Failure to Yield Accidents
Dedicated Car Crash Attorneys Assisting Victims in Schaumburg and Wheaton
Drivers who fail to yield to other drivers who have the right of way may cause serious accidents that result in long-term injuries and even death. If you or someone close to you has been hurt in a failure to yield accident, you need to speak to a Wheaton and Schaumburg car accident attorney who can explore the circumstances of your case and provide you with a thorough evaluation of your potential claim. At Therman Law Offices, we are dedicated to fighting for the rights of each and every one of our clients.
Bringing a Claim Based on a Failure to Yield Accident
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, failures to yield the right of way caused 3,094 crashes in the United States in 2014. A failure to yield accident takes place when a driver fails to yield or give way to the vehicle that has the right of way. These collisions may happen in a number of ways, including:
- Failing to yield to oncoming traffic when making a left turn;
- Failing to yield the road to an ambulance, fire truck, or police car;
- Failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign;
- Failing to yield to a bicyclist or pedestrian who has the right of way;
- Failing to yield at a flashing yellow or red traffic light;
- Failing to yield at a yield sign; or
- Failing to yield when merging onto a highway.
When drivers do not follow traffic laws, they put others on the road at risk. If you were injured in a failure to yield accident, you may typically seek damages from the at-fault party through a personal injury claim rooted in the theory of negligence. A person is negligent when they cause an accident and resulting injuries by failing to use the level of care that a reasonably prudent person would use under the same or similar circumstances. For example, if a driver fails to yield at a yield sign and ends up crashing into another vehicle, that driver will likely be liable for any resulting harm or damage. This is because a reasonably prudent person would obey the yield sign, as they would obey other traffic rules.
In order to establish negligence, the plaintiff must prove that they were owed a duty of care by the defendant, the defendant breached the duty of care owed to the plaintiff, and the defendant’s breach was a direct cause of the plaintiff’s harm. Damages also must have arisen that may be reasonably quantified. It is important to note that foreseeability is a major factor in determining causation. The foreseeability test simply asks whether the defendant should have reasonably foreseen the consequences that would result from their conduct. In this context, could the defendant have reasonably foreseen that an accident would result from their failure to yield?
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