Duval County Car Injury Lawyers The Lawrence Law Group HomeAccidents When Merging onto an Interstate or Expressway in Jacksonville
Merging onto one of the many interstates and expressways in the Jacksonville area can be daunting and dangerous. The merging driver is typically travelling at a slower speed than the rest of the traffic and the highway is often busy. Other drivers do not always move over or adjust their speed to allow another driver to merge.
Our Jacksonville car accident lawyers are all too familiar with the dangers of merging into heavy traffic. Drivers who are merging onto an interstate or an expressway in Jacksonville may fail to wait for a gap in the traffic, causing another vehicle to crash into them. Or a merging driver may cause traffic already on the interstate to brake hard or veer into another lane to avoid a collision, resulting in a car accident.
Merging requires patience and flexibility from both drivers on the interstate or the expressway and the driver attempting to merge. When accidents take place during a merge both drivers may share the blame.
The Right of Way When Merging onto an Interstate of Expressway in JacksonvilleOur Jacksonville personal injury lawyers are asked who has the right of way after a driver had been involved in a Florida merging accident.
While the driver of the car who is merging should yield to traffic on the interstate, drivers already on the highway do have a responsibility to pay attention to the merging driver. They should take responsibility and adjust speed to allow for the merge. If you are uncertain about who is at fault for a merging accident, you should call our Jacksonville personal injury lawyers.
For a vehicle hit from behind during a merge, the fault for the crash could be split between both drivers. The merging driver should have waited for an opening, but the other driver should have anticipated the lane change and he or she should not have been following the vehicle in front too closely.
When an opening could not be identified, the driver in the moving lane will likely be given the benefit of the doubt because the through traffic has the right of way.
In Florida, you have a duty to avoid an accident. Even if a car merges close in front of you, you should do everything in your power to avoid a crash.
The Florida Driver Handbook says you should watch for other traffic and be ready to yield the right-of-way when necessary if you are merging.
Types of Injuries Seen in Merging Accidents in FloridaIf you are merging onto an interstate or expressway in Jacksonville and are involved in an accident, the type of injuries sustained can be severe. Interstate traffic moves fast. Often vehicles veer off the road and may overturn.
The severity of the injuries sustained depends on the rate of speed at which the cars were traveling when the accident occurred.
Common injuries in such a car, truck or motorcycle accidents include:
- Arm and leg fractures
- Rotator cuff injuries
- Sprains and bruising
- Neck injuries
- Spinal injuries and herniated discs
- Facial injuries
In more severe wrecks, an accident may lead to traumatic brain and head injuries, spinal cord injuries, and internal injuries. People involved in a car accident may face psychological trauma like PTSD. They may miss work and their family relationships can suffer. Drivers lose their lives in merging accidents regularly in Florida. There may also be grounds to file a wrongful death lawsuit if loved one is lost as a result of a merging accident.
Contact a Jacksonville Car Accident Lawyer to Discuss a Merging Accident CaseThe Lawrence Law Group represents people injured in car accidents in Duval, Nassau, Clay, Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns, Brevard, Union, Baker, Columbia, Suwannee, Hamilton, Jefferson, Volusia, and Alachua Counties. Please contact us online or at (904) 632-0077 to set up a free appointment to discuss your legal rights and options after a car accident with injuries.
You can review the Florida Driver Handbook at: http://www.flhsmv.gov/handbooks/EnglishDriverHandbook.pdf
Florida operates under a pure comparative negligence standard. Generally speaking, this means that a claimant’s recovery is reduced by the amount he or she is at fault. For example, if you are suing another driver and your actions are deemed to be 30% at fault (or negligent), then your non-economic damages (pain and suffering) will be decreased by 30%.
