Failure To Yield Accidents: Who Has the Right-Of-Way in Florida?

In Florida, all motorists have a duty to obey the rules of the road including yielding the right-of-way to other drivers, motorcyclists, or pedestrians. When a driver fails to yield the right-of-way and an accident occurs, they could find themselves liable for the other party’s losses, including property damage, personal injury, and wrongful death.

What Florida Law Has to Say About Who Has Right of Way

Many failure to yield accidents are the result of misunderstandings and assumptions about who has the right-of-way on a road. Florida state laws are very specific about who has the right-of-way in what situations:

• The right-of-way at an intersection is indicated by posted stop signs, yield signs, and/or traffic lights. Drivers crossing through an intersection with a stop sign are required to come to a complete stop and yield the right-of-way to a crossing pedestrian or vehicle which has already entered the intersection.
• Drivers with green lights have the right-of-way.

• At a four-way stop intersection, the driver of the first vehicle to stop at the intersection shall be the first to proceed. If two or more vehicles reach the four-way stop intersection at the same time, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right.
• A yield sign means a driver must slow down or stop and yield the right-of-way to any vehicles traveling through the intersection that constitute an immediate hazard.
• When two vehicles enter an intersection from different highways at the same time the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right.
• The driver of a vehicle intending to turn to the left within an intersection or into an alley, private road, or driveway shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction.
• Vehicles that are about to enter or cross a highway from an alley, building, private road, or driveway must yield the right-of-way to all approaching vehicles which are so close enough to constitute an immediate hazard.
• Vehicles emerging from an alley, building, private road, or driveway within a business or residence district must stop immediately prior to driving onto a sidewalk or sidewalk area and yield to all vehicles and pedestrians which are so close thereto as to constitute an immediate hazard.
• Drivers are required to yield the right-of-way to authorized emergency vehicles en route to an existing emergency.
• All drivers must stop and yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing a road or street in a marked crosswalk.
• Bicyclists must follow the same right-of-way rules as vehicles.

Responsible motorists do everything they can to avoid an accident. You may have to be the one who has to yield, even though you have the right-of-way, to avoid an accident. If you cause an accident even though you have the right-of-way, you run the risk of sharing liability for the accident. This will greatly reduce the amount of compensation you can collect for any damages resulting from the accident.

Filing Personal Injury Claims After Failure to Yield Accidents in Florida

If you’ve been injured in an accident caused by a driver who failed to yield the right-of-way, Florida state law gives you a right to seek compensation for the damages caused by your injuries. Damages in failure to yield accident cases in Florida can include:

In order to collect this compensation, you’ll have to file a personal injury claim with the other driver’s insurance company.

Your family, friends, and co-workers may have advised you to hire an experienced auto accident attorney to handle your claim. This is a good idea. Failure to yield accident victims see better results when they hire an attorney to represent them.

Worried about the cost? Don’t be. Most Lutz personal injury attorneys work on a contingency basis, so there aren’t any upfront fees for their services, which can include investigating your accident, accurately assessing your total damages, negotiating with the at-fault party’s insurance company, and representing your case in court.

Rivas Law Group is Here to Protect Your Rights After a Failure to Yield Accident in Florida

Tania Rivas and Rivas Law Group have represented clients in Lutz who have been injured in a wide range of failure to yield accidents. Her skills and expertise have enabled Tania to recover millions of dollars in compensation for her clients. Among these case results are an $800,000 settlement for a pedestrian struck and killed by a motor vehicle in Haines City, FL, and a $425,000 settlement for a passenger killed when their vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer that ran a stop sign.

The sooner you contact Tania Rivas and Rivas Law Group, the better. Florida has a strict statute of limitations for filing a failure to yield accident claim. If you wait too long, the court may refuse to hear your case! You can reach Tania and Rivas Law Group through our website, or call us at (877) 299-5539 to schedule a free initial consultation with a leading Lutz auto accident attorney.