Curved tire marks left when a vehicle is moving sideways while still rolling, often showing that a driver entered a turn too fast or lost control before a crash.

These marks are different from straight skid marks, which usually come from hard braking with locked or nearly locked wheels. Yaw marks tend to arc across the road and may show faint striations caused by the tire continuing to rotate as it slides at an angle. In accident reconstruction, investigators use them to estimate speed, steering input, and where control was first lost. That can matter a great deal after a violent collision, because the physical evidence on the pavement may say more than anyone's memory does.

For an injury claim, yaw marks can help prove fault or challenge a version of events that does not fit the roadway evidence. They may support an expert's opinion about excessive speed, evasive action, or whether a vehicle crossed the center line before impact. In Maine, that can affect how damages are handled under the state's modified comparative negligence rule, 14 M.R.S. § 156 (1965): an injured person can recover only if they were not equally at fault. Yaw marks may also become key evidence in negotiations with an insurer or in a personal injury lawsuit, especially when there are few reliable witnesses.