Fairfax & Loudoun Personal Injury Lawyer - drunk driving

Car & Driver reports: Texting more dangerous than driving drunk

Doug Landau — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:23:00 GMT

Car & Driver reports: Texting while operating a car or truck is more dangerous than driving drunk. Aldie, Prince William and Loudoun County car crash lawyer Doug Landau notes that a study by Car and Driver magazine demonstrated that texting while driving can be even more dangerous than driving while drunk.

ABRAMS LANDAU trial attorney Landau also observes that all of the driving in the Car and Driver study was done in a straight line on an 11,800-foot runway. After conducting the texting tests on both subjects at 35 and 70 miles per hour, the subjects then drank alcoholic beverages until they reached the legal driving limit of 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content. Then, they went back behind the wheel and ran the identical test without any texting distractions. The results showed that even on a straight road without any traffic, road signals, or pedestrians, and looking just at reaction times, the texting results were even worse than the alcoholic impairment results. The lesson to be learned: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TEXT AND OPERATE A MOTOR VEHICLE. BE SAFE. BE SMART. PULL OVER AND TEXT.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Who is to blame? - Negligent Entrustment

Doug Landau — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:00:27 GMT

“An unfit driver borrowed a friend’s car and hit me. Can I sue the friends for putting him behind the wheel?”

In a recent Arlington Circuit Court case, the defendant allegedly knew that the 17-year-old, who was entrusted with her vehicle, was an inexperienced driver on a restricted license due to her speeding and racing habits. The plaintiff, who was injured by the unfit driver in an accident, brought a negligent entrustment case against the car owner to court.

Negligent entrustment in these cases can arise where a parent lends or "entrusts" a car (or other dangerous machinery) to an underage or unfit person, and that person causes injury to an innocent victim.

In this claim, the plaintiff must prove that

The defendant expressly or impliedly permitted the driver to drive his or her vehicle
The driver was an unfit driver
*The defendant knew or should have known the driver was unfit
*The driver was negligent as a result of the unfitness
*The driver’s negligence was a proximate cause of the plaintiffs’ injuries.

In the Arlington case, the court ruled in favor of the defendants, and therefore, the car owners did not have to pay even though the plaintiff had evidence that entrusting their friend with a vehicle, when they knew the friend was a bad driver, was the reason the driver caused the accident.

The best way to determine what claims can be made (and won) and who may be responsible for your losses is by consulting an experienced trial lawyer.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Drunk Driver Pleads "Not Guilty" in Cyclists Death

Doug Landau — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:57:00 GMT

Are a few beers worth taking the life of a cyclist?

Last Saturday, a young man was driving drunk when he struck a bicyclist and then quickly fled the scene, according to police. The cyclist, a 47 year-old male taking part in the28th annual E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park triathlon, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver, who had a previous DUI (driving under the influence) charge, plead "not guilty" during his arraignment Monday. The long list of charges consisted of:

- murder
- drunken driving
- assault on a police officer
- fleeing and resisting arrest
- leaving the scene of an accident
- operating a vehicle under a suspended license.

But, unless there is a guilty plea, the citation given by the police to the defendant drunk driver may not be used in Court in the civil personal injury trial. In this case, since the driver is pleading not guilty, it is important for the injured biker's lawyers to do their own, independent investigation into the facts of the case. This should be done as soon as possible, and a transcript from the Traffic Court Hearing should be arranged and paid for in advance. Although the police citation cannot be used, the transcript can be used, since the testimony is under oath, and there may be witness testimony that could help the biker’s wrongful death case.

One of the problems in a case where there are no witnesses, or one party involved is killed is it becomes very difficult to prove the facts of the accident. So it is vital that the lawyer investigates the scene and gets a hold of any witnesses, before the driver’s traffic court hearing.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Why we <3 (LOVE) to text

Danielle Landau — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 12:12:00 GMT

USA Today did a snapshot with the following reasons we like to text…

- Convenient for basic information
- Works where talking won’t do
- Quicker than calling
- Easier when facing arguments
- Dislike phone conversations
- Great for flirting

We at Abrams Landau, LTD. have come up with our own list of texting facts

Texting while driving is stupid because…

- It distracts you
- Your Grandma would think your spelling is HORRENDOUS
- You could crash your car and break your cell phone
- If it is something urgent it is easy to PULL OVER, and then call the person on a hands free device and chat the day away
- You could hit someone else and injure or kill them and their passengers. You, and perhaps your company, parents or household could also be held liable to pay damages.

I think we can all agree that texting is a fun form of communication. But at the same time, any flirtatious message can turn ugly if a car crash results from a driver who was distracted due to texting.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Danielle Landau

July 4th, 562 crashes for VA State Police, 10 dead

Doug Landau — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:12:34 GMT

A bicyclist in Henrico County Virginia died on July 4th from injuries sustained when he was struck by a car. Another fatality involved a motorcyclist in Chesterfield County.

According to the Richmond Times Dispatch: of the ten vehicular deaths alcohol was a factor in four of the crashes. Seven of the crash victims were not wearing safety belts.

Over seven thousand tickets were issued for speeding by State police and over two thousand drivers were cited for reckless driving.

I love being a "Yankee Doodle Dandy-born on the fourth of July" but the harsh statistics of every independence weekend remind me to revisit the safety laws in Virginia. Only 7 days ago the text messaging ban for all drivers in the state was activated. Rules do change, and as technology advances, new laws are brought into being in order to protect us all.

The table below is a representation of some of Virginia's newest driver safety laws:

Sources: National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and State Highway Safety Offices.

Cell Phone Driving Laws
Handheld Ban	All Cell Phone Ban		Text Messaging Ban			Enforcement	Crash Data Collected	Pre Pre- emptionemption Law
	School Bus Drivers	Novice Drivers	All Drivers	School Bus Drivers	Novice Drivers
	Yes	<18	Yes	Covered under all driver ban	Covered under all driver ban	Secondary (primary for school bus)	Yes

My sincerest condolences go out to the families of those injured or killed this July fourth. As a father of four children who are all now old enough to drive, I worry constantly that the rules of the road are not enough to protect them. My kids can text at a rate faster than most typists, so it must be tempting to check and respond to all of those alerts. When families come to me for legal help after the death or injury of a loved one, one of the first things we do at Abrams Landau is investigate the at fault driver's record. We then investigate the accident itself, one of my first questions is always why did the accident occur. Why was the driver distracted? Was it alcohol, text messaging, dialing a phone?

I have represented families where children were injured when a parent simply looked away, or bent over to retrieve a pacifier. Driving is difficult and dangerous enough. Please don't add to it by texting, or even dialing numbers on a cell phone. These laws are written to protect us. Please obey the laws. And please wear safety belts-they really do save lives.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Doug Landau

Drunk Driving and Punitive Damages

Lauren Holtzman — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:12:06 GMT

Alcohol-related traffic fatalities went down in 2006 to 36% (from 41% in 2002). However, the scourge of drunk driveing is not solved yet. One of the biggest issues with an case involving a drunken defendant is obtaining punitive damages.

Virginia allows for punitive damages if the defendant had a blood alcohol level (BAC) of more than .15 - as a reference, .08 is the legal limit. The problem many plaintiffs encountered, however, was getting expert testimony into evidence concerning the BAC of the defendant. Many courts would not allow this testimony as it was based on averages of medical data and not the specific metabolism of the defendant.

In a recent ruling, a Virginia Court allowed the expert testimony concerning the Defendant’s blood alcohol level when it was based on outside limits of human absorption. The Motion to Dismiss was denied. Diminick v. Pike (VLW 009-8-024).

In a case of this nature, it is important you seek an attorney’s advice quickly.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Lauren Holtzman

Fairfax & Loudoun Personal Injury Lawyer - drunk driving

Car & Driver reports: Texting more dangerous than driving drunk

Who is to blame? - Negligent Entrustment

Drunk Driver Pleads "Not Guilty" in Cyclists Death

Why we <3 (LOVE) to text

July 4th, 562 crashes for VA State Police, 10 dead

Handheld Ban

All Cell Phone Ban

Text Messaging Ban

Enforcement

Crash Data Collected

Pre- emptionemption Law

School Bus Drivers

Novice Drivers

All Drivers

School Bus Drivers

Novice Drivers

Drunk Driving and Punitive Damages

Crash
Data
Collected

Pre-
emptionemption
Law