Posted on September 25, 2015 in Fatal Motor Vehicle Accidents

A 37-year-old man was killed after walking in front of a 2004 BMW on Braddock Road in Fairfax, Virginia, recently. Authorities said the accident happened just before 10 p.m.

The driver of the BMW, a 71-year-old man, remained at the accident scene. Police didn't say if the driver will be charged with any crimes, although they did report that the pedestrian may have been drinking before the accident occurred.

Pedestrian vs. car accidents usually result in serious or even fatal injuries to the pedestrian. With the lack of protection, it's easy to see why this is so common. There is a lot of information about this accident that remains unknown, but police are still investigating the crash.

In accidents like this one, police will determine who was at fault. This determination is important, as a wrongful death case may be filed by the family of the deceased. If it appears that the police have erred, then an accident reconstructionist may be called in by the attorney handling the wrongful death case. This individual will look at all the evidence and determine who was at-fault. In some cases, this expert will come to an entirely different conclusion.

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 Posted on September 17, 2015 in Drunk Driving Accidents

A 47-year-old woman from Springfield, Virginia, has been killed after she was struck on Old Keene Mill Road. The recent Saturday afternoon accident also injured the driver and two of his passengers.

According to the Fairfax County police, the Fredericksburg man drove up over an embankment, then veered back onto the road. The car then crossed the median and struck another vehicle. The driver of that car suffered minor injuries in the collision.

The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the accident scene. Police say that additional charges will be forthcoming for the driver, he is currently in jail on a charge of driving while intoxicated.

Driving while intoxicated is a serious charge on its own. It's possible for someone to be charged with manslaughter when a death occurs as the result of a drunk driving accident. According to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, 251 people lost their lives in Virginia last year because of drunk driving accidents. The average blood alcohol content in the fatalities was.14. This is almost two times the legal limit. The DMV also reported 5,003 injuries in 2014 as a result of drunk driving accidents.

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 Posted on September 11, 2015 in Commercial Vehicle Accidents

Being in a commercial vehicle accident usually involves great damage to your car and often leaves you injured. Below is some information about big rigs that may help you be more informed and could help you avoid getting into a serious accident.

The trucks weigh more than 10,000 pounds and can be either single-unit trucks or have two trailers being pulled. Getting directly in front or directly behind a semi-truck can put you in one of the truck's blind spots if you are too close. Give them plenty of room to operate. Generally, if you can't see their mirrors, they can't see you.

Trucks of this size travel so many more miles than the average driver does. They are usually on interstate highways which are considered to be the safest roads around. In 2013, these trucks accounted for a full 4 percent of registered vehicles and 9 percent of all miles traveled. Overall, they are considered to be safer than cars and small trucks because they account for a much lower per mile crash rate.

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 Posted on September 03, 2015 in Car Accidents

The reason a lot of people in the United States purchase sport utility vehicles is because they appear to be much safer. Indeed, in some kinds of car accidents, the massive bulk of an SUV can help to protect its occupants. However, if the SUV flips over — as they are prone to do in crashes — the consequences of the driver and his or her passengers can be serious and fatal.

Certain studies have revealed that SUV's are twice as likely to flip over as other types of automobiles. When any kind of vehicle flips and rolls, there is a higher likelihood of passengers and drivers being ejected and suffering fatal injuries or permanent disabilities as a result.

SUV manufacturers are aware of the fact that their vehicles are likely to roll over in a crash. Nevertheless, they fail to add safety features that could limit these rollover risks. In some cases, a manufacturer's failure to add safety features is negligence, and the manufacturer can be held accountable for that negligence in court.

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 Posted on August 28, 2015 in Truck Accidents

Passenger cars sharing the highways with big rigs are at a distinct disadvantage if and when the two collide. Research shows that nearly one in 10 road fatalities involve a wreck with a large truck.

The majority of deaths in collisions with commercial trucks are those drivers and passengers of small trucks and cars. Due to their inherent vulnerability, passenger vehicles are just not a match for the crushing weight of a fully loaded truck bearing down on them. Those big rigs can weigh as much as 30 times the weight of a small car. Worse, the higher ground clearance can cause a smaller vehicle to underride a large truck, resulting in catastrophic injuries for the occupants.

Other factors increasing the disparity include the braking capacity of a large truck. A fully loaded semi can take up to 40 percent more distance to stop. If the truck's brakes are poorly maintained or the highway is slick with rain or ice, the distance for stopping only increases.

Fatigued truckers behind the wheel are another safety hazard. The federal government imposes Hours-of-Service regulations for drivers that allow them to operate their big rigs for up to 11 hours with no rest period and as many as 77 hours within seven days. Yet it is widely known that violations are common in the trucking industry.

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 Posted on August 21, 2015 in Drunk Driving Accidents

Can the parents of an intoxicated minor be held liable if an accident occurs? The answer is yes. Parents are liable for the actions of their minor child. In other words, the parents may be sued by the victims of a drunk driving accident if their child was driving while impaired.

According to Virginia laws, there could be criminal charges if the parents knowingly allowed their minor child to consume alcohol. However, an adult does not need to be a parent to be held liable for the actions of minors who were under his or her control, such as at a party at the adults' home. Adults may be held accountable and responsible if someone under their care gets drunk and:

— Damages property

— Drinks too much alcohol and dies

— Sexually assaults someone

— Gets into a physical altercations and hurts the other person

— Injuries or kills another person while driving after drinking

The parents may be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor that carries a punishment of up to a year in jail, as well as a fine of up to $2,500.

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 Posted on August 14, 2015 in Car Accidents

Some people are nervous about the idea of a self-driving car. What if the computer makes a mistake and the car drives through a red light or into the side of a building? Do the people inside really want to put their lives in the hands of a machine? In short, people wonder if self-driving cars will be safe or if they'll cause accidents.

Google has been working on these cars for a long time now, so there is some hard data that can give people in Virginia an idea of how safe or dangerous these cars are. Even the workers at Google admit that not all accidents can be avoided.

The project has been going on for six years. In that time, the cars have driven a total of 1.8 million miles. All in all, they've only been involved in 12 accidents, all of which were minor.

The kicker, though, is that Google says even that very small number of accidents has to be chalked up to other drivers. The self-driving cars were not at fault in even a single one of those cases.

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 Posted on August 07, 2015 in Car Accidents

Driving in Virginia often means that the roadways are either foggy or covered in snow or mist. In the best conditions, if someone is driving distracted, he or she is putting everyone he or she meets on the road in danger. Texting and talking on a cellphone are the main reasons people are distracted at the wheel.

School bus drivers are prohibited to drive while using their cellphones for any reason. If they are caught, not only will they face a ticket, fines and a court visit, they may even be fired from their jobs so it makes sense to follow the law in this case. Fourteen states in the U.S. prohibit driving and cellphone use altogether. Virginia is not one of them.

However, if you are under 18, you may not use a cellphone while driving. This is for everyone's safety. An officer can cite you for a ticket if you are caught. In other words, he or she doesn't have to stop you for another reason, such as speeding, and issue you two tickets for both offenses. He or she can stop you — if the officer believes you are under 18 — for using a cellphone while driving in Virginia.

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 Posted on July 31, 2015 in Fatal Motor Vehicle Accidents

The Virginia Highway Safety Office recently put out a list of important crash facts and statistics for 2014. Analyzing it can help people understand how and why accidents occur. If you've been injured in a wreck, make sure you also know what legal rights you have. Below are some of the most important facts that were listed.

The amount of people who died in Virginia went down by 5.53 percent, as compared to the same states from 2013. In 2014, though, there were still a total of 700 deaths in traffic accidents.

On top of that, 63,384 people were hurt in accidents. Though this number seems quite large when viewed as a raw statistic, the reality is that this was also a decrease when compared to 2013. The amount of injuries fell by 2.66 percent.

Furthermore, the total amount of accidents-at least those that were reported to the authorities-also fell. It went down by 1.22 percent, reaching 120,282 total traffic crashes.

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 Posted on July 23, 2015 in Car Accidents

If you are ever in a car accident, one important thing that you should know about is accident reconstruction. Of course, the first thing to learn is what it is.

What is accident reconstruction?

Accident reconstruction is part of something called causation forensics. That means it is a way to determine how an event occurred. When investigators want to know how a car crash happened, they will often use this approach.

What does it involve?

Typically, accident reconstruction involves examining and interpreting physical evidence associated with an accident. That examination and interpretation process gives investigators the clues they need to come to conclusions about what occurred.

What causes do investigators endeavor to identify?

Investigators work to identify the whole range of possible causes of a particular vehicular accident. Those causes can include poor visibility, tire problems, excessive speed, disregarding traffic control devices or not wearing a seat belt. Investigators work backwards, looking at the end results of the crash and then working their way backwards to determine what caused the crash.

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