Baltimore Failure-to-Yield Car Accident Attorney
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A driver who fails to yield can cause a serious crash in seconds. These collisions often happen when a driver turns across traffic, ignores a stop or yield sign, enters a road from a driveway, or fails to stop for a pedestrian.
If you were injured because another driver failed to yield, Greenberg Law Offices can help. We have represented injured Marylanders since 1966.
Our attorneys investigate how the crash happened, deal with the insurance companies, and pursue compensation for our clients’ injuries and losses.
Contact us for a free consultation with a Baltimore car accident lawyer.
Common Types of Failure-to-Yield Accidents
Failure-to-yield crashes occur on city streets, county roads, commercial corridors and highway ramps throughout the Baltimore area. Common examples include:
- Intersection collisions: A driver fails to stop at a stop sign or yield to traffic that has the right of way.
- Left-turn accidents: A driver turns across oncoming traffic without waiting for a safe opening.
- Highway merging crashes: A driver enters a travel lane without yielding to vehicles already on the highway.
- Driveway and parking-lot accidents: A driver pulls into the roadway or backs out of a parking space without checking for approaching traffic, pedestrians or bicyclists.
- Pedestrian accidents: A driver fails to stop for someone lawfully crossing in a marked or unmarked crosswalk.
These crashes frequently occur along heavily traveled Baltimore-area roads such as North Avenue, Charles Street, Pulaski Highway, Belair Road, Harford Road and Reisterstown Road, as well as ramps serving Interstate 95, Interstate 83 and the Baltimore Beltway.
Maryland’s Right-of-Way Laws
Maryland law establishes different right-of-way rules for different traffic situations:
- Transportation Article § 21-401 generally requires a driver at an uncontrolled intersection to yield to a vehicle approaching from the right.
- Section 21-402 requires a driver making a left turn or U-turn to yield to approaching traffic that is close enough to present an immediate danger.
- Section 21-403 addresses a driver’s duty to stop and yield at through highways, stop signs and yield signs.
- Section 21-404 requires a driver entering or crossing a highway from a driveway, private road or another place that is not a highway to stop and yield to approaching traffic.
- Section 21-502 requires drivers to stop for pedestrians in certain marked and unmarked crosswalks.
A traffic citation can be important evidence, but it does not automatically determine who is legally responsible for a civil claim.
The evidence must still show that the other driver acted negligently and that the negligence caused the collision and resulting injuries.
Maryland’s Contributory-Negligence Rule
Maryland follows the contributory-negligence rule. If the defendant proves that an injured person’s own negligence contributed to the collision as a legal cause, the injured person may be barred from recovering damages.
Insurance companies often rely on this rule to shift blame. They may argue that the injured driver was speeding, distracted, following too closely, or could have avoided the collision.
That makes it especially important to investigate the accident promptly and preserve evidence showing who had the right of way.
Evidence in a Failure-to-Yield Case
Because drivers often give conflicting accounts of an accident, the physical and independent evidence can be critical.
Depending on the circumstances, we may investigate:
- Police reports and body-camera recordings: These may contain witness information, diagrams, statements and the responding officer’s observations. The police report itself does not conclusively decide civil liability.
- Traffic and surveillance video: Cameras maintained by government agencies, nearby businesses, homes or other drivers may have recorded the collision. Because recordings are sometimes deleted or overwritten quickly, preservation requests should be sent as soon as possible.
- Witness testimony: Independent witnesses may help establish the traffic signal, the positions of the vehicles and which driver failed to yield.
- Vehicle data: Some vehicles contain event-data recorders or other electronic systems that may preserve information about speed, braking and steering immediately before a crash.
- Photographs and physical evidence: Vehicle damage, debris, skid marks, traffic signs, sight lines and road conditions may help show how the collision occurred.
- Accident reconstruction: In a serious or disputed case, an accident-reconstruction expert may analyze the available evidence and explain the sequence of events.
Our attorneys use the available evidence to present the strongest claim supported by the facts.
Compensation After a Failure-to-Yield Accident
A person injured by a negligent driver may be entitled to compensation for:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost wages and diminished earning capacity
- Damage to a vehicle and other personal property
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress, inconvenience and loss of normal activities
- Permanent injuries, scarring or disability
The value of a claim depends on the nature of the injuries, the available insurance coverage, the strength of the liability evidence and the effect the accident has had on the injured person’s life.
We evaluate those factors before recommending whether a client should accept a settlement or continue pursuing the case.
How Long Do You Have to File a Maryland Car Accident Claim?
Maryland generally requires a personal injury lawsuit to be filed within three years after the claim accrues.
Shorter notice requirements may apply when a state or local government vehicle or employee is involved, and other exceptions can affect the deadline.
Waiting can also result in the loss of video recordings, vehicle data and witness testimony. It is best to have the accident investigated promptly rather than waiting until the filing deadline approaches.
Why Choose Greenberg Law Offices?
Greenberg Law Offices has represented injured people in Baltimore and throughout Maryland since 1966.
We understand how insurance companies investigate failure-to-yield accidents and the tactics they use to dispute responsibility or minimize an injured person’s damages.
Our attorneys have obtained substantial verdicts and settlements for people injured in motor vehicle accidents, including a $1.2 million jury verdict for a client injured in a car crash. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome because every case depends on its own facts and circumstances.
We prepare every case with the understanding that it may have to be presented to a jury. At the same time, we keep our clients informed, answer their questions and give them straightforward advice throughout the case.
