Most commonly, side-impact collisions occur at intersections when a driver:
Runs a red light Fails to stop at a stop sign Makes a left turn in front of another vehicle Of course, every driver has a responsibility to stop for stop signs, with a violation being a Class C misdemeanor (Tennessee Code Annotated sec. 55-8-149).
Tennessee law also provides that vehicles turning left at an intersection “shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction which is within the intersection or so close thereto as to constitute an immediate hazard” (Tennessee Code Annotated sec. 55-8-129).
In other words, a driver who causes a car accident by making a left turn in front of oncoming traffic when it is unsafe to do so may be held responsible for the crash.