Florida intersections are dangerous. According to the state’s Crash Facts report, intersection collisions killed over 1,000 drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists across the state in 2022. Another 100,000 suffered injuries in intersection-related collisions. About 10% of these injuries and fatalities happened when a driver ran a red light.
Red and yellow light accidents usually cause angle and side-impact collisions. These crashes have the highest likelihood of causing injury or death among all crash types. After a collision in Stuart, FL, a Stuart red and yellow light accident lawyer from Kibbey Wagner Injury & Car Accident Lawyers helps you pursue compensation from the driver who disobeyed the traffic signal.
Contact our Stuart, Florida, law office at (772) 444-7000 to schedule your free consultation with a Stuart red and yellow light accident attorney.
How Kibbey Wagner Injury & Car Accident Lawyers Can Help After a Red and Yellow Light Accident In Stuart
Since 2014, Kibbey Wagner Injury & Car Accident Lawyers has represented injured clients in Stuart, Florida, in their pursuit of just compensation for their injuries. Our Stuart car accident attorneys have over 55 years of combined legal experience battling insurance companies and at-fault parties.
After you suffer an injury due to someone else’s negligent or wrongful conduct, our Stuart personal injury attorneys provide the following legal assistance:
- A free case evaluation to assess your case and outline your options
- An investigation to uncover evidence that supports your case
- Preparation of your insurance claim and aggressive negotiation to try to settle it
- Litigation against at-fault parties and insurers who refuse to negotiate
A car accident can cause injuries that require expensive medical treatment and permanent disabilities. Contact our Stuart red and yellow light accident lawyers to learn how we can help you recover injury compensation after your crash.
How Often Do Drivers Disobey Red or Yellow Lights?
Although intersection crashes are common, red light crashes only account for a small percentage of them. Instead, a failure to yield the right of way is a much more common cause of crashes at intersections, such as when turning left across the path of an oncoming vehicle.
The population of Stuart reduces the odds even further. According to a query on the state’s traffic citation database, the Stuart Police Department only issued 47 citations for running red lights in 2023. Since police officers issue traffic tickets to drivers who cause crashes while committing a violation, it is likely that Stuart had fewer than 47 red light accidents that year.
How a Lawyer Helps After a Red or Yellow Light Accident
Although red and yellow light car accidents are infrequent occurrences, they do happen. More importantly, when they do, they can cause severe injuries.
Side-impact and angle collisions at intersections have a high risk of causing incapacitating or fatal injuries. Seat belts and frontal airbags are not designed to restrain you when someone hits the side of your car. As a result, you can get thrown into the door, side window, or doorpost, injuring your head, chest, or abdomen.
In some cases, your door may even collapse when hit by another car. In these instances, you can suffer crushing injuries like shattered bones and internal injuries when the door bends inward, trapping you.
Although red and yellow light accidents often get lumped together, Florida law treats them differently. As a result, your lawyer will need to investigate your crash and gather evidence to determine whether the other driver bears the liability for your injuries.
Red Light Crashes
Florida law requires a driver facing a solid red light to stop before entering the intersection at a stop line or before crossing into the crosswalk. They must remain stopped until the signal changes to green unless they are making a right turn. Florida allows right turns on red signals as long as no posted sign prohibits it.
When a driver violates this law, they bear the liability for any resulting injuries. However, since Florida uses a no-fault insurance system, drivers are immune from lawsuits unless the victim suffers a significant, permanent injury or incurs expenses above their no-fault insurance benefit.
When you get into a red light accident, your lawyer must gather evidence of what happened. This could include witness statements from you, the other driver, passengers of either vehicle or bystanders. It might also include video of the intersection from traffic or security cameras. Skid marks can help explain what happened, too.
After gathering evidence, the lawyer must convince the other driver’s insurer of what happened. In many cases, the crash report will support your case by including details from the crash investigation that prove the other driver’s red light violation.
Yellow Light Crashes
Yellow light crashes are different. Under Florida law, drivers are not required to stop at yellow lights. Yellow lights only warn the driver that the light is about to change.
As a result, drivers are generally not liable for “running” a yellow light because they still have the right of way. To prove liability for these collisions, your lawyer must gather evidence that the light changed to red immediately before the other driver entered the intersection or committed some other violation, like speeding.
Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Stuart Red and Yellow Light Accident Lawyers
A red light crash can cause catastrophic injuries in Stuart, FL. Contact Kibbey Wagner Injury & Car Accident Lawyers for a free consultation to learn how we can help you recover injury compensation for your red or yellow light accident. Our Stuart red and yellow light accident lawyers are here to help you get the justice you deserve.
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