Posted on May 08, 2014 in Drunk Driving Accidents

Due to the imposing size and weight of most trucks, when people hear about a truck accident it may be easy to assume that the truck driver is less likely to suffer and injury. However, truck drivers are just as vulnerable as everyone else when a drunk driver is on the road. An accident is made even more tragic when the tow truck driver is on the road trying to help a stranded driver and is caught in the path of an intoxicated motorist.

Recently in Virginia, a deadly drunk driving accident happened on I-295 that resulted in one man's death and landed a driver inside a jail cell. On May 1, a tow truck stopped to assist a stranded driver on the shoulder of I-295. While standing on the traffic side of the stopped vehicle, the 22-year-old truck driver was hit by an SUV and killed. Apparently the Ford Explorer ran off the side of the road, into the tow truck and its driver, then flipped-over into a nearby ditch.

The dramatic and deadly scene did not end there. After the SUV rolled over, its driver fled the scene and was spotted later in a residential area, where he was promptly arrested. Police charged the 31-year-old with DUI, felony hit-and-run, involuntary manslaughter and refusal to submit to a blood alcohol test. In addition, the driver was charged with obstruction of justice.

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 Posted on April 30, 2014 in Fatal Motor Vehicle Accidents

Whether one drives through Northern Virginia's bucolic suburbs or the region's more urban cities, there are always pedestrians to watch out for when behind the wheel. In the suburbs, there are often people engaging in recreational activities such as jogging or biking; in the urban areas, there is the presence of commuters via bike, as well as individuals who are constantly crossing city streets. In both types of areas, there can also be children, either going to school or playing near the roads.

Recently in Virginia, a six-year-old child was struck by a car in Front Royal, which is located about an hour west of Fairfax. Per witness accounts, the little boy was hit by an SUV as he ran out into the road. The child had apparently been confused as to the location of his family and was heading for home, when he was abruptly hit by the vehicle.

Before the accident, the kindergartner had been shopping with his family in a nearby grocery store, became separated from his family and wandered outside toward his home. Running into the street, he was hit by a Toyota 4-Runner and died immediately. According to police, a fight erupted near the site of the incident; the fight was related to the accident, but no arrests were made. Authorities were ultimately able to break up the dispute.

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 Posted on April 24, 2014 in Drunk Driving Accidents

Several recent drunk driving accidents in Virginia have reminded residents that alcohol and driving are two things that should never be mixed together. However, as the weather grows more pleasant, the days get longer and Virginians head outdoors, there is often a predictable increase in the number of drunk driving accidents that mar the state's roadways every year.

Earlier this spring, a woman who police say was driving drunk struck and killed a man on his bicycle. More recently in Danville, a drunk driving accident required a man to be airlifted to a hospital. According to some Virginia police officers, who have tried to make the public more aware of the dangers of drunk driving, alcohol has an array of different effects that can all have tragic consequences.

Having a bit of alcohol in one's system and then getting behind the wheel can lead to a simple rear-end collision or a disastrous head-on collision. Alcohol is a depressant; thus, it tends to relax both the muscles as well as the central nervous system. As a result, a drunk driver is much less able to focus than a sober motorist.

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 Posted on April 18, 2014 in Truck Accidents

A semi truck accident is usually anything but mundane, as the gigantic vehicles can cause all sorts of catastrophic damage. A recent tractor trailer accident in Virginia, though, proved particularly dramatic and left a wake of serious injuries and fatalities.

During the very early hours of the morning on Interstate 81, a tractor trailer overturned. Another car, a Lexus headed in the same direction, collided with the overturned truck. Tragically, the female driver of the Lexus died en route to a hospital, although the semi truck driver managed to escape the wreck. Police later charged that driver with reckless driving.

The series of events didn't stop there, however. The collision apparently caused a piece of guardrail to go into the other lane of traffic, and a semi heading in the opposite direction hit the guardrail piece and swerved off the road and into the center median. The semi continued in the median until it slammed into the edge of a bridge. Following that impact, it then tumbled onto the roadway below, Route 90, where it caught on fire. The 34-year-old truck driver perished at the scene, while a man in the sleeper cab was ejected from the vehicle. That man suffered severe injuries in the accident.

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 Posted on April 10, 2014 in Drunk Driving Accidents

Tragedy struck Roanoke, Virginia recently when an apparent drunk driver struck a bicyclist during the nighttime hours. On March 31, a woman behind the wheel of a van was heading north on Franklin Road when her vehicle struck the 59-year-old bicyclist, who died as a result of the drunk driving accident.

Police arrested the 33-year-old driver shortly after the accident in a nearby parking lot. Police charged the woman with driving drunk and for DUI manslaughter, both serious crimes in Virginia. The accident investigation included blood samples taken at a local jail; authorities revealed that the woman's blood alcohol content level was three times the legal limit after the crash. The day after the incident, police spoke with witnesses and secured search warrants not only for the woman's vehicle, but also for her medical records and cell phone records.

Following an accident caused by a drunk driver, these types of records can prove critical in both criminal and civil cases that arise. Medical records can show if a driver was supposed to be on certain medications or was restricted from driving in the first place. Cell phone records, of course, can show if a driver was exhibiting negligence by texting while driving or using a cell phone in the moments leading up to a crash. Finally, witness accounts can be critical in finding out what each party was doing right before the collision, which in turn can help demonstrate fault if need be.

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 Posted on April 02, 2014 in Commercial Vehicle Accidents

Commercial vehicle accidents, such as those involving semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, buses, box trucks, and other large vehicles, can have many different causes. Some are due to a negligent truck driver or negligent commercial truck company, but other accidents can be caused by the negligence of other drivers on the road.

In some cases, a commercial vehicle accident may be less deadly because the large vehicles protect occupants better than smaller vehicles. However, larger vehicles can also be more prone to rolling-over, and a rollover can have dramatically harmful consequences. Recently on I-95 in Virginia, a bus carrying 16 passengers overturned near Lorton. Near exit 163, a passenger car was apparently speeding and cut into the path of the shuttle bus. The bus and car collided, and the bus went off the road, into a guardrail and overturned.

The 16 passengers, as well as the driver of the bus, were all taken to hospitals. Sadly, one person died and both the bus driver as well as another passenger suffered serious injuries. Most of the accident victims were in their 20s and hailed from Virginia's Prince William County. The deceased victim was just 24 years old and had been working as well as studying computers in community college.

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 Posted on March 26, 2014 in Commercial Vehicle Accidents

One of the most terrifying thing any Northern Virginia driver can encounter is a wrong-way driver. When the vehicle coming at you is a snow plow, the fear factor understandably gets taken up another notch. Recently in Arlington, a snow plow was headed in the wrong direction and another driver narrowly avoided a commercial vehicle accident.

There is video of the frightening scene, which caused a driver to swerve off the road and barely escape a head-on crash. That driver was able to take a cell phone video of the snow plow's travel; the video later turned up on a local news broadcast. The witness narrates the video and comments that the snow plow driver's wrong-way antics could easily kill someone. Later, that same plow struck a car at an intersection, according to officials from Arlington County.

On Arlington Boulevard, another snow plow experienced troubles and was wobbling on a median for a time. Yet another incident resulted in downed power lines in Sterling, after a collision between a box truck and a car. The impact sent the truck off the road and into a power pole. Both the pole and even some live wires were knocked down.

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 Posted on March 21, 2014 in Fatal Motor Vehicle Accidents

In a four-season area like Northern Virginia, March almost always comes in like a lion and exits like a lamb. Weather-wise, that appears to be true this year as well, but early March was also brutal in the number of fatal car accidents that spread tragedy through the state. On a recent Saturday night, an 18-year-old passenger in a vehicle was killed in a wreck involving six vehicles.

Just a little before midnight, the crash took place and killed the Virginia Beach teen. Police have not yet filed any charges, and information about the causes of the accident appears scarce. Authorities are actively requesting that any witnesses to the incident come forward and share that information with police. In addition, an accident reconstruction team is also at work.

Closer to the beginning of the month, more fatal crashes took place in Virginia. A 31-year-old woman was charged with reckless driving after losing control of her car and colliding with a tree. That accident fatally injured her 35-year-old passenger. Another driver, a 19-year-old, also faces reckless driving charges after her car ran into the back of a state trooper vehicle. The officer in the rear-ended car suffered minor injuries.

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 Posted on March 13, 2014 in Car Accidents

Countless car accidents in Northern Virginia entail the following scenario: a driver is traveling down the road, minding his or her own business, when a sudden crash shakes their vehicle's rear end. While many such fender-benders aren't fatal, they can still prove costly in many ways. An auto accident can lead to expensive repairs, the need for a pricey rental car and possibly a spike in one's insurance costs.

In addition, of course, even the most mundane-seeming car crash can cause injury. An unexpected impact can cause the human body to move in very damaging ways; sometimes, serious injuries don't surface until later on. Recently, a hit-and-run accident injured a 47-year-old woman and her 18-year-old passenger. The women were traveling down a highway when another car hit their car from behind. While the other driver fled the scene, it was noted that he was driving a white pickup truck with Virginia license plates.

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 Posted on March 06, 2014 in Drunk Driving Accidents

Many people assume that impaired driving only involves alcohol consumption. However, nowadays there are unfortunately many ways in which a driver can be too impaired to safely operate a motor vehicle. Both illegal and prescription drugs, as well as some non-prescription drugs such as sleep aids, can dramatically reduce a driver's alertness and ability to concentrate.

For the victims of any type of drunk driving accident, though, it doesn't matter what type of drug was involved. All that matters is that their loved one is permanently gone and cannot be brought back. In September, a fatal accident took place in Virginia Beach that has recently made headlines again due to one driver's drug use being revealed.

The incident occurred on I-64 when a 29-year-old driver's vehicle started crossing lanes and eventually veered into the center median before heading into traffic going the opposite direction. He struck a vehicle and two people in that car died as a result: a 31-year-old woman and her 12-year-old daughter. The driver was later found to have had a high concentration of both tramadol and cyclobenzaprine in his system at the time of the accident. Interestingly, the driver mentioned he was on his way to a drug abuse support group meeting when the crash happened.

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