Memorial Day means something different in Hampton than it does in most places. With the military presence here, just about everyone has a name to remember. The cemeteries fill up. The flags come out. The boardwalk hosts its annual ceremonies. For a lot of families in this region, the holiday is personal in a way it isn't elsewhere.
What gets less attention is the other side of the weekend. The three days after the ceremonies are among the most dangerous of the year on American roads. The National Safety Council estimated 443 traffic deaths during the 2025 Memorial Day holiday period, which stretched from 6 p.m. Friday, May 23, through 11:59 p.m. Monday, May 26. The alcohol numbers are even worse. During Memorial Day 2023, 39 percent of fatal crashes involved an alcohol-impaired driver. On a typical day, that number is 30 percent.
Our Norfolk car accident lawyers see the fallout every year. The patterns don't change much. More cars on the road, more drinking at gatherings, more long drives by people who haven't slept enough, more tourists who don't know the area. An injury lawyer who handles holiday crashes regularly can tell you what kinds of cases tend to come in on Tuesday morning after Memorial Day, and the predictability of it never stops being grim.
Why the Increase in Crashes?
As the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day weekend signals the beginning of warmer weather, outdoor activities, and road trips for many Americans. Families and friends gather for barbecues, picnics, and other festivities, often involving travel by car. The combination of higher traffic volume with factors like alcohol consumption, fatigue, and distracted driving creates a perfect storm for accidents on the roads.
Heavy Travel
One of the primary contributors to the heightened risk of car accidents during Memorial Day weekend is the surge in travel. Millions of people take to the roads to visit loved ones, vacation destinations, or simply enjoy a scenic drive. Anyone who has tried to cross the HRBT on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend knows what this looks like locally. Traffic on I-64, I-264, and I-664 hits some of its worst congestion of the year. The Monitor-Merrimac backs up. Construction zones that were minor inconveniences in April become genuine hazards over the holiday. Most fender-bender weekends in Hampton Roads happen because too many cars are trying to use too few lanes at the same time.
Alcohol
Alcohol consumption is another significant factor in Memorial Day weekend car accidents. With many gatherings involving alcohol, there's a heightened risk of impaired driving. Despite widespread awareness campaigns and law enforcement efforts to combat drunk driving, it remains a persistent problem during holidays like Memorial Day. According to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, the state sees roughly 7,000 alcohol-related crashes each year, resulting in over 4,000 injuries and about 250 fatalities. Even a small amount of alcohol can impair judgment, coordination, and reaction times, making it dangerous to operate a vehicle.
Fatigue
Fatigue is also a contributing factor to Memorial Day weekend car accidents. Long road trips, irregular sleep schedules, and increased activity can lead to driver fatigue, impairing concentration and alertness behind the wheel. Many travelers underestimate the effects of fatigue on driving ability, putting themselves and others at risk of accidents, especially during long stretches of highway driving. Researchers have found that being awake for 20 hours produces impairment roughly equivalent to driving with a blood alcohol level at the legal limit. Drivers don't realize how compromised they are until something happens.
Distractions
Distractions further exacerbate the risk of car accidents during Memorial Day weekend. With more people on the roads, there's a greater chance of encounters with distracted drivers. Whether it's texting, talking on the phone, adjusting the radio, or attending to children in the backseat, distractions divert attention from the task of driving and increase the likelihood of collisions. Virginia made it illegal to hold a phone while driving back in 2021. Plenty of people still do it anyway.
Inexperienced Drivers
Memorial Day weekend often sees an influx of inexperienced or infrequent drivers on the roads, including tourists heading to the Oceanfront, the Outer Banks, and the Eastern Shore. Lack of familiarity with traffic patterns, road conditions, and local regulations can contribute to accidents, especially when combined with other risk factors like alcohol or distractions. Anyone who drives in Sandbridge or down Route 13 on a holiday weekend has seen the out-of-state plates moving in unpredictable ways. The boardwalk area gets the worst of it.
Consequences of Crashes
The consequences of Memorial Day weekend car accidents extend far beyond the immediate loss of life and property damage. Families are left devastated by the sudden and preventable loss of loved ones. Survivors of accidents may face long-term physical and emotional challenges, including disabilities, chronic pain, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The economic toll of Memorial Day weekend accidents is also substantial, encompassing medical expenses, property damage, lost wages, and increased insurance premiums. Moreover, the societal cost of traffic fatalities and injuries extends to emergency response services, healthcare systems, and the justice system.
Various initiatives have been implemented to promote safer driving behaviors in response to the heightened risks during Memorial Day weekend. Law enforcement agencies often increase patrols and conduct sobriety checkpoints to deter drunk driving. Public awareness campaigns, including the Virginia State Police's Click It or Ticket campaign, remind drivers to stay vigilant, avoid distractions, and practice responsible behaviors behind the wheel.
What Makes Virginia Cases Harder Than They Should Be
Even cases where fault looks obvious can fall apart in Virginia. The state still uses contributory negligence, an old rule that says if you bear any blame at all for the crash, you can't recover anything from the other driver. Doesn't matter if it's one percent. Doesn't matter if the other driver was drunk. If a jury or an adjuster decides you contributed to what happened, the claim is done.
Most states ditched this rule decades ago and replaced it with comparative negligence, which reduces what you recover based on your share of fault but doesn't wipe out the case entirely. Virginia held onto contributory negligence, and insurance defense lawyers know how to use it. They look for any sliver of fault on the injured person's part. Were they speeding by even a couple of miles per hour? Were they slow to brake? Did they look down for a second? Each of those becomes a potential argument to defeat the whole claim.
Drunk driving cases come with some legal tools that help even the odds. Under Virginia Code Section 8.01-418, if the drunk driver pleads guilty in criminal court, that plea can come into evidence in the civil case. That's a significant boost. There's also the punitive damages piece. When the driver had a BAC of 0.15 or higher, or refused breath or blood testing, Virginia law treats the conduct as willful and wanton, which opens the door to punitive damages on top of regular compensation. Those damages are capped at $350,000 in most situations, but they can substantially raise what a victim ultimately recovers and they're meant to punish the kind of behavior that puts people in the hospital on a holiday weekend.
Call Our Norfolk Personal Injury Law Firm for Legal Assistance
If you or a loved one suffered injuries in a Memorial Day crash, contact a Norfolk car accident lawyer at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp to schedule a free consultation and find out what legal recourse you may have for financial compensation. Our firm is dedicated to getting our clients the compensation they deserve, which is why our attorneys have recovered more than $100 million in settlements and verdicts.
Our attorneys have helped serious crash victims and their families recover meaningful awards, including a $2.86 million settlement for a highway worker who lost both legs after being struck by a drunk driver on Interstate 264 in Norfolk.
Call Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp at 833-997-1774 to set up a free consultation. Our firm has offices in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Hampton, Norfolk, and Chesapeake, and we represent injured people across Hampton Roads.
