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Colorado Springs Failure To Yield Right Of Way Accidents

When motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians meet on the road, they are required to abide by right-of-way rules, which dictate who goes first in different traffic situations. While many motorists are careful to abide by these traffic laws, failure to yield accidents still occur at an alarming rate across the country.

These collisions can almost always be attributed to at least one person’s negligence, which means that the injured party could be entitled to compensation for his or her losses.

Please contact a dedicated Colorado Springs failure to yield accident attorney to learn more about filing a claim against the person who caused your own crash.

Yielding the Right-of-Way

While some drivers may operate as if they own the roads, the reality is that Colorado motorists don’t automatically have the right-of-way, even when their signal is green. Instead, traffic laws dictate when certain individuals should yield to other drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, although all motorists are required to avoid striking pedestrians or other vehicles regardless of the circumstances. Drivers must also take special care at intersections and crosswalks, where they must stop and allow pedestrians time to pass safely. Whether a driver should yield to another vehicle or pedestrian depends on the specific circumstances of the case. At a 4-way stop, for example, motorists are required to yield the right-of-way to whichever vehicle reached the intersection first. In the event that two or more vehicles reach the intersection at the same time, the vehicle on the left is required to yield the right-of-way and allow the motorist on the right to proceed first. Left turning vehicles, on the other hand, must yield to all oncoming traffic, unless traffic signals dictate otherwise. Failing to abide by these rules and yield the right-of-way can have serious consequences, including dangerous collisions. Fortunately, those who cause accidents after failing to yield as required by law can be held liable for their negligence. That is why you should contact our failure to yield accident lawyers in Colorado Springs today.

Failure to Yield Accidents

As their name suggests, failure to yield accidents occur when a driver fails to yield in violation of traffic laws and in doing so, causes a collision.

What makes these types of accidents different from any other is that in many cases, it is the injured victim who actually strikes the at-fault driver who failed to yield.

Failure to yield collisions, however, are like other accidents in that they can happen in a wide range of circumstances, although the most common occur when:

  • A driver makes a left turn and failed to yield to oncoming traffic;
  • One driver aggressively merges into another lane;
  • A driver improperly enters the street from a private driveway; or
  • A driver fails to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian in a crosswalk. 

In most cases, it is the person who fails to yield in these types of accidents who is found to be primarily at fault for causing a collision regardless of the reason for the failure.

It is, however, possible, for the injured party to have his or her damages award reduced if that individual is found to be at least partially responsible for the accident. 

Causes of Failure to Yield Accidents

Failure to yield collisions have a number of different causes, although most involve some sort of negligence or recklessness, including:

  • Driver intoxication, as motorists who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, are much less likely to see a yield sign, or to take care when driving through a crosswalk or intersection;
  • Distracted driving, which causes thousands of accidents every year;
  • Brake failure caused by a manufacturer defect or improper maintenance;
  • Non-functioning traffic lights; 
  • Improperly placed signage; and 
  • Poor road design. 

Regardless of their cause, failure to yield accidents tend to have particularly serious repercussions, as they often occur at high speeds.

Furthermore, many fail to yield collisions take the form of t-bone accidents, which can result in severe injuries for the motorist who is struck, including everything from dislocated shoulders and hearing damage to traumatic brain injury and whiplash.

Fortunately, motorists who are injured as a result of someone else’s negligence could recover damages compensating them for their losses, so if you were recently hurt in a car crash that was at least partially the fault of another driver who failed to yield, please contact one of our failure to yield accident lawyers in Colorado Springs to learn more about filing a claim in your own case. 

Recovering Damages

Injured parties who can prove that someone else’s failure to yield was the actual or proximate cause of their collision could be eligible for both economic and noneconomic compensatory damages. The former covers damages that are easy to calculate, including medical bills, out-of-pocket costs, lost income, and vocational rehabilitation, while the latter covers the cost of losses like pain and suffering, emotional distress, and disfigurement or scarring.

However, a person will only be able to collect these damages if he or she can demonstrate that a failure to yield was responsible for a crash. This, in turn, requires the collection of convincing evidence, such as:

  • Photographs from the scene of the accident, including debris and skid marks;
  • Photographs of the damage to the vehicles;
  • Testimony from eyewitnesses who saw the accident occur;
  • Video recordings from traffic cameras or other sources from the time of the collision;
  • A copy of the police report created following the accident; and
  • Diagrams and photos provided by an accident reconstruction expert.

Please contact our legal team today to learn more about the types of evidence that could help establish negligence in your own car accident case.

Contact an Experienced Colorado Springs Failure to Yield Accident Attorney

If you were recently injured in a crash as a result of someone else’s failure to abide by state traffic laws, please contact the dedicated Colorado Springs failure to yield accident lawyers at McCormick & Murphy P.C. to find out whether you could be entitled to compensation for your losses.

A member of our team can be reached at 719-389-0400 or via online message, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so please don’t hesitate to call or contact us online at your earliest convenience.