Florida Car Accident Lawyer Blog
Right of way car accidents in Hollywood often happen because a driver is distracted and does not yield right of way or because a driver is confused about who has right of way in specific situations. For too many head injury patients in Hollywood – not to mention patients who have suffered other serious injuries – it can be upsetting to realize that their injuries and accident were completely preventable.
There are a few situations where right of way accidents in Hollywood are especially likely to happen, and if you understand right of way in these situations you will be armed with the knowledge you need to potentially prevent some serious collisions:
1) Making a red turn on a red light. Some intersections have signs showing that you cannot make a right turn on a red light. Obviously, at these intersections you cannot turn right when the light is red. At intersections where there is no such sign, you must stop at the red light and yield to any oncoming traffic that is proceeding on their green light. This means that you must yield to vehicles making a left turn on a green light and cars proceeding through the intersection.
2) Left turns. Left turn car crashes in Hollywood often occur because someone does not yield right of way. On a left turn, you have right of way when you have a protected left turn (indicated by a green arrow or flashing green turning light). Unless you are making a protected left turn, you must yield right of way to any traffic that has a green light – this includes vehicles traveling through the intersection on a green light and anyone making a right turn on a green light.
3) Parking lots. Many parking lots have no signs, lights, or even lanes and this can make right of way confusing. You have right of way in a parking lot if you are driving the main route in a parking lot that eventually leads to a street. Cars that are backing out of a spot must yield right of way to cars that are leading moving through the parking lot. In fact, any time you back out of a parking spot – whether a driveway or a parking spot on a street – you must yield right of way to traffic already moving. Vehicles that are entering the main lanes of a parking lot from smaller lanes must yield to any traffic that is on the main lane leading to a street.
4) Merging. Cars merging from an exit ramp, merging into a new lane, or merging onto a street or road must always yield right of way to traffic moving forward. In some cases, vehicles will move out of the way to allow someone to merge, but this courtesy does not change the fact that the vehicle that is merging does not have right of way.
It can be difficult to prove that negligence has caused an accident because someone has failed to yield right of way. The Attorneys at Flaxman Law Group have more than 60 years of combined legal experience uncovering fault and liability in traffic accident and other personal injury cases. If you would like to find out whether you have a case, contact Flaxman Law Group today to schedule your free accident consultation.