Who usually is at fault
Michigan’s right-of-way rules make the driver who should have yielded responsible in most T-bone crashes:
- Running a red light or stop sign. A driver must obey traffic signals and stop signs and yield to cross traffic before entering (MCL 257.612, 257.649).
- Turning left in front of oncoming traffic. A driver turning left must yield to oncoming vehicles close enough to be an immediate hazard (MCL 257.650).
- Pulling out from a side street, driveway or parking lot into traffic that has the right of way.
- Uncontrolled intersections. When two vehicles arrive at about the same time, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right (MCL 257.649).
Intersections are where most of these crashes happen, and where Southeast Michigan’s serious crashes concentrate. See Metro Detroit’s most dangerous intersections.
When fault is shared
Fault isn’t always one-sided. A driver with the green light can share fault if they were speeding, distracted, or entered on a late yellow when they could have stopped. Under Michigan’s comparative fault rules, your recovery from the other driver is reduced by your share of fault, and you lose pain and suffering only if you were more than 50% at fault (MCL 500.3135(2)(b); MCL 600.2959). See comparative fault.
Evidence that decides these cases
- Video from businesses, traffic cameras, buses and doorbells. It is often overwritten within days.
- Signal timing records from the road agency, showing which light was green when.
- Crash data from the cars’ event data recorders: speed, braking and throttle in the seconds before impact.
- Witnesses and the damage pattern on both cars.
- Phone records, when distraction is suspected. Michigan bars drivers from holding or manually using a phone while driving (MCL 257.602b).
The police report helps, but an officer who didn’t see the crash can get fault wrong, and the report itself generally can’t be used as evidence at trial (MCL 257.624).
Side-impact injuries
A car’s side has far less room to absorb a crash than its front or back, so occupants on the struck side are close to the point of impact. Head and brain injuries, neck and back injuries, broken ribs, pelvis and hip fractures, shoulder injuries and internal injuries are common. Get checked even if you feel all right; some injuries show up hours or days later. See brain injury claims and back and neck injuries.
Your claims after a T-bone crash
- No-fault benefits from your own insurer: medical care, lost wages and household help, regardless of fault. See no-fault benefits.
- A claim against the driver who failed to yield for pain and suffering if your injury meets the threshold, and for losses above what no-fault pays.
- Car damage: your collision coverage, plus up to $3,000 from the at-fault driver through a mini-tort claim.
Ask nearby businesses to save video today, get the crash report number, and apply for no-fault benefits in writing. Don’t give the other driver’s insurer a recorded statement about who had the light until you have talked to a lawyer.
Sources: MCL 257.602b; MCL 257.612; MCL 257.624; MCL 257.649; MCL 257.650; MCL 500.3135; MCL 600.2959.
Questions people ask us
Who is at fault in a T-bone accident in Michigan?
Usually the driver who failed to yield: the one who ran a red light or stop sign, turned left in front of oncoming traffic, or pulled out from a side street or driveway. Fault can be shared, for example when the other driver was speeding or ran a late yellow, and Michigan’s comparative fault rules then reduce each side’s recovery.
Who pays my medical bills after a T-bone crash?
Your own auto insurer, or a household relative’s, pays your no-fault benefits regardless of fault. Fault matters for your claim against the other driver for pain and suffering and for damage to your car.
What if the other driver says the light was green for them?
That is common. Intersection and business video, traffic signal timing records, witnesses and the cars’ crash data can show who had the light. Ask a lawyer quickly, because video is often overwritten within days.
