Our roads can be a tale of two worlds, in large cities and near D.C., traffic can be extreme, but in more rural areas, traffic is much lighter. However, regardless of the congestion, Virginia roads can be dangerous, even when we pull over and put our hazards on. A recent accident provides a scary example.
The crash
According to Virginia State Police, a multi-vehicle crash resulted in the death of a 74-year-old woman Saturday evening, a bit after 10:00 p.m. The three-vehicle collision occurred on the northbound lanes of I-664 in Newport News, south of Terminal Avenue.
The woman’s vehicle ran out of gas, and as a result, she pulled over in the left shoulder, but was partially in the left lane. She put her hazard lights on and exited the vehicle. Her passenger stayed in the vehicle.
The driver then proceeded to wave people to slow down and use caution. However, as another vehicle exited the tunnel, it struck the BMW. This pushed the vehicle back into traffic, where it was struck by another vehicle. Unfortunately, the passenger was not wearing her seatbelt during these two impacts and died at the scene.
No one else suffered non-life threatening injuries. And, the VSP is still investigating the accident.
After the crash
In this case, liability will likely fall to the car that came out of the tunnel and crashed into the rear of the out-of-gas vehicle. This means that the passenger’s family that she leaves behind can file a wrongful death case against that driver.
The wrongful death case will be for all the damages that driver caused the deceased and her family. This includes pain and suffering, loss of income, among many others. These types of lawsuits can be complicated though, which is why they should contact an attorney immediately.
