Intersections are the most common locations for car accidents to occur, including deadly collisions in Austin. Whenever multiple roadways meet, drivers must make instant critical decisions and practice vigilant awareness. Unfortunately, intersection accidents in Austin and elsewhere are a familiar problem. More than any other cause of intersection accidents, making a left turn is particularly hazardous.
An experienced Austin accident lawyer can provide critical support to victims of intersection accidents. They can investigate the circumstances of the crash, collect evidence, and determine liability—whether it’s another driver, a commercial trucking company, or even a municipality for poorly designed intersections.
Why Are Left Turn Accidents In Austin a Common Problem?
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) studies, 22% of intersection accidents are left-turn collisions.
Left-turn accidents impact motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists, often with serious or deadly results. When drivers prepare to turn left at an intersection, they commonly focus on traffic approaching from the right, leaving vehicles and pedestrians advancing on the left vulnerable to collisions. Common causes of left-turn accidents include the following:
- Left turns require a wider turning radius
- Taking a left turn requires crossing one or more lanes of oncoming traffic
- Many drivers misjudge the speed of approaching traffic while turning left
- Left turns make it challenging to accurately judge the distance across the intersection
- The A-pillar of the car (the left window frame) often partially obstructs vision
- Some intersections have obstructed views in left turn lanes
- Illegal maneuvers such as not turning from the far left lane
- Failing to signal a turn
- Disregarding traffic signals
- Poorly designed intersections
- Lack of adequate signage
Distracted drivers, impaired drivers, and aggressive drivers who fail to yield the right of way to traffic already in the intersection increase the likelihood and severity of left-turn accidents in Austin and elsewhere.
Injuries and Fatalities In Left Turn Accidents In Texas
Not only are left-turn accidents unfortunately common, but they also often result in the most serious intersection accident injuries. This is because left-turn crashes involve the front of the vehicles in a head-on collision or right-angle collision. Injuries may occur to the occupants of both vehicles involved in the crash. Common injuries in left turn accidents in Austin include:
- Fractures, including of the limbs, hips, pelvis, and ribs
- Head injuries/traumatic brain injuries
- Neck injuries
- Back injuries
- Soft-tissue injuries to shoulders, knees, wrists, and ankles
- Lacerations, bruises, and abrasions
- Facial trauma
- Burns
- Traumatic limb loss
- Internal organ injuries/internal bleeding
- Spinal cord injuries
When a left-turn accident strikes a pedestrian, motorcyclist, or bicycle, the exposed injury victim is vulnerable to catastrophic injury or death. A motorcycle accident lawyer in Austin can help victims or their families navigate the legal process, hold the negligent party accountable, and secure compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, or wrongful death.
Liability for Left Turn Accidents In Austin
In a fault-based insurance state like California, car accident injury victims must file claims against the party at fault for the accident. In left turn accidents, that’s typically the driver who made the left turn when they should have yielded the right of way. Some exceptions exist, such as when the vehicle already present in the intersection did not have the right of way because the driver ran a red light. Proving liability for left-turn accidents requires providing the appropriate insurance company with documented evidence from traffic cameras, dash cam videos, surveillance footage, and eyewitness testimony showing the following:
- The at-fault party owed a duty of care to take reasonable measures to prevent causing an accident
- The breach of duty directly caused the accident and injuries
- The injury victim suffered injuries with damages
Under the modified comparative negligence laws in Texas, even if an injury victim contributed to the cause of the accident—say a driver who was hit during another driver’s improper left turn but was exceeding the speed limit—they can still recover compensation minus their percentage of fault. For instance, if the insurance company finds you 20% at fault and the driver who made the unsafe left turn 80% at fault, you’d recover $80,000 of a $100,000 claim.
How Can a Car Accident Attorney In Austin Help My Case?
Left-turn accidents may seem like a simple injury claim, but insurance companies may protect their policyholder and their profits at your expense even when the other driver caused the accident. Contact Shaw Cowart LLP for experienced representation in your left-turn accident claim in Austin so you can get the maximum compensation you deserve.