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Car Accidents

11/23/2008
Sandra Rohrstaff, Partner
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Dangerous Thanksgiving Highways

I blogged a few weeks ago during National Teen Driver Safety Week. Among the statistics I quoted was that teen deaths due to car crashs are down this year compared to last. As so happens with statistics, however, that did not tell the whole story.

In fact, according to the Virginia State Police, compared to last year, teen deaths are UP in Virginia during the past eight weeks, which includes National Teen Driver Safety Week. Here are the stats:

- During September, October and the first two weeks of November, 35 teens died in crashes on roadways in Virginia

- Of the 12 young people who died in November:

o All ranged in age from 16 to 20

o 11 were male

o 8 were not wearing a safety belt

o 7 crashes were on rural roads

o Alcohol was involved in 1 fatality

o 7 crashes involved teen drivers

- Of the 23 fatalities in September and October:

o 13 were male

o 10 were female, including one pedestrian

o 8 were not wearing a safety belt

o Alcohol played a part in 2 crashes and possibly 6 others

o 7 crashes involved teen drivers

o 7 occurred on rural roads

And, we’re not even to the Thanksgiving holiday yet, a 120-hour period where 19 people lost their lives in 18 fatal crashes last year.

Also, with 75% of our state troopers working the roads over the holiday, Virginia State Police reminds us of Virginia’s Move Over Law that requires motorists to move to another travel lane or, if that cannot be done safely, to slow down to cautiously pass emergency personnel stopped along the side of the road. Read my recent blog about this law.

Labels: Crash, fatalities, police, seatbelt, state trooper, Teen,

11/23/2008
Sandra Rohrstaff, Partner
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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.

Labels: Accident, Crash, fatalities, interstate highway, police

11/17/2008
Sandra Rohrstaff, Partner
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Teenager Drives Wrong Way on I-66, Kills Two in Head-on Collision

Police are investigating how a 17-year-old driver came to be driving the wrong way on Interstate 66 in Arlington County at about 2:15 a.m. on Monday, November 17. Police suspect that alcohol played a part in the crash.

The driver, who had a 17-year-old passenger with him, was driving a 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse westbound in the eastbound lanes of I-66 when it crashed head-on into a 2003 Toyota Corolla driven by Hieu T. Nguyen. Although Mr. Nguyen survived the crash, his two female passengers did not. The teen driver and his passenger were treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.

Police have not yet determined how the teen driver got on I-66 going the wrong way but think he must have gone up an off-ramp near the crash site.

Investigators are trying to determine what the teen driver and his passenger were doing in the hours leading up to the crash.

Labels: Accident, Alcohol, Crash, death, Fatal, interstate highway, police

Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents

11/17/2008
Sandra Rohrstaff, Partner
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Pedestrian Dies After Being Hit by a Garbage Truck in a Parking Lot

A McLean woman died last week after being hit by a garbage truck on October 15.

According to the Fairfax County Police Department, Mon-Hua Mona Kuo, 65 years old, of the 6800 block of Wise Street in McLean, was hit by the truck in a parking lot at 1545 Chain Bridge Road on Oct. 15, shortly before 7 a.m.

Kuo had parked her car and was walking across the parking lot when a 44-year-old Stafford man operating a 2005 Mack trash truck made a left turn into the lot and hit Kuo with the right front corner of the truck, knocking her to the ground.

Police did not release the driver’s name because the accident is still under investigation. No charges have been filed.

Kuo died as a result of her injuries at Inova Fairfax Hospital on Oct. 21.

Speed and alcohol are not believed to be factors in the crash, according to police. The incident is the 19th fatal crash in Fairfax County this year.

According to the Fairfax County Police Department, pedestrian safety is a high priority for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. The Board currently has a Pedestrian Task Force and a pedestrian safety program.

Labels: Accident, Crash, die, Pedestrian, police truck,

Truck Accidents

11/22/2008
Sandra Rohrstaff, Partner
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Multi-vehicle Pile-up on Virginia Interstate 81 Leaves Three People Dead

Tragedy struck once again on Interstate 81 in the Shenandoah Valley on Friday, November 21, 2008. At about 11:20 a.m., with snow flurries and slick roads, Jose Alberto Sarmiento was driving an18-wheeler tractor-trailer southbound on I-81 at Mount Jackson -- going too fast for the conditions. He hit several cars that had slowed because of the weather conditions. One witness, Tony Coronado, an off-duty EMT from Manassas, saw Sarmiento fly by just before he crashed into the cars.

Three people died, two of them small children. Two others were injured as well.

Sarmineto has been charged with reckless driving.

Soutbound traffic on I-81 was at a standstill for several hours as emergency personnel worked to rescue the injured victims and police performed their investigation.

I cannot imagine the heartache of the people who lost their family members.

Labels: children children, Crash Crash, death Fatal Interstate 81 tractor-trailer truck

11/17/2008
Sandra Rohrstaff, Partner
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Driver Killed in Beltway Collision with Tractor Trailer

Early Thursday morning, November 13, a young woman from Burke, Virginia, 21-year-old Ryan Monahan, was killed on the beltway in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County. The initial report is that Monahan was traveling in the center lane of the outer loop near Van Dorn Street when she tried to change into the left lane in front of a tractor-trailer. The driver of the tractor-trailer, who was not hurt in the collision, said that he swerved in an attempt to keep from hittting the Toyota sedan driven by Ms. Monahan, but that he was too colose and could not prevent the collision.

Ms. Monahan was not wearing a seatbelt.

The initial investigation report sounds like the tractor-trailer was in the left lane. My question is what was the tractor-trailer doing in the left lane? Is this an area of the beltway where tractor-trailers are allowed to be in the left lane?

Labels: Accident, beltway, Crash, death, interstate highway, seatbelt, tractor-trailer, truck,