UK Student Dies in Georgetown, Kentucky Auto Accident
On November 14, 2022, at around 5:00 pm local time, an auto accident occurred in Georgetown, Kentucky on Seminole Trail that claimed the life of a 22-year-old female UK student from Bowling Green, Kentucky. Although all the details of the accident are not known at this time, it has been reported that the UK student was struck by a pick-up truck as she was attempting to make a turn. Normally, this means she failed to yield the right of way in turning in front of the truck’s lane of travel. The driver of the truck suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Beware of the danger of the left-hand turn!
In the United States, where we drive on the right side of the road, the most dangerous turn we can make is a left-hand turn because it involves crossing a lane of travel where any vehicle in that lane would have the right of way. The only exception to this would be on a one-way street. Most of our streets are two-way and that creates certain dangers for people making left-hand turns.
I have a case where a pickup truck made a left-hand turn in front of a motorcycle resulting a collision with the motorcycle as the pickup truck made his turn. The pickup truck wanted to turn left into a driveway and at the moment he wanted to make this turn a UPS truck was in front of him and obscuring his view of the opposite lane of travel. Instead of waiting until he could see the entire opposite lane of travel, he made his turn and never saw the motorcyclist that had been obscured by the UPS truck. This accident is typical of a lot of left-hand turn accidents where the turning vehicle is unable to see the entire road clearly and turns anyway.
In representing thousands of auto accident victims over 36 years of being an auto accident lawyer, I have heard many drivers says that the other vehicle driving in the opposing lane must have been speeding in order for my accident to have occurred. These drivers fail to understand that they have a responsibility to determine the speed of the approaching vehicle to determine if they can safely make the turn. The other vehicle has the right of way and you cannot make the left-hand turn unless you have enough time to cross the opposing lane safely. To do so you must a good idea of the speed of the approaching vehicle. You may not assume they are driving the speed limit. It is your responsibility to make sure you have enough time and space to cross someone else's lane of travel.
When making a left-hand turn when you have a front seat passenger, it is important to realize that you are putting the passenger in harms way if you make a bad decision about having enough time and space to make the left-hand turn. The passenger wil receive the most severe impact because of their location in the vehicle.
Contact Kentucky Car Accident Lawyer
The above left-hand turn accident will require the services of an experienced Kentucky car accident attorney to investigate and locate all available insurance and to maximize all benefits available to the victim. Matthew Troutman, Kentucky car accident lawyer, of the Troutman Law Office has been handling car accident claims, almost exclusively, since 1986 and has the experience and talent to obtain the best result for the victims in the above car accident.
If you need legal assistance due to a motor vehicle accident, contact Kentucky car accident attorney Matthew Troutman directly at 859-696-0001 or 502-648-9507 and he will meet with you in the hospital, your home or wherever is convenient for you. He will give you direct access through his cell phone and guide you through the difficult process necessary to obtain the best result possible for you in your car accident claim. To learn more about the Troutman Law Office, click here.