Drivers who fail to yield to other drivers according to state traffic rules and regulations may get tickets, but they also may cause catastrophic accidents. These accidents can leave other drivers, passengers, and even pedestrians with severe injuries. When another driver’s negligence causes you or a loved one harm, you may want to contact a legal professional for advice.
Immediately after an accident, you may be in pain, overwhelmed, and unsure where to turn first. Calm some of your concerns and get answers to your questions by calling the offices of Ben Crump Law, PLLC at (844) 730-0233. Start learning about your legal rights as an accident victim, any potential claims for compensation that you may have as a result of your accident, and how a Durham failure to yield accident lawyer may be able to help you with the process.
Traffic Violations for Failure to Yield
General Statutes (GS) § 20-155 defines the right-of-way for the purposes of motor vehicle traffic. If a driver fails to follow the right-of-way law, he or she could commit the traffic violation of failing to yield. For instance, when two cars arrive at an intersection from different directions at roughly the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left is supposed to yield the right-of-way to the driver on the right. Failure to do so is a traffic violation.
Likewise, if a driver is turning left within an intersection, or into an alley or driveway, that driver must yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction. Drivers also have a duty under this statute to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians in marked crosswalks or other pedestrian crossings. Finally, when entering a traffic circle, the driver must yield the right-of-way to any vehicles that are already proceeding within the traffic circle.
Other examples of failing to yield might include drivers who fail to yield to oncoming traffic as they pull out onto a road from a driveway or side street. When merging into adjacent lanes traveling in the same directions, drivers also should yield to the vehicles already traveling in those lanes.
Although these examples of failure-to-yield violations can all lead to costly traffic citations, they also can result in severe accidents that cause significant property damage and personal injuries. If drivers violate the failure-to-yield traffic laws, they may be liable for negligence in causing the accident. The traffic citation that these drivers receive may serve as evidence to support a civil negligence claim against them by any other drivers, passengers, or pedestrians injured in the crash.
For a free legal consultation with a failure to yield lawyer serving Durham, call (844) 730-0233
Establishing Negligence in Failure-to-Yield Claims
Proving fault or negligence on the part of the driver who caused your accident is critical to your claim. North Carolina courts apply the common law theory of contributory negligence to personal injury claims. According to the Legal Information Institute (LII), under principles of contributory negligence, injury victims cannot be at fault to any degree for causing the accident that caused their injuries. If they are even one percent at fault for the accident, then they cannot pursue any compensation for their injuries from the other party, even if that party was 99% at fault for causing the accident.
Pure contributory negligence no longer exists in the laws of most states. Only Alabama, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and North Carolina still use this legal principle. This rule can have extremely harsh results when a negligent party primarily causes an accident that severely injures another person. If the plaintiff had any fault for the accident whatsoever, even if it was not the primary cause, they have no legal rights to seek any compensation from the defendant.
For instance, suppose a negligent driver fails to yield to an oncoming vehicle and pulls out of a driveway, directly into its path. The accident causes severe injuries to the driver of the other vehicle. Unfortunately, the evidence shows that the injured driver was speeding at the time of the crash. As a result, the driver who failed to yield is determined to be 80% at fault for causing the accident, but the injured driver is still 20% at fault for causing the accident. Due to contributory negligence, the injured driver would be unable to file a claim for compensation against the negligent driver because he or she was speeding at the time of the accident, and thus was partially at fault.
Durham Failure to Yield Lawyer Near Me (844) 730-0233
Getting Compensation in Failure-to-Yield Claims
In personal injury cases, injury victims may seek many types of compensation, some of which are financial or economic, and others which are non-economic. Common examples of economic damages are injury-related medical expenses and lost wages from an inability to work. Non-economic damages can be more challenging to value, but these awards may include physical pain and suffering, emotional trauma, and loss of consortium or support for dependent family members in the case of wrongful death. Working with a Durham failure to yield accident lawyer may allow you to place an accurate number on your injuries and losses from the accident.
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Contact Us for Legal Assistance Today
If another driver failed to yield and caused you to suffer injuries in a car accident, you may have a legal claim against that driver. To learn more about your options for legal relief, you may want to hire a Durham failure to yield accident lawyer to assist you with your case. Call (844) 730-0233 today to learn more about your legal rights and possible avenues for getting compensation for your injuries.
At Ben Crump Law, PLLC, we have worked with many accident victims just like you. We know how stressful and financially challenging your life can be after you suffer injuries in a catastrophic car accident. For this reason, we take personal injury claims on a contingency-fee basis. This means that you will not have to pay us any upfront fees to start handling your claim. A contingency-fee policy allows us to get right to work on your case without your worrying about paying for our services first. It is not until you receive payment for your injuries from the negligent party that we will get our fees.
Call or text (844) 730-0233 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form