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Richmond Accident Attorney: Weather Factors Into Interstate Highway Accidents

Teenagers and the elderly are often thought of as the most prone to having vehicle accidents. However, that is not necessarily so. Inexperience or slowed reflexes many times do factor in car crashes, but Virginia State Police statistics disclose that the drivers in more than half the accidents reported every year are in the "prime of life."

Even highly trained and experienced drivers get involved in traffic accidents on Virginia's interstate highways, especially those that are heavily traveled and often congested, such as I-95, I-295, and I-64 in and around Richmond. Especially when the weather is foul, obstructing visibility and lessening traction and control. This is what happened recently in Southwest Virginia when a State Police Trooper ran into the rear of a tractor trailer while responding to an accident on I-81 when his car hit a patch of standing water and hydroplaned. Though his "gray and blue" was totaled, the Trooper fortunately escaped with non-life threatening injuries.

Exercise Care on Virginia's I-95 Near Richmond

Virginia Accident Attorney Warns Against Rubber- Necking

Rubber-necking is dangerous, especially on Virginia's congested and bumpy interstates around Richmond. Among the most frequent causes of traffic accidents in Virginia in 2006 and 2007 was "driver distraction," according to reports of the Virginia State Police. Virginia accident attorneys know this, especially if they have been practicing long enough.

If you travel frequently on I-95, I-64, or I-295 in and aroound Richmond you will regularly see a crash or two. And if you are like most folks, you will slow down to get a better look as you pass the scene. But that is not the thing to do. You could be setting yourself up for involvement in a potentially fatal accident of your own. This happen just a few months ago on I-95.

A fiery crash along Interstate 95 in Prince George County in Virginia left person one dead, seven injured and snarled traffic for miles. State Police Sgt. Tom Cunningham said the Monday morning crash closed both northbound and southbound lanes of the highway.

Cunningham said the mess began when a car blew a tire and pulled off into the median. He said motorists in the southbound lane slowed to look at the disabled vehicle and a tractor trailer hauling sand plowed into several of the vehicles.