Navigating the laws and statutes put in place for car accidents could be a difficult task when you are also trying to focus on your personal recovery. Liability in St. Louis failure to yield accidents could be made easier to understand with the assistance of a skilled trial lawyer. If you feel that your accident was caused by another driver’s inability to yield the right of way, you need to speak with a car accident attorney familiar with these types of accidents.
How Fault Could Be Affected by Failure to Yield
The failure to yield provides a strong liability case, especially when a wrongdoer violates a road sign. When a driver fails to yield at the yield sign, their liability is greater. Their actions are dictated by the yield sign and failure to abide by these rules could lead to the harm of another. However, assigning liability in St. Louis becomes more difficult when there is no sign.
When a driver makes a left-hand turn across a road and cannot see an oncoming car at the top of a hill, the person turning could be liable for their actions. Despite this, assigning the liability is more questionable because the driver may have done everything right and just could not see the oncoming vehicle. Regardless of the circumstances of your accident, contacting a failure to yield an attorney could lead to useful information about the liability involved in your case.
How Insurance Companies Treat Failure to Yield Accidents
Insurance companies primarily represent the defendant so they will often try to make the events surrounding the accident unclear or place the blame directly on the other driver. When there is a sign and a clear indication that the defendant who caused the accident failed to yield at that sign, that makes the insurance company’s job more difficult.
When there is a situation in which the failure to yield happens without signs, insurance companies may try to look at what the claim holder or injured party was doing at the time immediately before the crash occurred. They may try to determine if the victim was speeding or actively inattentive during the accident to reduce the fault of the negligent party. The insurance company may try to obtain the driver’s phone records to see if they were texting while driving. Often, insurance companies will do whatever within their power to put as much blame on the plaintiff as possible by collecting telephone records, determining the speed of the vehicles, and interviewing witnesses that might have opposing points of view to the victim.
Many cars now come equipped with black boxes where all vehicle information may be downloaded. Black boxes permit the parties to determine how fast vehicles were traveling at the time of the collision. If a plaintiff exceeded the speed limit, the insurance company may try to cast blame on them, even though the crash happened because another person pulled in front of the victim
How an Attorney Could Help Investigate a Failure to Yield Accident Case
Determining fault is generally done by using witnesses to testify about what they saw. When the accident takes place in a more urban area, it may be possible to obtain the video or surveillance film from nearby businesses. A lawyer could check surrounding businesses and convenience stores to see if they could obtain the video of the accident. Sometimes the video is taped over every 15 to 30 days and then it is gone forever, so it is important to hire a lawyer sooner rather than later.
Solo Practitioners Versus Large Law Firms
The size of a law practice does not matter in a failure to yield accident case as long as the lawyer is competent and has the capability to do what needs to be done for the case. Large law firms, small to medium law firms, and solo lawyers often do great jobs on these cases.
It is more important for the individual to determine whether they trust the lawyer they are considering and have a connection with that lawyer. You should make sure that the lawyer is communicative with you at regular intervals during the pendency of your case.
Contact a Car Accident Attorney in St. Louis Today
The effects of a car accident often follow drivers for some time. When you feel the pressure of bills piling up and your recovery impaired, you need to contact a trial lawyer who could evaluate your case and if necessary, help you file a claim against a negligent party. Liability in St. Louis failure to yield accidents could be easy to determine with the help of an experienced attorney. Reach out today to schedule your confidential consultation.