers arrive at the intersection at the same time. In this case, the driver on the left must yield to the driver on the right.

Did You Have the Right-of-Way?

When it comes to a collision, the law doesn’t discriminate over who had the right-of-way. Every driver, pedestrian, motorcyclist, and bicyclist has a legal obligation to do everything possible to avoid a collision. If you were not in a position where you must yield according to the law, it’s likely that the other driver was in such a position and should have yielded.

Motorists are not automatically the negligent party. If a pedestrian darts into traffic, he or she has failed to yield, although every driver still has the responsibility of attempting to avoid an accident. The same is true of a bicyclist who continues through an intersection where cars are already present.

It’s not always easy to determine who should have yielded, especially after a traffic accident in Brooklyn. Our narrow, congested streets and highways see heavy traffic in all weather conditions. An experienced Auto Accident Lawyer is your best resource to determine who was negligent in your crash.

Another Person’s Negligence

When a driver fails to yield, he or she should be held accountable for the damage caused by that failure. It doesn’t matter if the negligent driver was unaware that he or she should have yielded—ignorance of the law is never an excuse. A number of factors other than ignorance can also lead to a failure to yield accident:

• Driver distraction
• Driver inexperience
• Poor visibility
• Overly aggressive driving

If you were hit by a driver who failed to yield, you may be covered under your no-fault insurance policy. Depending on the severity of your injuries, you could exceed your no-fault benefit limit fairly quickly and find the bills piling up. You may also be missing work while you recover, which translates to lost income.

Common Failure-to-Yield Injuries

Injuries from these types of crashes vary and depend greatly on the speed of both vehicles when the accident occurs. Vehicle occupants could suffer:

• Broken or fractured bones
• Whiplash
• Lacerations, small cuts or scrapes from broken glass
• Internal bleeding
• Closed head injury

When the other party fails to yield, you have to react quickly to avoid an accident. Even if you succeed in evading the collision, you may suffer injuries caused by sudden braking or swerving. Such injuries can be no less devastating than those caused by a sideswipe or other crash.

The driver who failed to yield may still be at fault, even if he or she is not involved in the collision. An experienced lawyer can advise you if this may have been the case in your crash.

Talking to a Personal Injury Lawyer About a Failure to Yield Accident

If you’ve been injured in a Brooklyn failure to yield accident, it’s a good idea to contact a local personal injury attorney with experience in failure to yield crashes. Your attorney will work with you to help determine whether the negligent party’s insurance company should have to pay for your injuries, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Your attorney may also be able to help get your insurance company to pay your immediate expenses under New York’s no-fault law. This is important, as it may take some time to receive compensation from a lawsuit. Working with an experienced auto accident lawyer is the best way to help get you all the compensation to which you are entitled under the law.

Focus on Your Recovery

This can be a lot to take in, and no one expects you to understand the intricacies of New York’s failure to yield laws. You certainly shouldn’t have to study traffic law while you’re recovering from an auto accident. By working with a caring, experienced Brooklyn personal injury lawyer, you can rest assured that your attorney will fight hard to get what you deserve, so you can focus on your recovery.

This page is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice.  If you have specific questions about your situation the best thing to do would be to speak with an attorney directly.

When ready, call 718-448-1600