T-bone accidents: bad injuries, and a fault fight at the intersection
Side-impact crashes hit where the car protects you least. The injuries are often severe and the question of who ran the light is often disputed.
A T-bone crash, where the front of one car slams into the side of another, is one of the more dangerous things that happens at an intersection. The reason is simple physics. The side of a car has a few inches of door between you and the impact. The front and rear have crumple zones. The side does not have much.
Why the injuries tend to be worse
Because the protection is thin, the energy of the crash transfers almost directly to the people inside. Broken ribs, pelvic fractures, internal injuries, and head trauma are common even at moderate speeds. These are not the kind of injuries that resolve in a month. Recovery often runs a year or longer, and that timeline drives everything about the case, including how long you wait for money. Our T-bone accident funding page covers how we look at these specifically.
The fault question
Most T-bone cases come down to who had the right of way. Sometimes that is obvious, like a driver who blew through a red light with witnesses watching. Sometimes it is a genuine fight, with each driver swearing the light was green. When the evidence is thin, the case can turn on a traffic camera, a witness, or an accident reconstruction expert.
This is where strong cases and weak cases separate. A T-bone with clear liability and serious injuries can be a high-value claim and often qualifies for larger funding amounts. A T-bone where nobody can prove who ran the light is a harder underwriting question, and we will be honest with you about that.
The waiting problem
Serious injuries plus contested fault is the exact recipe for a long case. You could be out of work for months while your attorney builds the liability evidence and your doctors finish treatment. Insurers know this and price their early offers accordingly, betting you cannot afford to wait. Lawsuit funding can change that calculation by removing the financial pressure that pushes people to settle low. You can compare it against other options on the fees and rates page.