Failure to yield accidents are very common in Georgia. A driver may believe he or she has time to merge onto a highway and misjudges the distance. A driver may be drunk, reckless or distracted. Whatever the cause, these accidents can cause serious injuries to a victim.
Failure to yield accidents typically occur at intersections. They may result in T-bone crashes which can be serious because cars have less side protection than at the front or rear.
Even a minor failure to yield accident with injuries can leave you in pain and out of pocket.
Under the law, you are entitled to recover money if your injury was caused by another driver’s failure to yield right of way.
Failure to yield accidents in Georgia
Some common types of failure to yield accident include:
- Failure to give way before merging into another traffic lane;
- The failure of a driver who is making a left turn to yield to oncoming traffic;
- Failure to yield the right of way to a pedestrian or a cyclist at a grade crossing;
- Failing to yield at a traffic light;
- Failing to stop at a stop sign;
- Not yielding the right of way when merging onto a highway from a slip road;
- Failing to yield when entering a parking lot or a private drive.
The most vulnerable victims of these types of accidents are pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists. They lack the metal protection of a car and may be seriously hurt or killed even at low speeds.
Failure-to-yield cases may also be complicated because it’s not always clear who was at fault from the chaotic accident scene. In some cases, a car failed to yield but the other driver was traveling too fast or was being inattentive when an accident could have been avoided.
These kinds of accidents may prove fatal. In February 2018, a man from Gwinnett County was killed in a crash in Oconee County that seriously injured hurt his wife and the driver of the other vehicle. Police blamed a failure to yield.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported a Nissan driver attempted to make a left turn from westbound Ga. 316 to McNutt Creek Road, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
The GPS stated the driver failed to yield to a gray Ford Taurus heading east on the highway and a crash took place.
We see numerous failure to yield crashes in Georgia. If you have been hurt in an accident caused by another driver’s failure to yield, please contact our Newnan injury lawyers.