In Virginia Beach, Hampton and Norfolk, Virginia (VA), we pass them on almost a daily basis and may not give them a second thought. Who am I talking about? VDOT workers — those men and woman in orange vets who toil outside in the heat, cold and dark to make our roads safer and better.
As a Virginia personal injury attorney, I have seen injuries in work zones all along I-64 and know just how seriously injured road workers can be when a distracted motorist slams into them.
Early on the morning of August 23, 2011, three VDOT workers were finishing up their long shift when a driver suspected of driving drunk and speeding veered into their closed lane and struck the truck the workers were in. The crew members are now seriously injured from the car accident.
It doesn’t surprise me to hear that the driver was allegedly under the influence. The work zone was clearly marked. The at-fault driver of the car was injured as well as two of his passengers. What a shame that five people are now suffering injuries that may impact them for the rest of their life because of the careless and reckless act of one person.
I urge everyone to drive safely in work zones. The men and women out there deserve to be able to do their job without fearing death or injury. So slow down and resist distracted driving caused by talking on your cell phone when approaching a work zone on a road or highway.
The victims in this case will most likely all be filing claims against the one driver’s insurance policy, and that may be a problem depending on how much coverage the person carries. This could very well spill over to the victims’ own insurance as it becomes a case of uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. We have answered so many questions in cases like these that we have created a free guide Best Guide to Car Accident Injuries in Virginia.
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About the Editors: The Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm, which has 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.
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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