A failure to yield by one driver may be a causative or contributory factor in a motor vehicle collision. An auto crash can have many responsible factors or causation agents, but failure to yield, especially when coupled with speeding ot driving too fast for conditions, is an all to common culprit. Distracted driving is another major cause of failure to yield.
First a definition, in Wisconsin motor vehicle law, the phrase right of way means the driver who has the right of way has the right to the immediate use of the roadway. Immediate means right now, and conditions or circumstances can and do change requiring one who has the right of way to yield it. But for this discussion, assume the driver has the right of way, meaning that the other driver must yield the right of way. The answer to who has right of way or who must yield is spelled out in several statutes and laws dealing with driving. Here are two specific Wisconsin jury instructions concerning failure to yield.
1275 RIGHT OF WAY: WHEN YIELD SIGN INSTALLED
A safety statute provides that the driver of a vehicle when approaching any intersection at which has been installed a yield right of way sign, shall yield the right of way to other vehicles which have entered the intersection from an intersecting highway or which are approaching so closely on the intersecting highway as to constitute a hazard of collision and, if necessary, shall reduce speed or stop to yield. Right of way means the privilege of the immediate use of the roadway.
1305 SPEED: FAILURE TO YIELD ROADWAY
A safety statute provides that if the driver of a motor vehicle is moving the vehicle so slowly as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, then the driver shall, if practicable, yield the roadway to an overtaking vehicle and shall move at a reasonably increased speed or yield the roadway to overtaking vehicles when directed to do so by a traffic officer.
McCormick Law Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin represents persons injured in auto accidents when the other driver fails to yield the right of way an causes injuries and damages. Monetary settlements are necessary to compensate injured drivers and passengers for incurred medical bills, future bills when attested to by a doctor, wage loss and when appropriate future loss of earnings, as well as pain, suffering and disability. We establish and prove noneconomic losses are real by showing how the accident damage either prevents a person from doing certain activities of daily living or makes doing them more difficult, painful and time consuming. Loss of enjoyment of life is another factor to consider.
