Driver on the phone beside her blue sedan after a side-impact crash caved in both doors

T-Bone Accident Lawyers

Injured in a T-Bone Accident?

You Focus On Getting Better.We Handle Everything Else.

★★★★★Over 1,000 Five-Star Reviews

Kentucky T-Bone Accident Cases

T-bone crashes, also called side-impact or broadside collisions, occur when the front of one vehicle strikes the side of another, typically at an intersection where one driver failed to stop, yield, or accurately judge the other vehicle’s path. Side impacts accounted for 22% of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2024. About 40 percent of the estimated 5,811,000 crashes in the United States in 2008 were intersection-related.

Driver on the phone beside her blue sedan after a side-impact crash caved in both doors

Why T-Bone Crashes Are So Dangerous

Side impacts are the second-deadliest impact type after frontal impacts, which accounted for 59% of occupant deaths in 2024. A car door has only a few inches of metal, glass, and trim between the road and the passenger compartment. In a rear-end crash, the trunk, crumple zones, and bumpers absorb much of the energy, and a front-end crash channels energy into the engine bay. In a T-bone, the striking vehicle’s front end hits a door panel with limited crush space, and the energy goes directly into the occupant’s head, torso, and pelvis.

Side-impact crashes are particularly dangerous for children in the rear seat and for older adults whose bones and organs are more fragile. Side airbags with head protection reduce a car driver’s risk of death in driver-side crashes by 37% and an SUV driver’s risk by 52%.

Common T-bone injuries include traumatic brain injury from head impact with the door or window, cervical spine fractures, rib fractures, internal organ damage from door intrusion, hip and pelvis fractures in the near-side occupant, and arm injuries from bracing. The full range of car accident injuries is severe in T-bone crashes because the occupant absorbs the energy of the striking vehicle with minimal structural buffer.

Common Causes of T-Bone Crashes in Louisville

T-bone crashes in Louisville trace to five common causes.

  1. 1

    Running Red Lights and Stop Signs

    A driver who runs a red light or a stop sign enters an intersection where cross-traffic has the right of way, on a direct collision course with the sides of crossing vehicles. In 2024, 1,119 people were killed in crashes that involved red light running. Running a red light violates KRS 189.338 and is treated as negligence per se, with exceptions.

  2. 2

    Failure to Yield on Left Turns

    A driver who turns left through an intersection without yielding to oncoming traffic causes a broadside impact to the vehicle traveling straight. Left-turn crashes at signals and stop signs are attributed to a turning driver’s obstructed view or misjudgment of the gap or the other vehicle’s speed.

  3. 3

    Distracted Driving

    A driver approaching an intersection while texting or looking at a phone may not process the signal change, the cross-traffic, or a pedestrian. Distracted driving contributes to intersection crashes because a brief moment of inattention is enough to miss a red light or a stop sign entirely.

  4. 4

    Impaired Driving

    Alcohol and drug impairment reduce reaction time, judgment, and the ability to perceive signal status and traffic flow.

  5. 5

    Mechanical Failure

    Brake failure, tire blowouts, and steering failures can send a vehicle into an intersection against the driver’s intentions. When mechanical failure causes a T-bone, the driver may not be negligent.

How Fault Is Determined in T-Bone Crash Cases

The fault question in a T-bone crash is who had the legal right of way at the moment of the crash, and each driver usually claims the light was in their favor or that they arrived first.

Right of Way and Fault

  • Red lights: under KRS 189.338, a driver facing a steady red signal must stop and remain stopped until a green indication is shown, and a driver facing a green signal must still yield to vehicles lawfully within the intersection. Traffic camera footage, signal timing records, and witness statements establish when the light changed.
  • Stop signs: under KRS 189.330(4), a driver must stop and then yield to any vehicle in the intersection or approaching so closely as to be an immediate hazard.
  • Yield signs: under KRS 189.330(5), when a driver passes a yield sign without stopping and collides with a vehicle in the intersection, the collision is prima facie evidence that the driver failed to yield.
  • Left turns: under KRS 189.330(9), a driver turning left must yield to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction that is within the intersection or so close as to be an immediate hazard.
  • Intersections without signs or signals: under KRS 189.330(1), when two vehicles enter from different roadways at approximately the same time, the driver on the left yields to the vehicle on the right, and who arrived first becomes a factual question resolved by witness testimony and physical evidence.

Six evidence sources resolve right-of-way disputes.

  1. 1

    Traffic Camera Footage

    Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers has direct real-time access to six-month rolling archives of DOT and TRIMARC traffic camera footage. Business cameras at adjacent buildings can also capture the signal and the impact.

  2. 2

    Event Data Recorder (EDR) Data

    An event data recorder, in a vehicle that has one, records speed, braking, and throttle in the seconds before impact. Brake application timing shows which driver attempted to stop and which continued through the intersection.

  3. 3

    Signal Timing Records

    Signal timing logs kept by the agency that operates the signal can document when signals changed on the day of the crash. When a driver claims the light was yellow, signal timing data can confirm or contradict that account.

  4. 4

    Skid Marks and Physical Evidence

    Skid mark starting positions, vehicle rest positions, and impact gouge marks in the roadway establish each vehicle’s trajectory and speed.

  5. 5

    Cell Phone Records

    When distraction is suspected, cell records confirm whether the at-fault driver was using a phone at the moment of impact.

  6. 6

    Witness Statements

    Passengers, pedestrians, and other drivers waiting at the light are often the most reliable accounts of which driver had the green light.

Third-Party Liability in a T-Bone Crash

A government agency that failed to maintain a malfunctioning traffic signal, or a third party whose negligence obstructed a driver’s view of the intersection, can share liability for a T-bone crash with the two drivers involved, depending on the facts. A negligence claim against a Commonwealth agency such as the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet goes to the Kentucky Board of Claims, which has exclusive jurisdiction and, under KRS 49.040, caps a single award at $250,000 and all claims from one act of negligence at $400,000.

Hurt in a Kentucky T-Bone Crash?

Right-of-way disputes in a T-bone crash are settled with signal timing logs, camera footage, and event data recorder downloads, and fault is shared by percentage under Kentucky law. After an accident, the insurance company doesn’t waste time. Neither should you.

Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers takes T-bone cases under the Bigger Share Guarantee®. Clients always walk away with more money than the firm after medical bills, liens, and case expenses are paid. If the client’s share would ever be less than the legal fee, the firm cuts its fee. Flat contingency fee that never increases if your case goes to trial. Get a free case review of your T-bone crash.

Key Takeaways

Side-impact crash physics differ from rear-end and head-on crashes, because the struck vehicle’s door and side structure offer less protection than the front or rear crumple zones.
T-bone crashes often involve a dispute about who had the right of way, since each driver typically cases the other ran the light or failed to yield.
Traffic camera footage, signal timing records, and event data recorder information are often the deciding evidence in a T-bone case where fault is disputed.

Did the Other Driver Fail to Yield?

Side impacts at Louisville intersections leave little metal between you and the other car, and fault often comes down to who had the right of way. Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers pulls DOT and TRIMARC traffic camera footage reaching back about six months, along with witness statements and signal timing, to show which driver failed to yield. Most cases qualify in under 10 minutes. Call today for a free case review.

Frequently Asked Questions

1Who is at fault when a driver runs a red light and causes a T-bone crash?+

Under KRS 189.338, a driver facing a steady red signal must stop and remain stopped until the light turns green, so running the light is strong evidence of fault.

2Why are T-bone crash injuries often so severe?+

A car door has only a few inches of metal, glass, and trim between the road and the passenger compartment, so a side impact sends the striking vehicle’s energy directly into the occupant. The front and rear of a vehicle have crumple zones that absorb much more of that energy.

3How is fault determined when both drivers claim they had a green light?+

Traffic camera footage, signal timing logs, and event data recorder information from both vehicles are the evidence most often used to resolve a dispute over which driver had the right of way.

4Can a malfunctioning traffic signal make a government agency liable for a T-bone crash?+

It can. A government agency that failed to maintain a malfunctioning signal can share liability. A case against a Commonwealth agency such as the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet goes to the Kentucky Board of Claims, where KRS 49.040 caps a single award at $250,000.

5Who is at fault in a left-turn T-bone crash?+

Usually the turning driver. Under KRS 189.330(9), a driver turning left must yield to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction that is within the intersection or close enough to be an immediate hazard.