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Another fatal crash on Interstate 66 in Fairfax County

Less than 24 hours after the violent head-on collision on Interstate 66 that killed two women, a young woman was killed in another fatal crash on that highway.

This crash happened on Monday, November 17, 2008, at about 11:30 p.m., on eastbound I-66 near Nutley Street in Vienna.  This time, a mattress was on the highway.  A box truck driven by Richard Moon of Herndon swerved to miss the mattress; however, Kritika Singh, 21, who was driving behind the box truck, was not so lucky.  The Isuzu Rodeo she was driving hit the mattress, ran off the side of the road and hit the truck.  Ms. Singh was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the car.  Her passenger, Vjjwal Joshi of Fairfax, who was wearing a seatbelt, received minor injuries. 

Police are looking for witnesses to help them complete their investigation.

As attorneys who represent many people who are injured in car accidents, we, too, must rely on information provided by witnesses to prove what happened.  So, please.  If you or anyone you know has any information about this crash, please contact the Virginia State Police. 

If it had been your sister or cousin or friend who died in this crash, you would be grateful for help from others.    

The Virginia State Police can be reached at 703-323-4522 or Area09@vsp.virginia.gov.

Teenager Drives Wrong Way on I-66, Kills Two in Head-on Collision

Move Over, Slow Down -- New Law

MOVE OVER SLOW DOWN

I heard this story from a friend.  If you drive in Northern Virginia, you are faced with situations like this every week. 

I wanted to give you a heads up about a relatively new law in Virginia because of a traffic citation I received Sunday morning. As I was traveling in the right lane on the Dulles Toll Rd to the airport, I came upon a stopped state trooper on the right shoulder who had stopped a vehicle.  He was pulled all the way over on shoulder. I was driving the speed limit and remained in my lane and even slowed down.  There was a speeding car that passed in the left lane, thus I stayed in my lane. The next thing I know, the trooper is behind us with his lights flashing and I thought he was going to go after the speeding car, but instead he pulled me over.
The first thing the officer said was that I was not speeding, but the reason he pulled me over was because I was supposed to move over to the left lane prior to passing a stopped emergency vehicle. I told him I wasn't aware of the law and he said he had just gotten hit the previous day by someone who hadn't moved over. I thought he would give me a warning since I wasn't aware of the law and was driving responsibly and haven't gotten a ticket in over 10 years, but he gave me a summons where I have to appear in court. This is a class 1 misdemeanor violation which can result up to $2500 in fines and up to 1 year in jail.

If you are driving on a four-lane highway with at least two lanes in your direction of travel, the law does, indeed, require a driver in the right lane to yield the right-of-way by moving over into the left lane if the lane change can be made safely given the traffic conditions.  If it is not safe to change lanes, then the driver is required to proceed with caution.

If you or someone you know gets pulled over and charged with a violation of this relatively new law, give us a call.  Although we don’t represent people charged with traffic violations, we know many good, experienced lawyers who do and are happy to refer clients to those other lawyers.

Pedestrian Dies After Being Hit by a Garbage Truck in a Parking Lot