Virginia drivers who want to lower their chance of being in a crash should take note of a government study that found that 80% of vehicle accidents are caused by distracted drivers. Another compelling statistic reveals that drivers between the ages of 18 and 20 are four times more likely…
Two sisters who died in a Virginia car crash on Tuesday were wearing their seatbelts and alcohol was not a factor. In other words, the two main elements of most auto fatalities were not present. A recent study published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that more than…
A Virginia child with brain damage and cerebral palsy caused by oxygen deprivation at birth has received a $1.35 million settlement. The plaintiff asserted that the doctors failed to respond to their son’s deteriorating condition in the hours before his birth. The doctors at the University of Virginia denied any…
Although a recent tractor trailer crash that killed three women occurred outside of Virginia, the case raises interesting issues regarding punitive damages. A Missouri jury found a truck driver negligent in rear-ending a line of stopped traffic, but while the jury was considering whether to award punitive damages, the trucking…
Virginia active duty military personnel injured by medical negligence at a military hospital (for example, Portsmouth Naval Hospital) cannot sue the government. The law that prevents this type of lawsuit, no matter how negligent or even willfully reckless the conduct by the government in providing medical care, came from United…
A Norfolk bicyclist riding along East Little Creek Road died from injuries he sustained when a car struck him last week. No charges have yet been filed against the driver, but the investigation is ongoing. Bicycle and motorcycle accidents are all too common in Hampton Roads, where our highways and…
It has been estimated that approximately 1.5 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury every year. Brain injuries often occur in the setting of car or tractor-trailer crashes, but they also can occur in bicycle and motorcycle accidents, slip and falls and medical negligence cases where surgical error or birth…
A Norfolk jury recently awarded a woman who slipped and fell in a grocery store $1.25 million dollars when she slipped in water that had collected near a freezer. She suffered a disk injury in her spine requiring surgery. Slip and fall cases can be difficult to win under Virginia…
In Virginia, medication errors in the hospital setting may be on the rise, according to a recent study. The medical journal Pediatrics will soon publish a study indicating that about 1 out of 15 children who are patients in the hospital are injured by prescription errors. This translates into a…
A recent auto accident on Interstate 95 in northern Virginia is suspected to have been caused by an intoxicated driver. Even with stiffer drunk driving penalties and less leniency on drunk drivers by the courts, drunk driving remains a deadly problem for Virginians. In 2006, approximately 29,595 Virginia drivers were…