Intersection & Left-Turn Collisions

Almost every intersection crash begins the same way: two drivers, two stories, and one light sequence that only ran one way. He says his light was green; she says hers was. A left-turning driver insists the oncoming car ran the red; the oncoming driver insists the turn came out of nowhere. Unlike a rear-end crash, nothing about the physical damage settles who is telling the truth.

What actually decides these cases

• Independent witnesses. The pedestrian on the corner and the driver two cars back have no stake in the outcome, and they move away, forget, and stop answering calls. Reaching them in the first weeks is often the whole case.
• Signal-timing records. Traffic agencies keep the phasing charts for their intersections. Matched against physics — where the vehicles ended up, at what speeds — they can rule a story in or out.
• Vehicle event data. Modern cars record speed, braking, and throttle in the seconds before impact. So do many commercial vehicles, rideshares, and transit buses.
• Camera footage. Traffic cameras, transit buses, doorbells, storefronts. Most systems overwrite in days — preservation letters have to go out immediately.

All-or-nothing stakes

The District, Maryland, and Virginia still apply contributory negligence: if a jury believes you were even one percent at fault, you recover nothing. Intersection cases are where that rule does its worst work, because there is nearly always some argument that you could have seen it coming. The counterweights — the other driver's statutory violations, last clear chance, and disciplined early evidence work — are covered in our guide to the one-percent rule.

Call (202) 524-0123 before the footage is gone. The consultation is free.