{"id":981,"date":"2020-10-23T21:16:09","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T21:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/?post_type=faqs&#038;p=981"},"modified":"2024-01-02T19:10:11","modified_gmt":"2024-01-03T01:10:11","slug":"are-you-always-at-fault-if-youre-making-a-left-turn","status":"publish","type":"faqs","link":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/es\/faqs\/siempre-tiene-la-culpa-si-gira-a-la-izquierda\/","title":{"rendered":"Are you always at fault if you&#8217;re making a left turn?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Left-turns can be one of the more dangerous maneuvers on the road, because a left-turning vehicle usually crosses oncoming traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Traffic studies show that drivers can easily misjudge an oncoming motor vehicle,<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/psycnet.apa.org\/record\/2008-04426-002\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;especially a motorcycle or similarly small vehicle<\/a>. Bad weather conditions can make a left-turning driver\u2019s judgment even worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under Texas law, drivers making a left turn need to exercise a lot of caution and comply with certain safety requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/3a-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-982\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/3a-1.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/3a-1-540x184.jpg 540w, https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/3a-1-768x262.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1320px) 100vw, 1320px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-texas-traffic-law-for-auto-accidents-involving-a-left-turn\">Texas Traffic Law for Auto Accidents Involving a Left Turn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/statutes.capitol.texas.gov\/docs\/TN\/htm\/TN.545.htm\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Texas Transportation Code, Section 545.152<\/a>&nbsp;states that when making a left turn, a motor vehicle operator (driver) must yield the right-of-way to approaching vehicles that are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"check-list wp-block-list\">\n<li>Already in the intersection<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Near enough to the intersection \u201cto be an immediate hazard.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Courts generally look to the \u201ctotality of the circumstances\u201d to decide if it was safe for a driver to turn left under Texas law.&nbsp;<strong>Texas Transportation Code Section 545.152<\/strong>&nbsp;places a burden on the left-turning vehicles to yield the right of way. So in many cases, a driver turning left will be at fault if there is a collision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:60%\">\n<p>However, there are circumstances under which a driver that collides with a left-turning vehicle in Texas may be at fault:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"check-list wp-block-list\">\n<li>If there was a green-arrow on the traffic light permitting the turn.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the oncoming driver sped up past the speed limit once the driver started turning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the left-turning driver was being tail-gaited, the tail-gaiter may be partially responsible for an accident if the left-turning driver has a collision.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In some cases, if more than one driver is at fault, courts will assign different percentages of fault to each driver. Drivers who are&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/faqs\/#what-to-do-if-you-were-partially-at-fault-in-an-accident\">less than 51% responsible for the accident<\/a>&nbsp;can often receive partial payment from the more at-fault drivers for bodily injuries and property damage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"528\" height=\"350\" src=\"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/3b-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-983\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","faq_tax":[4],"class_list":["post-981","faqs","type-faqs","status-publish","hentry","faq_tax-fault"],"acf":[],"x_date":"octubre 23, 2020","x_metadata":{"_yoast_wpseo_primary_faq_tax":"4","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"[]","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"[\"\"]","_trp_translated_slug_es_ES":"siempre-tiene-la-culpa-si-gira-a-la-izquierda","_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":"1704244212","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap_rating":"0","_yoast_wpseo_estimated_reading_time_minutes":"","_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faqs\/981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faqs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/faqs"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"faq_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justinian.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faq_tax?post=981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}