Highway back ups, backing up and U-turns all cause crashes, injuries and death on the interstate
Having represented innocent victims injured by drivers who back up, switch lanes without signalling or make illegal “U-turns” on I-95 and I-395, Doug Landau has seen first-hand the devastation “going against the flow of traffic” can bring. The Alexandria and Fairfax County Interstate car crash lawyer recently became aware of a settlement in a case where the Defendant driver was driving in reverse on the highway ! The plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle on I-95 in Chesterfield County, Virginia. The Defendant was operating her own vehicle on I-95, but was going in reverse in an attempt to find an exit because traffic in front of her had come to a stop.
The Defendant’s vehicle struck the vehicle in which the Plaintiff was a passenger. Plaintiff’s family brought the wrongful death case in order to seek compensation from the negligent driver. The decedent was severely injured as the result of the impact and spent several days in the hospital. The injured crash victim developed catastrophic complications from which she died two weeks later. Plaintiffs alleged negligence by the defendant driver for the careless operation of her vehicle and the wrongful death of decedent. Defendant admitted liability (fault) and agreed to settlement in the amount of $850,000. It is important to note that As the result of the severe traumatic injuries and catastrophic complications the Plaintiff died 13 days after the accident and was survived by five adult children. Landau notes the tragedy of the injured crash victim not seeing the case result, however, a wrongful death action such as this enables the grieving dependents and loved ones to seek restitution from the guilty party. Just because the plaintiff dies before trial does not mean that the negligent driver gets to avoid personal responsibility for their actions.