Houston Failure to Yield Accident Lawyer

The most basic definition of a failure to yield accident is when a car or other vehicle fails to give way or yield to another vehicle that has the right of way on a public road. There are many ways such accidents can occur, ranging from drowsiness and distraction to alcohol impairment and bad lighting. Talking on the phone, responding to a text message, browsing social media feeds, and other forms of distracted driving are a major cause of traffic fatalities. The combined death rate of failure to yield accidents and distracted driving was one of the biggest causes of fatal crashes in 2016 as reported by the Insurance Information Institute.

Types of Failure to Yield Accidents

A failure to yield accident can happen in a number of ways, including:

Failing to yield the right of way to emergency vehicles
Failing to yield to oncoming traffic while taking a turn
Making a rolling stop at a stop sign, as opposed to coming to a complete stop
Improper stopping at, or passing right through, flashing yellow or red lights
Unexpected entry on to a larger road from a side alley or smaller road when the vehicles on the larger road have the right of way
Improper merging between lanes or roadways

Pursuing a Failure to Yield Claim

The key to a successful claim in failure to yield cases lies in determining who was at fault and which vehicle or individual (in the case of bicyclists or pedestrians) had the right of way when the accident in question occurred. This can be done in a number of ways:

Obtaining surveillance camera footage from roadway cameras.
Obtaining dashcam footage from police cruiser recordings or other vehicles that captured the accident.
Obtaining the official police report of the accident since this report usually mentions which party the police believed to have been at fault for the accident.
Obtaining cell phone records of at-fault motorists to establish distracted driving or driver negligence.

Claims You Can Pursue

Like any other traffic accident, failure to yield accidents can lead to a wide range of personal injury, property damage, and other losses. Depending on the limits of your insurance policy, the type of accident you were involved in, and who was found to be at fault for the crash, you may be able to pursue compensation for the following:

Medical expenses, including surgeries, tests, rehabilitative care, medicine, transportation to and from healthcare services providers, and assistive devices such as wheelchairs
Lost wages
Lost future earnings
Loss of consortium
Burial and funeral expenses in case of a traffic fatality
Punitive damages in case of drunk driving or willfully negligent or reckless driving by the at-fault party
Property damage

Lawsuits and Settlements After Failure to Yield Accidents

You need to be careful when dealing with your insurance company after an accident. Regardless of how good an offer may seem, it is in your best interests to not accept any settlement offered by your insurance company without first speaking to our Houston accident lawyers. Accepting a settlement offer makes you give up your right to seek compensation for all of the damages that you have sustained, some of which may only become apparent at a later point in time, as is common with certain types of injury such as whiplash.

The vehicle that was struck by another vehicle that failed to yield is usually the party that is held liable for the accident, but insurance companies sometimes manipulate contributory negligence laws to place blame for whatever proportion of the accident that they can on an innocent victim.

If this happens to you, give us a call. We will strive to make sure that your settlement is not reduced unfairly in this way. Even if your case ends up going to trial, we will represent you all the way until a final settlement is won.

Our Failure to Yield Accident Claims Experts Are Here to Help

If you failed to yield and struck another car, or if you were struck by a vehicle that failed to yield the right of way to you, we are here to help. Give us a call at 713-677-2253 for help with gathering the facts and evidence needed to support your case and to hold the at-fault party liable for damages. Because every case is unique, we provide all our clients with free, comprehensive, and no-obligation evaluations of their accident case at no up-front cost. Don’t delay; call now to learn about your legal options and to file a claim.