While Pennsylvania law doesn’t give anyone the automatic right-of-way over all other traffic, it does set out very specific rules for when and how drivers should yield to other vehicles and people near them. Anyone who fails to follow these rules and causes a crash as a direct result has violated their duty of care as a driver to act lawfully and responsibly behind the wheel. They could be civilly liable for damages caused by that crash under the legal theory of negligence.
This is a broad summary of the legal theory behind most civil claims built around failure to yield car accidents in York. When you want a positive result from this sort of claim, you should make speaking with one of the skilled car accident lawyers from Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers one of your top priorities.
What Does State Law Say About Yielding on the Road?
75 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes § 3323 is the specific section of Pennsylvania law that lays out the rules for yielding to traffic and pedestrians while driving in York. In general, these rules follow a first come, first served pattern—for example, everyone approaching a four-way stop must come to a complete stop once they reach the intersection, and then whoever got to the intersection first has the right-of-way to advance through the intersection first.
If two cars are approaching an intersection at the same time, though, drivers coming from the left must yield to drivers coming from the right. Additionally, drivers proceeding straight down a public road almost always have right-of-way over anyone turning left from that road or entering it from a driveway or alley. All drivers must yield to pedestrians who are lawfully in marked crosswalks, on sidewalks, crossing alleys or driveways, or crossing lawfully at any intersection without a traffic light regardless of whether there is a marked crosswalk there.
Proving Someone Else Didn’t Yield Properly Before a Wreck
Police officers can pull over and ticket anyone they witness failing to yield properly, and they can also ticket someone after the fact for causing a traffic accident in York by failing to yield properly. When a police report that includes a citation for failure to yield is available after a crash, it can serve as crucial evidence proving the driver who received that citation was the one directly at fault for causing the wreck.
When the report filed by the officers who responded to your crash didn’t cite the other driver for failure to yield, and you still want to sue them, it will fall to you to build a civil claim proving they caused your injuries by failing to yield or acting irresponsibly in some other way. Your car accident lawyer can provide vital help with collecting, preserving, and effectively presenting evidence like witness testimony, dashboard or surveillance camera footage, photos and videos of the crash scene, and input from accident reconstruction experts.
Get in Touch with a York Attorney Following a Failure to Yield Car Accident
Not yielding properly puts everyone around a driver at risk of serious harm. Holding someone else civilly liable for violating traffic law in this specific way can be more challenging than you might expect, especially if you try to do it without well-known legal counsel.
The help you’ll need to get the best case result possible is available from our winning lawyers. Call us today to discuss your options after a failure to yield car accident in York.
