According to recent published reports from the Associated Press, a Georgia family had 4 people killed when their car went off Interstate 81 near Salem, Virginia (VA), and overturned. According to the Virginia State Police, the wreck occurred in the early morning hours.
These 4 highway fatalities happened only a half a day after 3 other people died in a head on collision in Bedford County, Virginia (VA). The wreck in Bedford County took the lives of residents of Salem, Virginia (VA), and Vinton, Virginia (VA).
One Virginia State Police official was quoted as saying that “not wearing seatbelts was a partial cause of the catastrophic results” in one of these vehicle wrecks. Often wearing your seatbelt can be the difference between a serious injury and losing your life in a major wreck. In a Virginia (VA) personal injury lawsuit, it is inadmissible that the injured person was not wearing his seat belt. When my client is wearing his seat belt in an auto accident case, I, as the injury lawyer, can tell the jury that.
Being killed in an automobile accident is more common than you might think. Sometimes accidents will happen even if all the drivers are using their best efforts to pay attention to the road and driving defensively. As a personal injury lawyer from Norfolk, Virginia who handles cases including in Virginia (VA), western Virginia (VA), and West Virginia (WV), I encourage motorist to do everything in their power to protect themselves and their families from these tragedies, including buckling up.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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