By Rick Shapiro, Eastern Shore Accident Lawyer

A Subaru and Toyota Tacoma slammed head-on into each other resulting in the tragic death of John R. Lutz, Jr. He was only 32 years old.

The accident occurred on Route 13 south of Route 677 in Accomack, Virginia (VA), according to WAVY.com.

The exact details of what caused the car wreck are still unknown, but we do know that the driver of the Subaru was charged with reckless driving.

Reckless driving is categorized as a Class 1 misdemeanor and includes speeding in excess of 80 mph, failing to give a proper signal, driving with an obstructed view, and passing a school bus. The penalty, if convicted, can include up to one year in jail, up to $2,500 in fines, and suspension of driving privileges for up to six months. 

Penalties aside, we can’t forget a life was lost in this terrible accident. Mr. Lutz had his whole life ahead of him and it was taken away because of another driver’s recklessness actions. My deepest condolences go out to Mr. Lutz’s parents, John M. and Barbara E. Lutz. Losing a child is a pain I wish no parent had to endure.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm handling Eastern Shore VA injury accident law and we have handled thousands of car and truck accident cases, including many on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Check out our case results to see for yourself. We are familiar with Route 13, including people from Accomack, Onancock, Chincoteauge, Wachapreague, and Cape Charles, Bloxom, Eastville, Exmore, Greenbackville, Machipongo, Mappsville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Onley, Tangier, Temperanceville, Wachapreague, and Wallops Island. We provide free injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included among the “Best Lawyers in America” 2010 Edition. These two, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper were named 2010 Virginia “Super Lawyers” For Personal Injury Law (less than 5% of outstanding lawyers are chosen), and our firm includes attorneys selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical, respected law firms. We provide this blog as a pro bono public service.

By Emily Mapp Brannon, Eastern Shore VA Injury Lawyer

A truly impressive feat of engineering and a drive unequalled in beauty on clear, warm spring days like the one on which I’m posting this, the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge-Tunnel has carried more than 100 million cars and trucks between Northampton Boulevard in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), and Route 13 on Virginia’s Eastern Shore since opening to traffic in 1964.

Expanded from two lanes – one north and one south on the same road bed – to two lanes on separate spans in both directions in 1999, the CCBT cuts nearly 100 miles and more than two hours off the driving time between the Eastern Shore and Hampton Roads. The Bridge-Tunnel has been a boon to commercial traffic, commuters and tourists. It has also seen its share of accidents resulting in serious injuries and loss of life.

Tunnels and bridges present unique risks to drivers, from narrow lanes to extreme changes in visibility and lighting due to fog, mist and driving into and out of tunnel entrances and exits. Car and truck accidents are practically daily occurrences on the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel between Norfolk and Hampton, for instance. While rarer, accidents on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel have often been severe.

A tractor-trailer drove off the CCBT in March 2005 and died when his rig hit and sank in the Bay. An SUV driver lost his life the same way on New Year’s Eve in 2006, and another tractor-trailer driver required hospital treatment for a knee injury he suffered when he clipped a parked maintenance truck on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.

One way bridge operators prevent car and truck accidents is closing the Bridge-Tunnel to certain vehicles when high winds, heavy rains or snow hit the Bay. The CCBT also shuts down and receives a thorough structural inspection when ships or barges – inevitably – strike one of the bridge supports. Bridge employees are even available to drive people’s cars and trucks across the CCBT “whenever a customer has a phobia of heights, bridges, tunnels, etc.”

No policies or practices can take the place of safe driving, though. Be careful the next time you make the tip from Virginia Beach to Kiptopeke and points north in Accomack and Northampton and Accomack counties.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm handling Eastern Shore VA injury accident law and we have handled thousands of car and truck accident cases, including many on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Check out our case results to see for yourself. We are familiar with people who drive Route 13, including those from Accomack, Onancock, Chincoteauge, Wachapreague, and Cape Charles, Bloxom, Eastville, Exmore, Greenbackville, Machipongo, Mappsville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Onley, Tangier, Temperanceville, Wachapreague, and Wallops Island. We provide free injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included among the “Best Lawyers in America” for 2010, and they and their fellow attorney John M. Cooper were named 2010 Virginia “Super Lawyers” for Personal Injury Law. Fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive this distinction. Our firm also includes attorneys selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical, respected law firms. We provide this blog as a pro bono public service.

EJL

By Richard Shapiro, Eastern Virginia Injury Attorney

The pony swim began in 1924. Children’s author Marguerite Henry made the annual event famous when she published Misty of Chincoteague in 1947. For the past several years, an estimated 40,000 adults and children of all ages have crowded the western shore of Chincoteague Island to watch the wild ponies swim the few hundred feet from Assateague Island. The year-round population of Chincoteague is just over 4,000.

With a majority of Chincoteague residents employed in the tourism and food service industries, the pony swim is essential to the island’s economy and, no doubt, the economies of the nearby Accomack County communities of Atlantic, Horntown, Sinnickson, Wattsville and Wallops Island. An influx of tourists that increases Chincoteague’s population tenfold also strains the resources of the entire Eastern Shore, particularly Route 13 and Route 175.

Fortunately, traffic appears to become merely snarled at pony swim time. A detailed breakdown of fatal car and truck accidents on Chincoteague Island since 1979 shows that no drivers or passengers lost their lives on the island’s roads during the last week of July. Ironically, however, Paul Beebe, who’s real-life childhood adventures are chronicled in Misty, died in an automobile accident in 1957.

Our injury law firm’s main office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), only about 4 miles from the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel southern entrance. So we know firsthand how tourism and tourists impact communities. We also know how crowded, and sometimes dangerous, roads leading to and providing access to top attractions can become for city residents, visitors and pedestrians of all types.

The ponies are set to swim again July 28, 2010, and a full six weeks of events, celebrations and auctions are scheduled leading up to and following the event. I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable time.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm handling Eastern Shore VA injury accident law and we have handled thousands of car and truck accident cases, including many on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Check out our case results. We are familiar with people who drive Route 13, including those from Accomack, Onancock, Chincoteauge, Wachapreague, and Cape Charles, Bloxom, Eastville, Exmore, Greenbackville, Machipongo, Mappsville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Onley, Tangier, Temperanceville, Wachapreague, and Wallops Island. We provide free injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included among the “Best Lawyers in America” for 2010, and they and their fellow attorney John M. Cooper were named 2010 Virginia “Super Lawyers” for Personal Injury Law. Fewer than 5 percent of outstanding lawyers receive this distinction. Our firm also includes attorneys selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical, respected law firms. We provide this blog as a pro bono public service.

EJL

By Richard Shapiro, Eastern Shore Injury Lawyer

Counties in the Eastern Shore including Accomack and Northampton do not boast large populations, but their accident statistics are incredibly high. In face, both counties feature a fatality rate per 100,000 individuals that is higher than the national average, according to the National Highway Safety Administration. The primary reason is one stretch of road: Route 13.

The lack of adequate medians and increased truck traffic make Route 13 a very dangerous highway. This is a volatile situation considering a large number of  Virginia (VA) Eastern Shore cities and towns are located along Route 13. 

Jim McGowan, the Accomack County planning director stressed the importance of median reform. He said many medians don’t have any turn lanes or the lane is too short to handle more than one vehicle when a turn is made, according to Delmarvanow.com. In addition, the medians are usually too narrow, so it allows vehicles to cross through the median and into the other lane of traffic along with many median crossovers being too close together.

The Route 13/Wallops Island Access Management Study recommended expanding median widths to at least 50 feet while closing roughly 70 median crossovers, adding rumble strips to road shoulders and reducing access points to Route 13 (there are currently 1,300).

Unfortunately, these suggestions have largely been ignored by county officials. The reason being money. The cost of implementing all the proposed reforms would cost over $100 million. It’s really disappointing to hear that budget concerns are superceding the safety of drivers and Eastern Shore residents. Many stretches of highway are dangerous, but few have actual studies highlighting the inherent dangers.

The representatives of both counties need to ask themselves, “What’s worse - spending money to renovate a dangerous highway and potentially decreasing the number or car wrecks or having this same highway featured on the news and in studies as a potentially deadly stretch of road?”

“People complain about it,” said McGowan. “There are a lot of accidents, a lot of [fatalities] on Route 13.” The evidence is clear and the transportation officials in Accomack and Northampton counties need to take action.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a Virginia injury law firm handling Eastern Shore VA injury accident law and we have handled thousands of car and truck accident cases, including many on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Check out our case results to see for yourself. We are familiar with Route 13, including people from Accomack, Onancock, Chincoteauge, Wachapreague, and Cape Charles, Bloxom, Eastville, Exmore, Greenbackville, Machipongo, Mappsville, Melfa, Nassawadox, Onley, Tangier, Temperanceville, Wachapreague, and Wallops Island. We provide free injury case consultations, so call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Rick Shapiro and James Lewis were included among the “Best Lawyers in America” 2010 Edition. These two, along with fellow attorney John M. Cooper were named 2010 Virginia “Super Lawyers” For Personal Injury Law (less than 5% of outstanding lawyers are chosen), and our firm includes attorneys selected by the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum. In addition, we were the first injury law firm in Virginia to join Primerus, a select group of highly ethical, respected law firms. We provide this blog as a pro bono public service.