Intersection Accident Attorneys
Table of Contents
The question of who had the right of way can decide what your intersection crash claim is worth, and the other driver may already be answering it differently than you would. Meanwhile, the medical bills arrive, the paychecks stop, and no one has explained what Michigan’s no-fault rules mean for any of it.
If you have been told that Michigan’s no-fault system means you cannot hold the other driver responsible, that is not the whole rule, and acting on it can cost you the part of your claim that no-fault does not touch. Signal records get overwritten, nearby camera footage gets recycled, and witness memories blur while you are still recovering. Whoever documents their version of the crash first has the record on their side.
Matz Injury Law handles both halves of a Michigan intersection car accident claim. We identify which insurer owes your no-fault benefits, work the right-of-way evidence while it still exists, and build the record that shows how the injury changed your work and your daily life. The two halves run on different deadlines, and we track them together so one does not close while the other is still open.
Why Michigan Intersection Accident Clients Choose Matz Injury Law
An intersection claim is usually an argument about a disputed few seconds, and the insurer on the other side knows it. Our clients have recovered $290,000 after a driver insisted he had the green light at the moment of impact, $400,000 for the family of a passenger killed by a driver who ran a red light, and a $250,000 policy limit after an intersection collision in Washtenaw County. No two cases are alike, and prior results are not a promise of what yours will bring.
Michigan clients have recovered more than $300 million with our help across every type of injury claim we handle. We bring that same preparation to an intersection case, whether the argument is about a light, a stop sign, or a left turn.
Direct Attention From Experienced Michigan Injury Lawyers
Steven Matz and Jared Matz handle cases personally instead of passing clients through an intake assembly line. You know who is working on your claim, who to call with a question, and who is moving the case forward.
We also travel to clients all across Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula. Distance from our Southfield office does not limit which cases we take or how closely we work them.
A 22% Contingency Fee at Every Stage
We charge a 22% contingency fee at every stage of a case, including trial. The standard Michigan contingency fee is 33 1/3%, so on a $500,000 recovery a client keeps roughly $56,667 more with us before case costs.
Your consultation is free, and you pay no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Get to Know Our Intersection Accident Lawyers
Client Testimonials
“My parents were involved in a fatal car accident, where we needed guidance dealing with the insurance company. A month after the accident the insurance agency had stopped addressing our calls and emails. Retaining Steve Matz and his team was the absolute best decision we made for my mom. He was professional from start to finish and we had a settlement quickly. Steve answered all of our calls and emails, and assured us that he would take care of our family during this time.” — S.M.
“I highly recommend Matz Law. Despite multiple attorneys undervaluing my case, Steve secured a significantly higher result. Moreover, by charging a 22% fee instead of the typical 33%, I retained a substantial portion of my recovery. Steve, was knowledgeable, transparent, and always available to answer any questions and to explain the process.” — E.T.
Why Are Intersection Crashes So Common in Michigan?
Intersections are where a routine drive turns into a disputed claim, and Michigan’s crash numbers show how often that happens. Every intersection forces vehicles traveling in different directions into the same few square feet, usually leaving a second or two to judge another driver’s speed and intentions.
A driver who runs a red light, rolls a stop sign, fails to yield, looks down at a phone, or misjudges a left turn can cause a collision before anyone else has time to react. In 2022, 307 of Michigan’s 1,053 fatal crashes happened at intersections, which is 29.2% of the fatal crashes in the state that year.
Those same conditions are what turn fault into a fight later. A crash that lasted two seconds gets reconstructed months afterward from records nobody made with a lawsuit in mind, and the strength of a Michigan car accident claim often rests on what someone thought to preserve in the first week.
Who Is at Fault in a Michigan Intersection Accident?
Fault decides whether you can pursue anything beyond your own no-fault benefits, so it is the first question worth answering after an intersection crash. It depends on who had the right of way and how each driver was behaving in the seconds before impact.
Which driver had the right of way depends on what controls the intersection:
- No signal or sign: The driver approaching an intersection yields to a vehicle that has already entered from a different road. When two vehicles arrive at about the same time, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right.
- Stop signs and yield signs: At a stop sign, a driver has to come to a full stop and then yield to traffic already in the intersection or close enough to be an immediate hazard. A yield sign requires slowing to a safe speed and giving way on the same terms.
- Left turns: A left-turning driver yields to oncoming traffic that is already in the intersection or so close that it is an immediate hazard. At a signalized intersection, that driver also has to let opposing traffic waiting on a green light pass first.
- Unlawful speed: A driver traveling at an unlawful speed forfeits a right of way they would otherwise have had, so a green light does not settle fault on its own.
Those right-of-way duties come from MCL 257.649, and the left-turn rule from MCL 257.650. Fault in a left-turn crash usually starts with that yield requirement, and a distracted driver who never saw the signal ends up in the same position as a speeding one.
The proof comes from records that nobody made with a lawsuit in mind:
- Signal timing data from the traffic control system
- Footage from nearby businesses and traffic cameras
- Vehicle damage and the points of impact
- Event data recorder downloads from either vehicle
- Phone records showing use at the time of the crash
- Witness statements taken before memories fade
Together those records show which driver entered the intersection first and who failed to yield. In a T-bone or broadside collision the point of impact often says more about the angle of approach than either driver’s account does, which is why we request the physical evidence before the insurers settle on a version of events.
When the Other Driver Ran a Red Light
A red light violation is one of the clearest fault cases at an intersection, and one of the easiest to lose to a missing recording. Signal timing records, footage from nearby businesses, and witness accounts are what place a driver in the intersection on red.
Business and municipal camera systems can overwrite footage within days. A written preservation request sent early is often what keeps that proof available long enough to matter.
What If Both Drivers Share Fault?
Partial fault does not end your claim. Michigan reduces what you recover by your own percentage of fault, and you keep the right to pursue pain and suffering as long as your share is 50% or less. A person found exactly 50% at fault still recovers, with the award reduced by half.
More than 50% at fault is the cutoff, and it reaches only pain and suffering. MCL 500.3135(2)(b) bars non-economic damages for a person more than half at fault. Economic losses above your no-fault limits are still reduced in proportion to fault rather than cut off entirely.
Michigan’s mini-tort rule sits alongside this. If the other driver was more than 50% at fault, you may recover up to $3,000 for vehicle damage your own insurance did not cover, including your deductible.
An insurer will lean on the police report, and the report is not the last word. We read it against the signal records, the photographs, and the witness accounts before accepting any fault percentage an insurance company assigns.
How Does Michigan No-Fault Law Apply to Intersection Accidents?
Your medical care and lost wages after an intersection crash do not wait on a fault finding. Michigan’s no-fault system pays personal injury protection benefits, known as PIP, regardless of who caused the crash.
Which insurer pays is a question of priority rather than blame. It is usually your own auto insurer, then the auto insurer of a resident relative, and then the Michigan Assigned Claims Plan when neither of the first two applies. A claim sent to the wrong insurer can cost you months of benefits.
Eligible PIP benefits may include:
- Medical expenses: Reasonably necessary care related to the crash, up to the PIP medical coverage level on your policy
- Work loss: Generally 85% of your pre-tax lost wages for up to three years, subject to the monthly maximum
- Replacement services: Up to $20 per day for ordinary household tasks you cannot do during the first three years
- Medical mileage: Reasonable travel costs for appointments, therapy, and prescriptions
- Survivor’s loss benefits: Financial support for dependents, plus funeral and burial costs between $1,750 and $5,000 depending on the policy
PIP does not pay for pain and suffering. Those damages take a third-party claim against the at-fault driver, and the injury has to meet Michigan’s threshold of death, permanent serious disfigurement, or serious impairment of an important body function.
Serious impairment has a specific legal definition. The impairment has to be objectively manifested, which means observable by someone other than you, and it has to involve an important body function and affect your general ability to lead your normal life.
It does not have to be permanent. Michigan law sets no minimum duration for the impairment, and the comparison is between your life before and after the crash.
The threshold applies only to pain and suffering. Medical costs and wage losses above your PIP limits are recoverable from the at-fault driver whether or not the injury meets it, and that distinction is where a Michigan no-fault intersection accident claim is often undervalued.
What Compensation Can You Recover After an Intersection Crash?
Compensation after a Michigan intersection crash comes from two places, and each one covers what the other leaves out. Your own PIP benefits handle medical care and wage loss up to your policy limits regardless of fault, and a third-party claim against the at-fault driver reaches beyond them.
A third-party claim may cover:
- Pain, suffering, aggravation, and inconvenience, when the injury meets Michigan’s threshold
- Lost income after the three-year PIP work-loss period ends
- Medical and attendant care costs above the PIP limit you selected
- Other excess economic losses, including reduced earning capacity
- Wrongful death damages for eligible family members and the estate
Michigan does not award punitive damages. The state does allow exemplary damages, which compensate an injured person for the distress caused by outrageous conduct, and those are almost entirely limited to cases involving a drunk or impaired driver with a history of driving under the influence.
Medical records, work restrictions, and a clear account of what you can no longer do are what give these figures a foundation. We build that record while treatment is still underway because a file assembled after the fact is thinner.
What Should You Do After an Intersection Accident in Michigan?
The first week after an intersection crash decides how much evidence still exists when the argument about fault begins. These steps protect your health and your claim at the same time.
- Call 911, and request a copy of the police report once it is available.
- If you can do so safely, photograph the vehicles, the traffic signals and signs, the road markings, and any visible injuries.
- Collect names and phone numbers from witnesses before anyone leaves the scene.
- Seek medical care promptly, and tell the doctor about every symptom, including the ones that seem minor.
- Report the crash to your own auto insurer to open your PIP claim.
- Try to avoid giving a recorded statement to the other driver’s insurer before you have talked through your options with a Michigan intersection accident lawyer.
Two deadlines run at the same time, and missing either one closes a door for good. A third-party lawsuit against the at-fault driver has to be filed within three years of the injury under MCL 600.5805(2).
The no-fault side moves faster. MCL 500.3145 gives you one year from the crash to sue for PIP benefits unless you give your insurer written notice of the injury within that year or the insurer has already paid a benefit. The one-year-back rule then limits what you can recover to losses incurred in the year before the case was filed.
We can pull the crash report, send preservation letters for camera footage before it is overwritten, handle the calls from both insurers, and track both deadlines while you focus on treatment.
Start Your Michigan Intersection Claim Before Deadlines Pass
Right now the evidence that would settle the fault argument in your crash still exists, and in a few weeks some of it will not. We can start preserving signal records and camera footage, open your PIP claim with the right insurer, and get the fault question documented from your side before any more of it is gone. If you wait until the three-year deadline is close, what is left of the evidence is what you have to work with.
A consultation costs nothing and commits you to nothing, and you pay no attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Call 866-226-6833 or reach out through our contact form.
Written By Steven Matz
Steven J. Matz is the founder of Matz Injury Law, specializing in personal injury litigation with a focus on car accident victims. With over 40 years of legal experience, Mr. Matz has achieved numerous million-dollar settlements. He holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been recognized among Michigan’s Top Attorneys. Steven J. Matz is a frequent lecturer on legal ethics and personal injury law, and serves on the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board.
