Posted on December 31, 2012 in Firm News

Current law in the state of Virginia has texting while driving a secondary offense, texting drivers receiving a relatively small $20 fine. However, legislators in the state are now considering making the habit a more serious infraction.

A study from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute has shown texting to be among the most dangerous of tasks someone can do behind the wheel, putting drivers at greater risk for a car accident. For instance, teenage drivers are four times as likely as older drivers to become involved in an auto crash related to texting or even just talking on a cell phone.

In addition, for every six seconds of time spent driving, a motorist that is in the process of sending or receiving a text spends a whopping 4.6 seconds not looking at the road.

The state of Virginia defines distracted driving as anything that removes a motorist's attention from the road. Texting while driving, of course, falls logically into such a category, but the Virginia General Assembly wants to take a closer look at the trend, partly as the result of a fatal 2011 car crash.

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 Posted on December 24, 2012 in Commercial Vehicle Accidents

When a tractor-trailer accident causes a truck to overturn, those hurt can include more than just fellow travelers. On December 11, a truck loaded with turkeys turned over on Interstate 81, killing nearly all of the animals.

The commercial vehicle accident occurred in Botetourt County, Virginia, just after 5:30 a.m. The truck was carrying turkeys to be processed in Harrisonburg; there were about 900 of the holiday birds on board.

The driver was not hurt, although state police had to re-route traffic and close northbound lanes of I-81 while officials cleared the area.

In addition to turkeys, other unusual roadway items have spilled onto area highways this year. Earlier in December, a similar early-morning accident saw a pineapple truck overturn on the Beltway, while in July, a beer truck flipped over in Interstate 270 in Maryland.

In that semi-truck accident, the truck hit a guardrail and roadside barriers, delaying traffic for several hours and requiring intensive cleanup efforts.

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 Posted on December 17, 2012 in Drunk Driving Accidents

Those who advocate against drunk driving often remind motorists to give their keys to a designated driver during a night out, so as to prevent an intoxicated person from even getting in the driver's seat. However, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) wants to take that concept a step further, recommending ignition interlock use throughout the U.S.

These devices, which essentially prevent a drunk person from starting their car, are a requirement for certain offenders in roughly one-third of the 50 states. In Virginia, state law now requires these safeguards for first-time offenders, in an effort to prevent drunk driving accidents.

In the past, the NTSB has encouraged ignition interlocks under more specific conditions, such as when a driver's blood alcohol content (BAC) was over two times the limit set forth by the law.

However, on December 10, the NTSB issued a recommendation for a more comprehensive, national use of ignition interlock devices. While the board is unable to enforce its advice to legislatures, it still wields the power of persuasion in the national debate over drunk driving laws.

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 Posted on December 14, 2012 in Truck Accidents

Virginians who had stopped to fill up their gas tanks faced a scary sight one recent night, when a truck ran into a gas pump.

The tractor trailer accident took place on a Friday night in Bristol, when a tractor-trailer rolled over a fuel pump. This sparked a fire, and the flames quickly surrounded both the truck and the gas pump at the Valero station.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the fiery incident, although the truck was damaged beyond repair.

Firefighters who responded to the scene noted that hazardous materials were involved. According to a lieutenant with the Bristol Fire Department, a nearby creek helped contain runoff. In addition, the fire actually consumed most of the fuel spillage.

It is extremely fortunate that no one was injured in the fire. It does not take much to think about what could have gone wrong had the fire spread out of control at the gas station. There's no word on if there were other cars at the station at the time, but there definitely could have been more people injured in the blaze.

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 Posted on December 03, 2012 in Drunk Driving Accidents

Party-goers in the Washington, DC metro area will soon be seeing a visible reminder of the options they have when it comes to driving drunk — or choosing not to. The "chooser cruiser" is a new vehicle that anti-drunk driving advocates will use around the region as a publicity stunt with a positive message.

Drunk driving accidents took the lives of over 10,000 people in 2010. This figure tends to be at its peak near the holidays, when longer nights and the icy roads of Virginia, Maryland and DC can make for even more perilous driving conditions.

After midnight, when those who have attended holiday gatherings are headed home, alcohol can produce even deadlier traffic situations.

The "chooser cruiser" is part taxi and part police car, but it sends an integrated message — if people consume alcohol, they have options when it comes to leaving. The two main options, as depicted by the look of the car, are either riding in a taxi or riding in a police car.

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 Posted on November 26, 2012 in Fatal Motor Vehicle Accidents

Following a collision with a parked school bus on November 17, the 31-year-old passenger of a Ford Taurus is now deceased. The victim, from Virginia Beach, succumbed to his injuries at the scene of the fatal car accident.

The driver of the Ford Taurus, a 32-year-old from Chesapeake, faces charges of DUI and involuntary manslaughter. Around 2:15am that Saturday morning, he had been driving on Northwood Drive in Virginia Beach when his vehicle hit the edge of a stationary school bus.

He hit the bus on the passenger side of his car, but the worst was yet to come for the passenger riding alongside him. After clipping the bus, the car's driver continued on Northwood and hit a curb. He then proceeded to hit a fire hydrant before the car finally came to a halt.

Unfortunately, at that point the impacts had led to such severe head injuries in the passenger that he did not survive the crash.

Authorities are holding the driver at Virginia Beach City jail without bond.

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 Posted on November 19, 2012 in Truck Accidents

A Virginia truck driver is now dead following a deadly accident out of state. In the early morning hours of Nov. 9, a man from Glade Spring was driving a tractor-trailer in Ohio when his vehicle struck the car of a 49-year-old female driver.

Tractor trailer accidents can easily entail serious injuries or worse for those involved, and this incident was no exception.

According to highway patrol authorities in Ohio, the truck had been heading west on Ohio 5, near Knapp Road, when it first collided with the smaller eastbound car shortly before 1 a.m.

After that initial impact, the truck then careened into nearby trees and finally rolled over, with horrific results: death for the truck driver and injuries for the driver of the car.

In truck accidents involving tractor trailers, survivors can walk away with their lives intact, but their bodies may suffer catastrophic damage, long-lasting ailments, or both.

In this incident, the lucky woman who survived the crash received treatment at an area hospital, where doctors deemed her injuries non-life threatening. Despite this relatively optimistic diagnosis, however, she and other truck accident victims could face afflictions down the road if they do not pursue a thorough examination after an accident.

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 Posted on November 16, 2012 in Drunk Driving Accidents

Recently, a tragic accident occurred on route 17 in Gloucester, in which a 46-year-old father was killed as a result of the injuries he sustained. His teenage daughter who was severely injured currently remains in the hospital.

A 40-year-old Gloucester man was found to be at fault for the drunk driving accident. It is alleged that he was driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident and his blood tests now reveal positive results for cocaine, opiates and marijuana.

As a result of this fatal crash, the man has now been criminally charged with involuntary manslaughter. Reportedly, he expressed sorrow and sympathy for the accident victims involved when he appeared in court. However, the accident occurred just seven months after he had completed probation for a previous drug conviction.

Although no amount of money will ever fully rectify the deep loss that these accident victims have suffered, they can certainly pursue damages in civil court for this tragedy. The immediate family members of the father who lost his life can file a wrongful death suit against the liable driver.

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 Posted on November 05, 2012 in Truck Accidents

On October 23, A Florida judge fined a Virginia sod truck driver $160 for not adequately updating his travel log on the date of a fatal truck crash. In March of this year, the driver's truck collided with a school bus in an accident that left a 9-year-old student dead.

In truck accidents or tractor trailer accidents, there are countless ways in which a driver's negligence or a company's skirting of the rules can lead to a wreck. However, sometimes a driver or company demonstrates a form of negligence that is not a direct contributor to the accident that follows.

In these types of instances, a confusing legal situation can result. In the Florida case, a judge ruled that while the Virginia man didn't properly maintain the log required by the state, he was nonetheless not guilty of brake adjustment citations.

In the crash itself, authorities say the school bus driver failed to yield when making a left turn. The sod truck hit the bus, which spun around while the truck turned over. The truck had been loaded with sod, while the bus was transporting over 30 students at the time of the accident.

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 Posted on November 01, 2012 in Drunk Driving Accidents

A Virginia man recently got himself involved in car crash that turned out to be anything but minor. On October 20, the 42-year-old from Critz, in the southern part of the Old Dominion, allegedly drove drunk, hit a police cruiser, and fled the scene.

The drunk driving accident occurred on a Saturday night in West Virginia, near the area of St. Albans Mall on U.S. Route 60. A little after 10 p.m., a police officer was assisting another driver when the Virginia man's car collided with the cruiser. Thankfully, the officer was not in his car at the time, barely escaping serious injury or worse.

After sideswiping the policeman's 2012 Dodge Durango, the driver is said to have sped off down the highway heading east. Local police were able to quickly apprehend the driver, who later passed out once placed in the officers' car. He required transport to a nearby hospital.

No severe injuries occurred as a result of the incident, although authorities noted damage to both the Virginia man's car and the struck police car.

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