By Rick Shapiro, Personal Injury Attorney

Two women were hit head-on by a dump truck carrying a heavy load.  Their injuries were so bad that both women had to be airlifted.  Tracking down the insurance sources or proper trucking company that may be responsible is going to be an overwhelming burden that the family doesn’t need to deal with right now.  So what is the best course of action for families in this situation? Find out more.

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 resultsto see for yourself. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free, initial consultations so give us a call at 1-800-752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call promptly.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. 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).

Do passing drivers give emergency personal enough room on the side of the road? A new law requires drivers to “move over” yet police and safety workers are still being hit. Find out more.

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. Though not every case meets our criteria, we offer free, initial consultations so give us a call at 1-800-752-0042. If you can’t get through due to high call volume, please leave a message and we will return your call promptly.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. 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).

By Jim Lewis, Eastern Shore Accident Lawyer

A mother was driving down U.S. Route 13 in Accomac, Virginia (VA) when she reportedly fell asleep at the wheel of her PT Cruiser, drifted to the other side of the road, overcorrected, and wound up flipping the car multiple times. Her 7-year-old child was in the back seat and wound up suffering fatal injuries, according to delmarvanow.com. The mother, and a passenger in the front seat, suffered serious injuries as well.  

This is a terrible accident. Losing anyone in a sudden accident is heartbreaking, but to lose someone so young makes the loss that much more gut wrenching.

Drowsy/sleepy driving is a major problem in this country. Roughly 60 percent of drivers admit they have driven a vehicle while feeling sleepy in the past year, and 37 percent admit to have fallen asleep while driving, according to a study by the National Sleep Foundation.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 100,000 car crashes every year are the direct result of a tired driver. This leads to an estimated 1,550 lives lost and 71,000 injuries, according to drowsydriving.org.

This may sound like common sense, but many people appear to ignore it – if you are feeling tired while driving, pull over and take a break.

You’d be amazed at how a 15-30 minute break from driving can re-energize your batteries. Maybe stop at a Sheetz or your local gas station and grab a cup of coffee. The worst thing you can do is continue to push yourself and potentially dose off while you’re driving.

As we saw from the Accomac accident, drowsy driving can have horrific consequences. Our firm has experience handling cases involving family members. For example, we represented a wife who was injured by her husband who got into a wreck while driving a rental car on the wrong side of the road. We advised her she could file a suit against her husband because this way the rental car company would be forced to apply its insurance to protect/defend her husband, the at-fault driver. We totally understand how awkward filing suit against a family member can be, but if it the best course to help compensate you and your family, a suit should be pursued.

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.

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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.

Google recently named our personal injury law firm one of the most popular local Virginia Beach  businesses to visit on “Google Places,” an online Google platform featuring small businesses in a local area. Less than 1 percent of all U.S. businesses received this distinction. To learn more, check out this article…

Our VA-Carolina Personal Injury Law Firm Specially Recognized By Google Local

If your car or truck was stolen, there are a  myriad of inconveniences and hassles including filing an insurance claim, getting a rental car or replacement car, and filling out a police report. The last thing on your mind would be defending yourself from spurious accusations from your own insurance company. But that’s exactly what happened to a Virginia Beach man who had his truck stolen. State Farm, his insurance company, accused him of intentionally stealing and burning his truck. To learn more, check out this article:

Insurance Company Accuses Own Customer of Stealing and Burning Their Truck

By Rick Shapiro, Eastern Shore Injury Lawyer

We’re entering the summer season and with the shift to warmer weather comes a shift in traffic patterns on U.S. 158 and N.C. 12. Why? Because tourists, along with residents of Virginia (VA) and North Carolina (NC)  head towards the Outer Banks for summer fun on the beaches of Currituck, Dare, and Hyde counties.

Given the ever-increasing volume of traffic, a proposed toll bridge over the Currituck Sound is gaining in popularity among the Outer Banks community and could start to be built in the near future. The bridge would begin near Aydlett and end near the Corolla Bay, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

The advantages potentially include improved traffic, decreased pollution, and better traffic safety, which may prevent some Outer Banks/OBX car accidents and injuries. The traffic jams would ease up improving commutes for visitors and residents. With less cars waiting in those traffic jams, carbon emissions could drop, and a better traffic flow could reduce the number of car wrecks and serious injuries.

The biggest criticism of the new bridge is that it would disrupt the communities of Aydlett and Corolla. There’s also the concern of financing the project and making sure the bridge gets built in a timely manner. Nevertheless, public support continues to grow for the new bridge. This is probably because the traffic jams continue to get worse and there doesn’t appear to be any end in sight unless a new path towards the Outer Banks is built.

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.

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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.

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By John Cooper, Eastern Shore VA Injury Attorney

A 17-year-old girl was killed in a car crash on the Eastern Shore town of Accomack back in early March. She was driving on Upshurs Neck Road near Quinby Bridge Road when her 2005 Pontiac G6 suddenly veered off the road and hit a tree. Unfortunately, the teen apparently wasn’t wearing her seatbelt and was ejected from the car, according to delmarvanow.com. 

This is a terrible loss and my heart goes out to the parents of this young girl. Dealing with the loss of life of a loved one is never easy, but it has to be especially challenging when it’s someone so young who has their whole life ahead of them.

Hearing about these types of car accident deaths is so frustrating because there’s a chance this girl, and others like her, could have survived if they had worn their seat belt. Many people consider seat belts to be the most effective safety device in car today.

Reports indicate they save an estimated 9,500 lives each year, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. However, only 68 percent of drivers wear their seat belt. This needs to change. We have to get this percentage up. There are reports that suggest if 90 percent of drivers wore their seat belt, over 5,500 lives would be saved and 132,000 injuries could be avoided. There’s simply no excuse not to wear a seat belt.

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.

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