Left-Turn Car Accident Attorneys

Far too many Fort Lauderdale car accidents happen when a driver attempts to make a left-turn turn across lanes of oncoming traffic. Left-hand turn car accidents in Miami often result in what are referred to as T-bone accidents, when the front of an oncoming vehicle slams into the passenger side of the car making the left-hand turn. As with most crashes, these left-hand turn accidents happen when the turning driver is distracted by their phone or doesn’t properly calculate the time they have before oncoming traffic approaches. Left-hand turn car accidents result in serious personal injuries to the drivers and passengers in both vehicles.

Left-hand turn accidents are the most frequently accounted type of crash. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), left-hand turns are responsible for more than twenty percent of all car and truck accidents. Of that large number of wrecks, the left-hand turning driver’s conduct was responsible for nearly ninety-five percent of all crashes, the highest number of crashes in the study, making up 22% of the accidents, due to these actions:

• Failing to look for oncoming traffic, that is, making sure it was safe to begin a turn; and
• Failing to properly gauge the distance and speed of oncoming traffic.

This means nearly all left-hand turns were the result of the turning driver’s poor judgment of distance, time and/or speed.

Florida has many statutes which govern the actions of a turning driver. With regards to left-hand turns, Florida statutes 316.141 (1)(b) states:

• Left turn.—The driver of a vehicle intending to turn left at any intersection shall approach the intersection in the extreme left-hand lane lawfully available to traffic moving in the direction of travel of such vehicle, and, after entering the intersection, the left turn shall be made so as to leave the intersection in a lane lawfully available to traffic moving in such direction upon the roadway being entered. A person riding a bicycle and intending to turn left in accordance with this section is entitled to the full use of the lane from which the turn may legally be made. Whenever practicable the left turn shall be made in that portion of the intersection to the left of the center of the intersection.

And Florida statute section 316.122 provides:

• Vehicle turning left.—The driver of a vehicle intending to turn to the left within an intersection or into an alley, private road, or driveway shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction, or vehicles lawfully passing on the left of the turning vehicle, which is within the intersection or so close thereto as to constitute an immediate hazard.

If you or a loved one are seriously injured in a car accident in Fort Lauderdale or Miami due to the carelessness of a driver making a left-hand turn, regardless of if you were in a car, riding a bicycle or a pedestrian, it is important that you hire an aggressive and successful personal injury attorney. Car accident attorney Joseph Lipsky has nearly thirty years of experience helping seriously injured accident victims recover tens of millions of dollars for their broken bones, lacerations, back injuries, lost wages and medical bills. Since we don’t get paid unless we win, injured accident victims don’t owe us anything unless we recover money for you. The personal injury consultation is free and without obligations, so please call us at our toll-free hotline 888-FLA-LAW8 (888-352-5298).