Many factors can contribute to car collisions, including inattentive drivers, environmental hazards, and excessive speeds. One common cause of wrecks is failure to yield, where one driver goes when they do not have the right of way.
Failure to yield in car accidents in Columbia can cause injuries and damage to your vehicle. If you have been in a crash, you should seek legal advice from a car accident attorney. They could walk through what happened and determine whether you can make a claim for compensation from the other driver.
What is a Failure to Yield Accident?
Most places where automobiles can collide are controlled, such as intersections. Stoplights often direct vehicles on where to go and how, but other road features may require one car to yield to another. On-ramps to highways, traffic circles, and stop signs may require yielding to another motorist with the right of way.
Yielding often works in place of a stoplight when cars are already in motion or when a lane joins another. For instance, at stop signs, each driver may expect others to pause and look around, and when someone refuses to yield, it can quickly cause a collision.
Injuries From a Failure to Yield Crash
It is common for parties to suffer injuries from a car collision involving a person’s failure to yield in Columbia. These accidents can result in drivers and passengers suffering harm to their heads, necks, and backs or even cause internal injuries.
Severe collisions, such as at high speeds and between larger vehicles, can elevate the seriousness of harm, causing traumatic brain injuries or spinal cord damage. A knowledgeable attorney could help you document your injuries and gather evidence of how the wreck occurred to help you obtain compensation.
Making a Claim Out of a Failure to Yield Case
A legal claim for a failure to yield case is based on negligence—the legal concept of one person’s unreasonable actions causing injuries to someone else. Negligence claims require you to prove four elements:
- A duty of care
- A breach of that duty
- Causation of the injuries
- Injuries as legal damages
Depending on the circumstances of your accident, you might need to show that the other driver had a duty that they breached by failing to yield, which in turn caused the collision and your injuries. In addition, your harm must fall into specific categories of damages, such as medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and pain and suffering.
The Statute of Limitations
You must also file on time and consider your involvement in the crash. South Carolina has a statute of limitations of three years, after which you will not be able to file a lawsuit.
Similarly, the state recognizes every party’s percentage of fault for injuries. Pursuant to S.C. Code of Laws § 15-1-300, you can be found negligent and have your damages reduced by the percentage of that fault. If you are more than 50 percent liable for your injuries, you can lose all compensation. A Columbia attorney could provide guidance and prove your right to damages in a failure-to-yield car crash case.
Get Compensation for a Failure to Yield Accident
Automobile crashes can lead to a surplus of medical bills and emotional trauma. When you are hurt in a collision due to someone else not following the right-of-way, you have options and legal rights.
Our diligent team at Whetstone Perkins & Fulda can handle your case involving a failure-to-yield car accident in Columbia. Contact us today for a consultation with one of our dedicated personal injury attorneys.
