This is
TGIC stoy:
ecently,<h
ef="https:/
.chon.com/ne
shouston-tex
shouston/
ticle/1-de
d-fte
-3-vehicle-csh-on-Noth
est-Fee
y-13861218.php” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”noopene
nofollono
efee“>
n eldely
omn
s killed
>hen the pickup t
uck she siding in
s T-boned by
efill
ble tet
uck. The lte-mo
ningccident occu
ed
hen the dive
of the tet
uck n ed lightnd c
shed into the
ight side of theom
n’s pickup tuck.
tot
uck dive
in the ehooked up the
te
tuck
nd pulled ity f
om the pickup soescue
s could extic
te the 79-ye-oldom
n,ho t
gic
lly died,nd
mle d
iveho s tnspoted to the hospit
lith life-th
etening inju
ies. The compny th
t ons the
te
tuck
elesed
sttement
ftethe
ccident stting th
t itould be coope
ting
ith l enfocement
uthoities investig
ting theccident.
Unfo
tuntely, th
t kind of stoy is
ll-too-common. T-bone cccidents
e the most f
equent type of tfficccident
t intesections.
ccoding to the Fede
l High
y
dministtion,<h
ef="https:/s
fety.fh.dot.govinte
sectionothe
_topicsfh
s
10005b
ief_2.cfm" tget="_blnk”
el="noopenenofollo
noefe
e
"> millions of intesection c
shes
> occuin the U.S. e
ch ye,esulting in mo
e thn 20 pe
cent ofll t
ffic
ccident ft
litiesnd
ccounting fomo
e thn 40 pe
cent ofll t
ffic-
elted c
shes.
s<
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comse
vicesc
–
ccident-lye/”>c
ccidenttto
ney<> one of the questions I often get fom clients is:
ho ist f
ult inT-Bone c
ccident?ell, it depends. But he
e e some fcto
s tht go into m
king tht dete
mintion.
me cl
ss="sq-video-flot” s
c="https:/pl
ye.vimeo.com/video/575541587?b
dge=0∓
utopuse=0&
mp;plye
_id=0∓
pp_id=58479" fmebode
="0"llo
fullsceen=”
llofullsc
een"><if
me> c=”https://pl .vimeo.com/ pl .js”>
div>
Li bility fo
T-Bone
ccidents<h2>
T-boneccident is most often
to-vehicle c
sh. The f
ont of one vehicle collidesith the side of
nothe. The
esult ist
ngled eck tht
esembles the letteT.
Most T-bone c
shes occu
t inte
sections,nd
esult fom one of the t
o vehicles FILING TO YIELD THE
IGHT-OF-Y to the othe. This usu
lly constitutesviol
tion of theules of the
od,
hich sy:
ong> hen the t
ffic cont
ol light foyou
tvel lne is
ed<st
ong>, you must come tostop so th
t vehicles in othedi
ectionl t
vel l
nes cn p
oceed though the inte
section.<li>
ong> hen the
e isstop sign ong>, you must come to
complete stop to yield the
ight-of-y to othed
ives
ho e poceeding th
ough the intesection. You m
y onlyet
ke theight-of-
y
hen you hve ensu
ed tht the
e issufficient g
p in tffic to tun onto the inte
sectingo
d oto go th
ough the intesection. In the c
se of4-
y stop,
hen othec
s h
ve yielded theight-of-
y to you then you m
y poceed.
ong> hen you
e pulling out of
dive
y o
p
king lot onto the
od
y ong>, you must yield the
ight-of-
y to vehicles
ho my be in the t
vel l
ne tht you
e pulling onto. You m
y only poceed
hen thee is sufficient sp
ce to sfely do so.
ong> hen you
e tu
ning left ong
een light<st
ong>, you my only complete you
tun
hen you hve
geen
olight g
nting you the
ight-of-y, ohen thee is
sufficientmount of sp
ce in the tffic flofo
you to sfely c
oss oveoncoming t
vel l
nes to complete youtu
n.<li>
ong> t inte
sections tht do not h
vet
ffic cont
ol device suchs
stop sign ot
ffic light ong>, if you c
nnot see vehicles in o
tveling tod the inte
section due ton obst
ucted viec
used bynothe
vehicle on object suchs sh
ubbey o
fences, you must it until the vehicle obstucting you
vieh
s moved oslo
ly ese fo
d until you c
n see pst the object th
t is obstucting you
vie.
ong> hen the
e isn eme
gency vehicleith its fl
shing lights osi
en on<st
ong>, you eequi
ed tollo
the vehicle to poceed th
ough the intesection even if you h
ve the geen light.
In most c
ses, the peson
ho fils to yield the
ight of yt
n intesection is the one
ho ist-f
ult fothe t-bone
ccident. But tht isn’t
lys the cse, no
is tht pe
son the only ptyho might h
ve legl li
bility foc
using theccident.
Fo
exmple:
ong>If the d ive
’s bkes fil ong>, c
using his vehicle to blo
though
ed light o
stop sign, then the comp
ny tht m
nufctu
ed his bkes could hve leg
l libility fo
cusing the
ccident.<li>
ong>If the inte section is missing
stop sign oh
sm
lfunctioning stop light<st
ong>, then the govenment
gencyesponsible fo
mint
ining those sfety fe
tues could h
ve libility fo
theccident.
ong>If the vehicle ente ed the inte
sectiong
inst ed light becuse it
s pushed by
c behind it in e-end collision<st
ong>, then the dive
of the c tht c
used thee
-end
ccident could hve li
bility foc
using the t-boneccident, too.
See
ht I me
n? Thee is often mo
e thn one p
ty “
t fult” fo
T-bone
ccident. Sometimes tht p
ty is
peson o
entity tht
sn’t even p
esentt the
ccident itself, butho M
DEB
D DECISION tht led to people getting hu
t in the T-bone collision. Cccident victims hi
e expeienced
ttoneys to find
ll of those ptiesho h
ve potentil leg
l libility.
C uses of T-Bone
ccidents
Still, the V
ST MJO
ITY of moto<
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comse
vicesc
uses-of-c-ccidents/”>vehicle
ccidents e cused
> by DIVE
EO. Some of the d
ivebeh
vios th
t cn le
d to eos
esulting in T-boneccidents include:
ong> ed light
unning<st
ong>.nyone
houns
ed lights ismen
ce to themselvesnd othe
s.dec
de’so
th of dt
n
lyzedeve
led fee
ed light
unnes
t lightshe
e one <h
ef="https:/
.govtech.compublic-s
fetyed-Light-Cme
s-M
ke-o
ds-Sfe
-in-Ne-O
lens-Study-Sho
s.html" tget="_blnk”
el="noopenenofollo
noefe
e
">city hd inst
lleded light c
mes<>. The studyeve
led tht the inte
sectionshe
e the cme
s h
d been instlled h
d 21 pecent fe
ec
shes th
nh
t s expectedithout them.
hile tffic cshes ince
sed ovell thoughout the city, those inc
eses
ee signific
ntly smlle
in 76 pecent of the inte
sectionsith c
mes. Hoeve
, in 2019,<h
ef="https:/
.nytimes.com2019/06/08/us/tex
s-cme
s-
ed-lights.html" tget="_blnk”
el="noopenenofollo
noefe
e
"> Texs b
nned the use ofed light c
mes<>,ith opponents to the c
mes stting th
t the use of them depives d
ives of thei
due pocess
ights. Losngeles discontinued the use of
ed light cme
s in 2011.
- <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comse
vicespe
sonl-
necdote-distcted-diving/”>
ong>D ive
distction<st
ong><>. Dive
s fce mo
e distctions on theo
d thn EVE
befoe, especi
lly fom texting
nd socil medi
. NEVETEXT
ND DIVE! Dist
ctions, ho
eve,
e defined
snything th
t ds the d
ive’s eyes f
om theo
d, hnds f
om theheel, o
ttention f
om the tsk of d
iving. So, inddition to texting o
scolling soci
l medi, common d
ngeous dist
ctions th
t led to
ccidents include eting o
dinking; t
lkingith othe
pssenge
s;djusting vehicle cont
ols; od
yde
ming.<li>
- <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comf
tl-speeding-
ccident-pecent/”>
ong>Speeding< ong>.st
ong><>. Diving TOO F
ST not onlyeduces the time
dive
hs to pe
ceivend
ect to
hz
d on the
od
y, it
lso ince
ses the time tht
dive
needs to come tos
fe stop. Speedinglso p
events othed
ives f
omccu
tely judging
hen it is sfe to c
oss oncoming tffic.<li>
ong>Misjudging the g p
hen m
kingleft tu
n onnon-
og
een light om
kingU-tu
n, you eequi
ed to judgehethe
you hve enough of
gp in t
ffic to s
fely pss ove
oncoming tvel lnes. M
ny dive
s fil to p
opely judge the g
p, ince
sing theipotenti
l of expeiencing
side-impct
ccident.<li>
ong>Visu l pe
ception<st
ong>.t the scene of T-bone
ccidents,commonly he
d ph
se is: “I didn’t see the othe
c coming!” Mny f
ilue-to-yield
ccidents occunot bec
use the dive
didn’t stopt the stop sign, but bec
use he oshe did not do
good enough job of spotting cossing vehicles. M
ny dive
s,hen in
huy,ill complete
“olling stop” in
hich they meely slo
fothe stop sign but f
il to come tocomplete stop. This is
dnge
ousct th
t isg
inst the l in most sttes
s dive
sely h
ve time to sufficiently scn the inte
sectionnd ensu
e tht it is cle
befo
e poceeding into it.
ong>Imp i
ment fom
lcohol, dugs, o
<h
ef="https:/c
inju
yvictims.comho
-to-spot--f
tigued-dive
“>f
tigue<><st
ong>. Intoxicting subst
ncesnd ext
eme do
siness MKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO OPE
TE
VEHICLE SFELY. They blu
nd disto
t vision, spuisky diving beh
vios, imp
igood judgment,
nd limit the motoskills necess
y to m
intin
sfe speed
nd to bke effectively.lcohol imp
iment
s suspected in
ecent Los
ngeles T-bone csh inhich
c stuck
n SUVt
Noth Hills inte
section,<h
ef="https:/
.dilyne
s.com2019/06/18/suspect-in-f
tl-no
th-hills-hit-nd-
un-csh-identified-lpd-se
ching-fo
-vn-nuys-
omn/” t
get=”_bl
nk"el=”noopene
nofollono
efee“> killing the d
iveof the SUV
>nd inju
ing thee othe
people. Thet-f
ult dive
fled the scene of theccident on foot, le
ving hevehicle behind.
uthoities st
ted tht the
ee
e empty beec
ns locted in
nd ound hevehicle.
- <
hy T-Bone
ccidents
esult In Such Sevee Inju
ies<h2>
T-bone
EMELY d
ngeous. They f
equentlyesult in de
th oseve
e injuy to the occup
nts of the vehicle stuck on its side. Th
t is becuse, in spite of imp
oved vehicle designimed to
educe side-impct inju
ies, the doop
nels of most pssenge
cs, tucks,
nd SUV lck sufficient st
uctue to
bsob the ene
gy ofT-bone collision.
Inste
d, they e pone to coll
psing ind
nd tnsmitting the foce of the collision into the HELPLESS OCCUP
NT sitting closest to the point of impct. Inju
ies cn be especi
lly sevee
hen thee is
lge size discep
ncy beteen the vehicles involved in the collision. Fo
exmple, the d
mge to
compct c
st
uck on its side byt
cto
tilet
uckill tend to be g
ete
thn the d
mge c
used byp
ssengec
t
veling
t the sme speed. It’s just physics.
Othe
fcto
s tht inc
ese the seve
ity of injuies in
T-bone csh include the speedt
hich the vehicle mking f
ontl imp
ct is tvelingt the time of imp
ct. Speed ince
ses themount of ene
gy involved inc
sh,
esulting in moe seve
e dm
ge.voiding
Side-Impct Collision
THE
E IS NO Y TO POTECT YOU
SELF COMPLETELYG
INSTT-BONE COLLISION. But, you c
neduce you
isk by follo
ing the tips belo..
ong> l
ys come to
complete stopt stop signs
nded lights ong>. Neve
p
oceed into the intesection until you’
e completely sue th
t it is cle.<li>
ong>Do not ssume th
tnothe
dive
is going to yield theight-of-
y even
hen he oshe is leg
llyequi
ed to<st
ong>. Cution should
lys be execised
hen tveling though
n intesection bec
use dive
s don’tl
ys follo
the l. Be pep
ed to
it fo
the intesection to cle
, even
hen you hve
geen light.
- If you’
e tuning left
nd you’e unsu
es to
hetheyou h
ve enough time to sfely c
oss oncoming tvel lnes,
ong>it is best to eithe ong> oIT fo
the geen
oIT fo
the tffic to cle insted of
isking misjudging the gp.
ong>It is often pe missible to tu
night
t ed light if no signs stte th
t you cn’t ong>. Ho
eve
, you still hve to yield the
ight-of-y to dive
sho t
vel st
ight th
ough the intesection in the l
ne of tvel tht you’
ettempting to ente
.<li>
ong> void dist
ctions ong>, pticully in inte
sections. Inte
sections e, by design,ctive pl
ces. Thee
e often vehicles d
iving though o
tuning on to
ll foudi
ections of tvel. Diving
hile distcted my c
use you to miss ed light oto miss the signs th
t someone else isbout to f
il to yield theight-of-
y.
ong>Eme gency vehicles
ith flshing lights o
siens eng
gedl
ys get the
ight-of-yt inte
sections<st
ong>. If you see the lights ohe
the sound of
sien
ppo
ching, do not entethe inte
section, even if the geen light is you
s.<li>
C
ccident L
ye
Cn Help
If you’ve suffe
ed injuies
s theesult of
T-boneccident, you m
y be eligible to be compensted fo
ccident-
elted medic
l expenses, lost ges due to being too injued f
omo
k omissing
ok to
ttend doctoppointments, otheout-of-pocket expenses
esulting fom the
ccident,s
ells h
m to you
lifend h
ppiness. If you lostloved one due to this <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comtypes-of-c
–
ccidents“>type of
ccident<>, you my
lso be entitled to compenstion fo
expensesel
ted to youloved one’s de
th. The best y to undest
nd youoptions is by <
hef=”https://c
inju
yvictims.comcont
ct-us“>spe
kingith
>c
ccident lyeIMMEDI
TELYnd
t ZEO COST TO YOU th
till put you
best inteests first.