Our Family of Lawyers Has Been Helping Injured People For Three Generations If you were injured because someone else failed to yield you the right-of-way, you should contact Tomkiel & Tomkiel as soon as possible. Our experienced attorneys understand the law, and we have the skills needed to fight back against the insurance companies who want to take advantage of you. Call a Westchester failure to yield accident lawyer today and set up a consultation.
Definition of Failure to Yield and Right-of-Way
Failure to yield and right-of-way are related concepts. Under the rules of the road, in any given situation, one driver has the right-of-way. When a driver has the right-of-way, all other drivers must yield to them. For example, a driver with the green light at an intersection has the right-of-way, and the drivers with red lights have a duty to yield to the driver who has the green light.
Another example is a yield sign. Drivers who approach the yield sign must yield to all other drivers who do not have the yield sign. When a driver fails to yield the right-of-way, that is a violation of the rules of the road. The driver who does that and causes an accident may be held responsible for the injuries and harms caused by that accident.
Identifying Fault in Failure to Yield Cases
Identifying fault in a failure to yield case can be complicated where both drivers might think they had the right-of-way. That is why it is important to have the police come to the scene to determine who had the right-of-way. Road signs such as stop signs, yield signs, and pedestrian cross signals are usually present in these situations, which can make identifying fault easier.
Common Fact Patterns
Usually, in a failure to yield accident case, there is a question of who had the right-of-way. For example, both drivers may claim they had the green light. Sometimes in a stop sign case, a driver claims they stopped at the stop sign, looked, and did not see any oncoming cars. However, when they drove into the intersection, they caused an accident because there was an oncoming car.
Liability
With regard to a failure to yield, it is important to note that even drivers and pedestrians who have the right-of-way have a duty to keep a proper lookout. For example, a pedestrian in a crosswalk who has the walk signal in their favor and has the right-of-way still has the responsibility to look and make sure it is safe to enter the crosswalk. In some cases, even drivers or pedestrians with the right-of-way still have the responsibility to look both ways and keep a proper lookout. Failure to do that may result in comparative negligence if they are injured.
How Insurance Companies Handle Failure to Yield Cases
The first thing the insurance company does is look for a reason to deny the claim. They look to see whether it can be argued that their insured had the right-of-way or that the person who was injured could have done something to prevent the accident. For example, the insurance company might ask questions about where the person was looking when they were in the crosswalk. It might not be obvious to the injured person that the insurance company is trying to build a case against them for not keeping a proper lookout even though they had the right-of-way and had the walk signal. For that reason, it is really important to hire a Westchester failure to yield accident lawyer before the injured party speaks to the other side’s insurance company.
How Our Law Firm Can Help
To investigate a case, the Westchester failure to yield accident lawyer obtains and reviews the police report, identifies the facts that contributed to the accident, and obtains their client’s version of how the accident took place.
Tomkiel & Tomkiel has a team of experienced attorneys and paralegals who could investigate your case and fight the insurance company on your behalf. Contact us today for a consultation.
