Virginia Beach Personal Injury Lawyer - accident

Improper Stacking Cases - Falling Items at a Big Box Retailer

John Cooper — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:48:58 GMT

The "big box mart" era is in full-swing in the United States and many of us find ourselves in one of these stores at least once a week. These are not standard grocery stores or local drug stores, but the Home Depots, the Targets, the Super K-Marts, and the quintessential Walmart. These stores offer us the chance for one-stop-shopping with low prices. We enter these stores ourselves and with our families and friends thinking only of shopping and finding the best deals of the day. We do not think that our innocent foray into the aisles of Walmart may land us in the hospital with a serious injury. While this sounds silly and seems unlikely, the truth is that thousands of people have been injured by falling merchandise in this country and the number keeps rising. The warehouse style storage of items for sale and the lack of help for accessing all that stuff on high shelves makes these stores, especially likely to have tumbling merchandise hitting folks on the head or shoulders while shopping.

Every week hundreds of claims are made by customers against large retailers for injuries they have sustained in a falling merchandise incident. For many of the people who are involved in an accident like this, the injuries may not be more severe than cuts and bruises; however, sadly, when children or the elderly are involved, falling merchandise can prove to be fatal. The problem with cases like this is that we as customers at these stores are not in control of our surroundings. Obviously, it is important that we take notice of signs or instructions in stores and that we are aware of what is going on around us. However, our safety is really placed in the hands of the store and its employees.

Often times, falling merchandise incidents occur because of improperly trained employees. These workers are not properly trained in the methods for safely stacking and storing merchandise or how to properly operate machinery. One incident in which a child was killed at Home Depot store involved a worker who was driving a forklift with countertops precariously balanced on it which then fell and caused the child to suffer severe head trauma from which she died the next day.

When a store invites customers into its facility, it has a duty to use ordinary care to keep the store reasonably safe and that means that all employees should be properly trained and all merchandise should be properly stored, stacked, and secure. This also means that the store has a duty to take reasonable steps in monitoring high stacked merchandise and if a customer moves or shifts something, an employee needs to inspect that it has not become dangerous. This is about accountability for store owners, managers, and their employees. This is a long-standing doctrine in the law that invitees (customers) are owed a duty of care and that if that duty is violated, it generally means that the business is liable for harms caused by its carelessness.

If you or a loved one are ever involved in a falling merchandise case, it is extremely important that you find witnesses immediately and that you yourself make a record of the incident. It is key to do this as close to the incident as possible when the details are still fresh in your mind. You want to be able to show that it was the negligence of the store that caused your injuries. While not all injuries are severe, it is important to seek treatment or at least to consult your physician after an accident like this, since some injuries may not be immediately apparent and only your doctor can advise you on what to watch out for.

While it is true that accidents do happen in stores and that they happen rather more frequently than we would like, at this time of the year, try not to let such worries dampen your shopping spirit. But watch out, as it is not just prices that are falling!

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by John Cooper

Beach Attorney Recognized for DUI Prosecution Efforts

Rick Shapiro — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:20:00 GMT

Local prosecutor Charisse Black last week received a national award for keeping alcohol- and drug-addled divers off the streets of Virginia Beach.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving tapped Black as one of 15 recipients of its 2009 President's Criminal Justice Award for "her thorough gathering of facts, complete knowledge of current Virginia DUI laws and her ability to convict the majority of the cases she presents." Black's supervisor, Commonwealth's Attorney for Virginia Beach Harvey Bryant also praised Black for "seeing that those who drive drunk are convicted and punished without delay.' Bryant also said that "Charisse embodies the ‘get tough’ attitude that this office has toward drunk drivers."

I am happy to add my congratulations to Black and to express my appreciation for her work. Drunk and drugged drivers cause untold tragedy in our area and across the United States. While statistics on fatalities, injuries and monetary damages caused by drivers impaired by drugs and alcohol are kept, those numbers do not come close to telling the story of how DUIs can ruin and end lives.

Prosecuting drunk and drugged drivers is only part of the solution, of cpursse. Drivers need to take responsibility and stay out their cars if they have been drinking or doing drugs. Also, as we kickoff the holiday party season, hosts and guests need to watch their friends and head off potential drunk drivers by ensuring safe rides homes for those who need them.

Until people do assume their full responsibilities, however, it is good to know that prosecutors like Black are protecting us.

About the Editors: The Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm, whose attorneys work out of offices in Virginia (VA) and North Carolina (NC), edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as pro bono services.

EJL

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rick Shapiro

Three People Injured After Virginia Beach Plane Crashes in South Carolina

Jim Lewis — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:59:48 GMT

A multi-engine Beechcraft B200 King Air airplane crashed before arriving at the runway of Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in South Carolina (SC). Three people were injured including the pilot and two individuals employed by Stevens Aviation, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

The pilot was employed by MTDR Holdings LLC, a Virginia Beach company which the airplane is registered with.

We dont know how badly the three men were injured, but I hope they pull through. As a licensed pilot, Ive always worried about the risk of a bad landing turning into a bad accident. Its terrible to hear when this scenario comes to fruition.

We know the plane hit a guardrail while trying to land, but further details regarding the accident havent been released. Well have to wait and see what the Federal Aviation Administration has to say in their accident report.

This isnt the first time this model airplane was involved in an aviation accident. Back in September a B200 crashed at Hayward Airport in California.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm (VA-NC law offices) edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono service to consumers.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jim Lewis

One Dead, Three Injured in Virginia Beach Car Accident

John Cooper — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:19:42 GMT

The driver of a 2006 Toyota Scion was traveling along Indian River Road in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) when tragedy struck. The driver turned too quickly around a curve, overcorrected, and wound up in the opposite lane hitting a Honda Odyssey in a head-on collision, according to WAVY.com.

There were three people in the Honda Odyssey – a wife, husband, and their daughter – all of whom sustained injuries from the car accident. What a nightmare to have a car coming at you the wrong way, in your lane! There is nothing the parent/driver could do, once the other driver made the grave mistake behind the wheel which set the collision sequence in motion.

This terrible incident reminds us how important it is to reduce our speed when making sharp turns around curves on the road.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm (VA-NC law offices ) edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as a pro bono service to consumers.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by John Cooper

Virginia Beach mom dies in Chesapeake crash

Jim Lewis — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:30:41 GMT

Katie Young – a Virginia Beach wife and mother of two – died Friday night when the car she was riding in collided with a second auto at Mount Pleasant Road and Stadium Drive in Chesapeake.

The death of Young, 29, is particularly tragic – a national newspaper wrote two days before her death about how her family was dealing with her recent diagnosis of Crohn’s disease.

The Young family has my deepest sympathies. They are bearing a burden no family should ever have to.

Young was a passenger in a Honda that was traveling on Stadium Drive in Chesapeake when it crossed Mount Pleasant Road. A Buick headed east on Mount Pleasant collided with the Honda, and Young was thrown clear by the force of the impact, The Virginian-Pilot reported.

Police have not yet identified the driver of either auto, and no charges have yet been announced.

The crash happened just after 11 p.m. Friday near Colon Hall Stadium and Great Bridge Middle School.

Young lived in the 3900 block of Rainbow Drive in Virginia Beach, the newspaper said. She was married to Justin Young and they had two children together: Justin, 8, and Madison, 5.

Young’s husband had recently restarted his music career – songs and more at justinyoung.com – to help pay medical bills for his wife’s Crohn’s disease.

"You look at the trials that happen in your life and say, OK, why am I going through this? What am I supposed to learn from this? Let's learn this and move on,” Justin Young told the Mormon Times before the crash. “That's how we're looking at it."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jim Lewis

Early Evidence Shows Red-Light Cameras Are Making Virginia Beach Safer

Jim Lewis — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:37:30 GMT

"Virginia Beach police say red light violations have declined at intersections that have been monitored by cameras since March," begins an Oct. 31 Virginian-Pilot article. Some intersections at which cameras operate have seen a 69 percent reduction in cars speeding through stop signals.

Having written previously about the need to enforce traffic laws at busy intersections, I was pleased to learn that drivers in the Resort City have taken to heart the not-at-all subtle reminder--and threat of being ticketed--to always stop at red lights. At the same time, a fatal accident on General Booth Boulevard in mid-October in which the driver at fault appears to have run a red light sent an even greater message that no intersection can ever be completely safe when drivers do not follow traffic laws.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety created this profile of red-light runners: "younger, less likely to use safety belts, ... poorer driving records, and drove smaller and older vehicles." Demographic data portrays the "typical" Virginia Beach resident as a 33-year-old with an annual income of just under $30,000. Seat-belt wearing behavior and driving history must be left to speculation, but the typical Beach resident seems young and at least potentially likely to own an older car-- to speed through an intersection when he or she should stop.

This is not to say that most people who live in Virginia Beach ignore stop signals. The recent reductions in red-light running shows that city residents will follow traffic laws when prompted. And that is great to know.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law, and our attorneys have handled thousands of car and truck accident cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. In addition, check out our FREE Best Guide to Car Accident injuries in Virginia and our special report on distracted driving. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), but our lawyers also hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now, and we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations. Call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as pro bono public information services.

EJL

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jim Lewis

Crash near Colonial Parkway leaves Williamsburg teen dead

Emily Mapp Brannon — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:24:04 GMT

Elizabeth Marie Shannon of Williamsburg died Tuesday night in a crash near Colonial Parkway, The Virginian-Pilot reported Wednesday.

Shannon, 19, was driving her Chevrolet Aveo south on Penniman Road when the accident happened at 9:23 p.m., a Virginia State Police spokeswoman told the newspaper.

The accident happened when Shannon went off the road and struck a cement pillar, the Daily Press of Newport News reported.

Shannon graduated from Williamsburg's Lafayette High School in 2008. Any fatal traffic accident is a tragedy, but a crash when a young life is needlessly snuffed out is doubly so.

Shannon was taken to Riverside Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead shortly after the crash.

A passenger – not publicly identified as of Wednesday afternoon – was seriously injured and airlifted to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Affitional information about her condition was unavailable.

The Virginia State Police spokeswoman said “reckless driving” caused the crash, the Daily Press said.

The crash happened in York County on a stretch of Penniman Road near the James City County-York County line.

Penniman Road has the third-highest crash rate of any location in York County, according to a 2008 York County traffic safety study. There were 23 crashes on the road from 2004 to 2006, according to the study, giving it a crash rate of 1.49 and an injury rate of 2.72.

“This high crash frequency clearly indicates that some kind of additional safety measures need to be taken at these locations,” the study concluded. I hope authorities in York County heed those words and work to make Penniman Road safer for all.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and our attorneys have handled thousands of car and truck accident cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. In addition, check out our FREE special reports on distracted driving and The Best Guide to Car Accident injuries in Virginia. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA) although our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential 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 . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service.

(MM)

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Emily Mapp Brannon

Motorcycle Crash in Chesapeake Claims a Life, Shatters Another

Emily Mapp Brannon — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:47:08 GMT

Take two motorcycles, add excessive speed and a narrow residential road lined with parked cars, and you all too often wind up with a tragedy like the one that occurred Tuesday evening in Chesapeake. Two motorcyclists speeding down Holly Cove Drive off of Airline Boulevard in the northwestern part of the city crashed into each other, slammed into a parked vehicle and flew into a concrete utility pole that snapped from the impact.

Police had not released the motorcyclists' names as of Wednesday morning, but one of the bike riders died on the scene. The other, who was not wearing a helmet, went to Sentara Norfolk Hospital with head and brain injuries.

Hampton Roads has seen more than its share of fatal motorcycle accidents this year. A large number of these accidents have resulted from unsafe riding. Riders have died after losing control of their bikes while speeding. Others have died as result of not following basic traffic rules such as always passing on the left. Too many have died after climbing onto their motorcycles while drunk. It's too early to calculate the death toll among motorcyclists in Virginia for 2009, but in 2008, nearly 90 people died in speed-related motorcycle crashes alone throughout the Commonwealth.

Motorcyclists already face risks of serious and fatal collisions with much larger vehicles on the road. Bike riders do not need to increase their risks for injury and death by operating their motorcycles in unsafe ways.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law, and our attorneys have handled thousands of car and truck accident cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. In addition, check out our FREE special reports on distracted driving and The Best Guide to Car Accident Injuries in Virginia. Our primary office is in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), but our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now, and we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations. Call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as pro bono public information services.

EJL

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Emily Mapp Brannon

New GPS-Based Software May Be One Solution to Texting & Driving Epidemic

Rick Shapiro — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:09:00 GMT

The controversy surrounding texting while driving is not only a local Virginia (VA) and Carolina (NC/SC) issue but has received national attention as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood described texting while driving as an epidemic.

A summit was held to address the issue of distracted driving and virtually everyone in attendance was trying to figure out a way to prevent texting while you’re behind the wheel of a car. Well, Michael Adler of a company called Websafety may have developed one high tech solution: software which will disable texting capabilities on a cell phone when driving over 10 m.p.h. by accessing GPS technology and calculating vehicle speed. This texting disabling technology sounded intriguing so I interviewed a Websafety representative to learn more about this high tech method using GPS technology to disable texting.

Q. Tell me about your company, how long has it existed and did your company invent this technology?

A. Websafety has been developing the Websafety Software for the past three years. The product has been available formally for less than 30 days. Yes, Michael Adler, the founder of Websafety, out of Dallas, Texas developed the software.

Q. How does a user implement your product?

A. Once the user buys a year subscription, the user downloads the software through the Websafety website-back office.

Q. Are you selling this to individual users or to cell phone companies, or both?

A. Both - our mission is to stop the use of cell phones in moving vehicles through all different means-as quickly as possible to reduce the amount of deaths caused by text messaging while driving.

Q. Can you tell me about any companies or areas using your products and how it is working?

A. So far we are having great success because Websafety is committed to successful downloading and fulfillment of the software.

Q. What does it cost per user?

A. Depending on the amount of computers and cell phones a family wants protected, anywhere from $149 to $499 per year.

Q. Where can someone learn more about Websafety?

A. www.mywebsafety.com/kidsafe

Hopefully, as awareness surrounding distracted driving continues to grow, technology addressing such issues like texting while driving will be made widely available and we can take a step forward in improving driver safety across the nation. Until then, be sure to read more on Websafety and check out our law firm’s special report on distracted driving. It seems to me that large cell phone companies should enable a monthly fee service to disable texting while a vehicle is moving even at 5 mph! What careful parent would not pay a small fee to assure that their teenager using a cell phone on their account must act responsibly?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Rick Shapiro

Virginia investigators studying boat collisions

Jim Lewis — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:11:17 GMT

Virginia authorities are crashing boats – on purpose.

The collisions are part of an effort to learn more about how recreational boat collisions happen and how to prevent them, the AP reported.

"It gives officers a chance to see it, because very few times do police officers have the opportunity to witness a traffic crash, let alone a boat collision," Jim Getz, a coordinator for the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, told the AP.

The controlled collisions happened in September on an isolated part of the James River near Richmond. The collisions were recorded and photographed, with materials to be disseminated across the country.

Recreational boat accidents are an ever-present danger in Hampton Roads, and I support any efforts to make boating safer. In May, my colleague David Hurt wrote about a boat capsizing near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, an incident that left one man dead and another injured.

And my colleague Emily Mapp Brannon wrote less than a month ago that boating accidents were steeply rising throughout Virginia.

In 2008, 709 people died in recreational boating accidents, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Of those 709, 60 were killed in collisions. Another 856 people were hurt in collisions.

In the latest project, 12 pairs of boats were crashed into each other. All were donated and were crashed by remote control.

"It is a complex, very dynamic event, and the only way to fully understand it is to study actual collisions, where you know what actually happened and can carefully examine the aftermath," accident investigator and consultant Miles Beam told the AP.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law and we have experience handling wrongful death cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. Our primary office in based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA). Our attorneys have handled numerous wrongful death cases and we understand the difficult circumstances which accompany these types of cases. Our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now—we provide free initial confidential 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 . Furthermore, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono public information service.

(MM)

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jim Lewis