Northern Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer - Motor Vehicle Accidents

Alleged Drunk Driver Injures Virginia State Trooper

Ben Glass — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:10:15 GMT

A Virginia State Police Trooper had to be placed in intensive care for the severe personal injuries he received after he was hit by a man who had been driving under the influence of alcohol on Interstate 81. The accident took place shortly after 11 p.m on Saturday, February 2 in Smyth County.

After he finished a routine traffic stop, Trooper K.S. Chapman was sitting stationary in his patrol vehicle when his car was suddenly struck by a pick up truck.

Chapman had to receive transport by air to Bristol Medical Center in severe condition from the injuries he received.
Barry Dean Marshall, the 32-year-old man who was driving the truck that struck Chapman's vehicle has been charged with a DUI.

Additional charges against Marshall are still pending.

Comment from Virginia personal injury attorney Ben Glass: in addition to any criminal penalties that may be imposed, drunk drivers in Virginia may be subject to punitive damages. Generally punitive damages are not dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Drivers Should Stop Texting While Driving

Ben Glass — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 22:24:52 GMT

Del. James Scott (D-Fairfax) believes that enough adults in Virginia are attempting to send text messages while driving, which could potentially result in personal injury, that he wants to ban the practice. He has filed in advance of the 2008 General Assembly session a bill that would prohibit operating a vehicle while sending text messages.

Scott admitted that usually, it takes several years before driving bans are passed. The potential penalty for violations of the proposed law was not listed in the text.
Scott said that the act of text messaging while driving has already been banned in the state of Washington and has been discussed in the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In 2007, a bill was passed by the General Assembly which made it illegal for 16 and 17-year-olds to talk on cell phones or send text messages during the act of driving. The sponsor of that bill, Sen. Jay O'Brien (R-Fairfax) took three years to secure passage of the bill.
The process of text messaging requires the use of the fingers to send a written message through one's cell phone or other electronic device, like a Blackberry.
A poll last year by AAA and Seventeen magazine of 16 and 17-year-olds revealed that 46% send text messages on their phone while driving their vehicles.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

300,000 Drivers License Suspensions Loom in Virginia

Ben Glass — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:20:57 GMT

Now what do we do?

Virginia DUI defense attorney Bob Battle has an excellent post today regarding the "unintended consequences of Virginia harsh "bad driver fees" put into law by our General Assembly earlier this year.

Here was the good idea. Reduce taxes but quadruple fines (er... "fees) for bad drivers. Then suspend their licenses when they can't pay.

As Bob Battle points out, someone has finally sat down and done the math.

Woops... up to 300,000 drivers may lose their licenses. If they aren't valid drivers they aren't validly insured. If you get hit by a driver on a suspended license, you may be in big trouble yourself.

This will be interesting.....

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Fairfax County Police Looking for Hit and Run Driver

Ben Glass — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:09:24 GMT

According to a Washington Post article, Lincoln Nguyen, 71, of Alexandria, Virginia was struck and killed by a car. Witnesses said that Nguyen had a green light but was not able to get across the entire intersection in time. Police are looking for a gold SUV or minivan with tinted windows and front-end damage. The information number for the Fairfax County Police is: 866-411-8477.

The accident happened October 14 on Backlick Road.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

How Does a Car Get Hit By a Train

Ben Glass — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 13:20:49 GMT

I always wondered how a car could get hit by a train. I mean, trains are big, noisy things.
Here is a very disturbing video of a mom who's 2 children died when she tried to beat a train in an intersection and managed to get hit by two trains.

Two trains hit mom in minivan video.

This is very tragic.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Progressive Caught Spying on Couple In Church

Ben Glass — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 15:02:20 GMT

to deny claims..

This story is almost unbelievable yet Progressive Insurance Company has ADMITTED to these actions. It seems that the insurance company actually hired private detectives to JOIN A CHURCH in order to discredit a couple suing the insurer.

Progressive Corp Chief Executive Glenn Renwick has apologized for the use of private detectives.

"What the investigators and Progressive people did was wrong - period," Renwick, head of the third-largest U.S. auto insurer, said in a statement. "I personally want to apologize to anyone who was affected by this."

Apparently the Progressive detectives worked their way into and taped support group sessions.

This conduct is outrageous but , unfortunately, not all that unusual. Victims of car accient cases must be ever vigilant because these companies will stop at nothing.

Progressive has been sued on this matter and based upon the admission, of its CEO, should expect to pay millions.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Graduation Day Driver Who Killed Had Been Drinking

Ben Glass — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:46:29 GMT

The Virginia State police are now reporting that Elaine Minnette "Nettie" Thackston, 20, of Fairfax, Va. had been drinking when the car she was driving pulled in front of a tractor trailer on graduation night, killing all four women in the car.
Other alcohol and marijuana were also found in the car. While the alcohol limit did not meet Virginia's definition of "drunk driving" it did exceed Virginia's 'no tolerance" rule because Thackston was not of legal drinking age.

The tragic accident killed 18-year-old Lydia Petkoff; 19-year-old Sarah Renee Carter; and 18-year-old Renee Nicole Shelkin. Another passenger survived.

The real issue is whether the other occupants of the car have a claim in light of Virginia's "assumption of the risk" doctrine.

Basically, the rule in Virginia is that if you knowingly place yourself in a position of peril, and you are hurt (or killed) you can't recover any damages. The news reports I have seen suggest that despite the fact that Thackston had alcohol in her system, there was no sign of impaired driving at all. In fact, it seems that she may simply have been confused by the signage at that part of Washington's beltway and tried to correct her direction. We've seen similar behavior hundreds of times.

If there was no evidence of impaired driving then families of the occupants of the car may be able to recover civil damages even if the passengers were themselves drinking (the Virginia State Police have not disclosed this fact yet, and may never, in that he passengers have privacy rights.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

GEICO hit for $400,000 in Underinsured Motorist Case

Ben Glass — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:43:58 GMT

This case shows why you should be checking your own car insurance policy right now.

This local accident victim suffered what a jury determined to be $400,000 of injuries. The driver who hit him only had $50,000 of insurance (and, in Virginia, its perfectly legal to drive without car insurance.) Fortunately he had been smart enough (or just plain lucky) to have purchased a USAA policy with $300,000 of underinsured motorist coverage for himself (to protect he and his family from financial catastrophe following and accident just like this!)

As a result of the accident, the driver suffered lower back injury that aggravated his preexisting spondylolisthesis and forced him to endure a laminectomy and fusion.

GEICO had offered only $15,000 during the court-ordered settlement conference, but had increased their offer to $50,000 before trial. The jury returned a verdict of $400,000.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Award for Myofascial Pain In Virginia Beach Car Crash

Ben Glass — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:34:09 GMT

A Virginia Beach mother of two who was broadsided by a car traveling at 40 MPH and suffered wrist, neck, and back pain, was awarded $194K in a recent trial in the Norfolk, Virigina area.. After the crash, the plaintiff consulted with a chiropractor, neurosurgeon, and physiatrist who determined that she was a member the very small minority of people who are unable to fully recover from myofascial pain. 5% of the population will carry those neck and shoulder pain with them for the rest of their lives.

According to published reports, most of the jury said on voir dire that there were too many frivolous lawsuits filed in this country. Then, after hearing the evidence, they returned the full amount of money requested by the plaintiff's attorney.

Note from Virginia personal injury attorney Ben Glass: the insurance industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to taint and poison the mind of the country's jurors. Most jurors have the view that there are too many frivolous lawsuits in the country.

Most lawyers are of the same view! Each case must be determined on its merits and this Norfolk Virginia personal injury jury obviously listened to the evidence and carefully considered its verdict.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Roanoke man dies in a crash at rest stop

Ben Glass — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:40:33 GMT

According to a press release from the Virginia State Police, a cargo van driven by 60-year-old Donald Weeks slid under the back of a tractor-trailer parked at the rest area two days ago.

Reportedly, Weeks died at the scene. State police said a toxicology test will be conducted to determine if drugs or alcohol were involved although no autopsy will be performed.

The truck driver, James Cash of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, estimated the van was doing 70 miles an hour when it slammed into his parked rig. He says he had just climbed out of his truck and he jumped out of the way when he saw the van heading for the truck.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Tractor Trailer Accidents.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass