Icy Virginia roads lead to staggering number of car accidents

Over a period of just nine hours during the winter storm of Friday, January 25, Virginia Beach police responded to a massive number of auto crashes. Almost 200 car accidents tangled-up the icy roadways that day, with a total of 275 accidents in Virginia Beach over the entire weekend. The time period between 3 p.m. and midnight that Friday, though, was the busiest for area responders. They were called to the scenes of 185 accidents that afternoon and evening, with nine of those featuring reported injuries.

The following Saturday, local officers continued their busy schedule of responding to car crash sites. January 26 saw 63 accidents in Virginia Beach; eight of those included injuries. On Sunday, the number of accidents continued to go down, but police still reported 18 car accidents, with one involving injuries. Fortunately, none of these numerous accidents resulted in the deaths of any drivers or passengers, but authorities did report plenty of minor injuries.

Even non-life-threatening injuries, though, can imperil an auto accident victim either immediately after a crash or later on down the road. In fact, car crashes are the leading cause of personal injury claims in the United States. Given how much a simple neck or back ailment can threaten a person’s health and well-being over time, it’s not surprising that multi-vehicle accidents can come with a host of legal options and obligations.

Typically, the issue of negligence plays a large role in car accidents. The law expects the operators of motor vehicles to operate those vehicles with a reasonable degree of care, depending on the circumstances. These circumstances can include adverse weather conditions such as snowstorms, when the law expects drivers to take into account increased stopping times and other effects of perilous roadways. If police discover that a driver was going too fast for conditions, for example, that driver can be found negligent, and those in a vehicle struck by that driver may be entitled to compensation.

Source: WAVY, “Police respond to 275 crashes in VB.” Jan. 28, 2013