Claims Consultant Chris Cloude

Author: Chris Cloude

We are now well into summer and that means traveling to the beaches, mountains or your other favorite destination. Before you ever leave the driveway, however, there are several steps that you can take to make your trip safer. There are also steps you can take while driving that will ensure your safety.

1. Plan your trip and go over your route prior to leaving home. Allow time for stops. Do not rush. It is better to arrive at your destination a little bit later than not at all.
2. Visually check your vehicle. Before a long trip, take your vehicle to your mechanic to have the cooling system, fluid levels and air conditioning system checked.
3. Just prior to leaving, check your tire pressure to verify the pressure is at the level recommended by the tire manufacturer. (Most tires have the recommended maximum pressure molded into the side of the tire). If your tires are improperly inflated, the results can range from poor fuel mileage to – in a worst case scenario – a sudden blowout. If you are towing a trailer, it is important to check the pressure in the trailer tires as well. In addition, make sure the bearings in the trailer tires are properly greased. Many vacations have been brought to an abrupt halt – or worse – by burned out bearings on a trailer.
4. Carry flares in your vehicle in case you do suffer a flat tire or mechanical failure. If you have to pull off of the roadway, make sure you pull off a safe distance from the travel lanes and light flares to alert other motorists. If there is a limited distance to pull off, then get everyone out of the car and wait further off the roadway for help to arrive.
5. Keep your cell phone available and fully charged in case you need to call for emergency help.
6. Most importantly, use common sense when traveling and be a courteous driver. Avoid cellphone use, eating, drinking or other distractions while you are driving. PA attention and leave a safe following distance.

These tips should help you have an enjoyable road trip and arrive at your destination safely.

Have a happy and safe summer!

About the Author: Chris Cloude is a claims consulting with the Virginia personal injury law firm of Allen & Allen. Working under the supervision of Fredericksburg car accident attorney Edward Allen, Chris helps clients handle their personal injury claims.

Trailer Accident Statistics

Authors: Bill Bootwright & Attorney Courtney Allen Van Winkle

Utility trailers are one of the most overlooked dangers on the highway today. These types of trailers are designed for general use and are usually towed by a motor vehicle. Recreational travel trailers, horse trailers, small box trailers, and van trailers are all examples of utility trailers. The danger arises when utility vehicles are not well marked or when they become unattached from the towing vehicle.

Our Hometown Hero, Ron Melancon, has first hand experience with the potential hazards of utility trailers on the highway. In May of 2003, Ron rear-ended an empty, steel-mesh trailer. The trailer was so low-slung and transparent that he could only see the truck towing it. Although Ron was encouraged to just pay the fine, he decided to pursue the matter further by conducting his own research regarding trailers. Ron discovered that only trailers over 3,000 lbs. fell within the federal guidelines which require reflectors at the “extreme rear-end of the trailer.” Further research proved that inadequate reflectors were only part of the problem. Many trailer accidents, some resulting in deaths, were caused by faulty safety connections and/or failure of safety chains between the trailer and the car or truck.

Armed with this knowledge, Ron approached his Delegate, John Reid, who agreed to sponsor a bill requiring all trailers to have reflective tape or reflectors, providing the necessary depth perception. With the help of State Senator John Watkins, House Bill 429 passed the General Assembly and was signed into law in April, 2004.

Ron didn’t stop there. He looked to address accidents caused by faulty safety connections and/or safety chains. He again crusaded vigorously to urge the Virginia legislature to require suitable strength safety chains or similar reliable devices, to accompany a trailer (even if it weighs less than 3,000 lbs) being pulled by a car or truck. This requirement would prevent these trailers from becoming missiles directed toward on-coming vehicles. State Senator Watkins agreed to sponsor the new trailer safety bill. Because of Ron’s tenacity and solid support from Senator Watkins, SB 646 was signed into law on April 11, 2010 by Governor Bob McDonnell. This bill provides that all registered trailers must be provided with a locking device that prevents accidental separation of trailer and vehicle.

You can learn more about Ron’s work at www.dangeroustrailers.org. Because of Ron’s tireless efforts, our highways are much safer for our families to travel.

About the Authors: Bill Bootwright is a claims consultant in the Mechanicsville branch of the personal injury law firm of Allen and Allen. A former insurance adjuster, Bill works under the supervision of attorney Christopher A. Meyers to assist clients with their personal injury claims. Courtney Van Winkle is a Richmond car accident attorney with almost 20 years of experience. As a partner with Allen & Allen, concentrates her practice on accidents involving cars, tractor trailers, brain injury and wrongful death claims.

Personal injury attorney George E. Allen, III

Author: Attorney George E. Allen, III

This past summer, I read a newspaper article announcing that the State of Virginia was closing many of its highway rest stops because of the State’s budget shortfall. A few weeks later as I drove along Virginia’s major thoroughfare, Interstate 95, I observed that all but one or two of the rest stops between the North Carolina border and Washington, D.C., had been closed. Big orange cans blocked the entrances.

For a Virginia personal injury attorney who has represented victims of hundreds of truck and car accidents over the past three decades, this was upsetting news. I had recently handled and eventually tried a tragic case in a Henrico County court. The college student I represented suffered extensive injuries when he was involved in a single vehicle collision on Interstate 64. Along with his fencing teammates, he was traveling to an intercollegiate game in the coach’s car. His coach fell asleep at the wheel, and the . car veered off the roadway and crashed into a tree. One student was killed, and another student, like my client, was badly injured.

Because of the closure of the majority of Virginia’s highway rest stops, I am concerned there are likely to be more accidents caused by sleepy drivers like the fencing team coach in my case. We’ve had state owned and operated rest stops since the inauguration of the interstate highway system in the 1950s. These facilities provide an essential service for all drivers and their passengers. There are rest rooms available, picnic tables where families can eat, vending machines for coffee and soft drinks, and walkways where drivers and passengers can stretch their legs and get some fresh air.

The most important thing rest stops offer, however, is a place where tired drivers can exit the highway safely, rest, get a cup of coffee, and even take a nap when necessary. Many rest stops also have special sections that accommodate tractor-trailer trucks whose drivers often drive at night and are frequently sleep deprived because of their heavy and sometimes unpredictable work schedules. With the closing of these rest stops, I am certain there will be more tired drivers on the interstate highways and a greatly increased safety hazard – resulting in more catastrophic, high speed crashes.

For years, driving studies have confirmed that sleepiness is a primary factor in many off-road accidents. As long ago as the early 1990s, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated that driver drowsiness and fatigue contributed to cause as many as 100,000 crashes every year. During that same time period, NHTSA concluded that over 1500 people were killed annually in accidents caused by sleep deprived drivers. In fact, these figures may be low because states follow different accident reporting practices, and many drivers refuse to admit they fell asleep at the wheel before an accident.

You’ve probably seen drowsy drivers on the road yourself, even though you may not have realized it at the time. To explain, I will use some technical terms and phrases adopted by traffic safety experts to describe the dangerous driving behavior of some sleepy drivers.

When you observe “lane excursions” (drivers who travel beyond their lane boundaries when not making a lane change), “lateral placement variance” (the square of the standard deviation of lateral placement averaged over 100 meter segments — best known as “weaving” back and forth within one travel lane), and “steering wheel position variance” (slumping over or near the wheel), you’re probably looking at a driver who has fallen asleep. Needless to say, you want to keep a safe distance from vehicle operators engaged in any of these driving behaviors.

In recent years, rumble strips and other highway design aids have been used to warn or awaken drivers who fall asleep while driving. Unfortunately, these aids don’t always rouse a driver fast enough to ensure he can take quick action to avoid a crash. Often on being awakened by one of these aids, a sleepy driver will overreact and cause a crash anyway.

Let’s hope auto manufacturers will soon design an early detection warning system to alert a driver that he is falling asleep and is becoming a danger to himself and others. One of the best things that could happen, however, is for the State to reopen its highway rest stops as soon as possible. Sleepy drivers need convenient places to stop on the highway so they can rest before continuing their journeys. Whenever a drowsy driver takes time for a much needed break, the rest of us are all the safer for it!

About the Author: Ted Allen is a Richmond personal injury attorney with the law firm of Allen & Allen. For over 35 years, Mr. Allen has handled cases involving highway accidents and tractor trailer accidents for Virginia clients.

Personal injury attorney George E. Allen, III

When I settled a case recently, I was reminded just how dangerous highway construction work sites can be for passing motorists – and in so many different ways. In my case, the accident happened around noon in a construction zone on Interstate 70 near Terre Haute, Indiana as the family I represented was returning to Virginia in a motor home after taking a summer vacation trip. At the time of the accident, the left (passing) lane of I-70 was closed, and construction workers had directed traffic from the passing lane to the right lane. As a result, my family’s vehicle was stopped in a long line of traffic waiting to merge into the single right lane.

Well before the merge point, there were signs warning of the merger ahead. An electronic message arrow board stood beside the roadway directing traffic to the right, and of course, there were the usual orange traffic cones leading up to the point of lane closure. Despite all these safety precautions, a Roadway Express tractor-trailer, hauling twin trailers and weighing almost 80,000 pounds, failed to stop and drove into the rear of and over a stopped pickup truck, lodging the pickup under the front of the tractor.

With the pickup still underneath, the Roadway Express truck continued moving forward, running into a Ford Taurus before it slammed into the rear of the motor home causing the cabinetry inside to fall off the walls and onto my 11-year-old client. The motor home caught fire. In a dramatic rescue, my client’s parents found their daughter trapped under debris inside the burning RV and managed to evacuate her just before the motor home exploded. My client’s injuries in this work zone / construction zone accident were catastrophic.

Statistics document the dangers associated with driving through highway work projects. According to the Federal Highway Safety Administration, in 2007 there were 835 fatalities and 40,000 injuries in work zones. Over 80% of the fatalities were motorists. The most common type of work zone accident is the rear-end crash where a vehicle strikes the rear of a stopped or slower vehicle. Fatal crashes are most likely to occur on roads with speed limits of 50 mph or higher.

Now that the interstate highway system is 50 years old, states are undertaking more highway projects to improve and repair our highway infrastructure. The federal stimulus package also included funds for more highway projects. At the same time, traffic congestion is intensifying as more vehicles take to the road. Additional traffic and more highway construction has been a dangerous combination.

What makes for a safer ride through highway construction sites? First, there is no substitute for driver awareness. When you drive, minimize distractions and devote your complete attention to the road ahead. Don’t change the radio station, eat, or use your cell phone. A work zone can be confusing if you are not paying close attention.

• Be alert for all signs. Reduce speed when warned. If you see heavy congestion ahead, slow down even more.
• Detours are especially hazardous. Often they take you along narrow, curving, and shifting lanes, with temporary speed limits and merging traffic.
• Be prepared to stop quickly, while carefully observing traffic, brake lights, and conditions ahead. And no tailgating! When first approaching a highway construction site, allow yourself more distance for slowing quickly when necessary. Also carefully monitor the traffic beside you, and be alert to react if a vehicle suddenly moves or merges into your travel lane.
• Vehicles and equipment associated with the work site are also potential hazards (e.g., earth moving equipment, police cars, or other service vehicles with flashing lights). These vehicles may enter travel lanes with or without flaggers.
• Traffic patterns often change in construction zones, so be alert for signs that announce such changes.
  My recent Indiana case demonstrates the dangers of merge zones. Many crashes occur when motorists merge from a closing lane into another. When you see signs indicating lane merger ahead, do so well before your lane closes, and leave a safe following distance.

As my clients found out, large trucks are a particular hazard. Approximately 30 percent of all work zone crashes involve large trucks. The stopping distance required for a large truck traveling at 55 mph is almost 50 percent greater than the distance a car needs to stop. If a truck driver follows too closely and you need to slow down or stop suddenly, there is no way he will stop in time. Studies show that, on average, a tractor trailer in good condition travelling 55 miles per hour on a level, dry stretch of highway will require about 313 feet to stop. (Va. Code sec. 46.2-880). That’s over a football field!

What can you do to reduce the risk of being hit by a large truck? Your options are limited because traffic is usually congested in construction zones and it’s difficult to control what is happening behind you. Just do your best to drive defensively. Don’t slow down or stop suddenly unless necessary. To the extent you can control the distance between you and the vehicle ahead, slow down to lengthen the space. This lessens the risk of your hitting the vehicle ahead if you are rear ended by a truck, or if you have to slow or stop abruptly yourself. One of the most dangerous places for you to be is sandwiched between two tractor trailers. Avoid this whenever possible.

Also avoid, to the extent possible, driving alongside a large truck in what is called the “no zone” or “blind spot.” The truck driver may not see you in his mirror and may change lanes into your lane without warning.
Stay alert for truck turn signals ahead and be prepared to safely make space for his maneuver.
It won’t be long before you drive though a highway work zone again. I hope that, after reading this blog, you will be more vigilant and cautious. You and your passengers will be all the safer for it.

About the Author: Ted Allen is a Richmond personal injury attorney with the law firm of Allen & Allen. For over 35 yease, Mr. Allen has handled cases involving highway accidents and tractor trailer accidents for Virginia clients.

Attorney Elizabeth M. Allen

Author: Elizabeth M. Allen

Safety Tips for Highway Driving with the Big Rigs

For the automobile driver and his passengers, a collision with a truck, especially a tractor trailer, can have serious and sometimes fatal consequences. After the fact, it may not make much difference to the injured or dead which driver caused the accident. Moreover, automobile drivers cannot always avoid an accident with a tractor trailer because they have no control over the actions of either the truck driver or his employer the trucking company. Truck driver fatigue, driver substance abuse, poor truck maintenance, inadequate driver and safety training, as well as tight delivery schedules may play a role in tractor trailer accidents. What’s a driver to do?

Fortunately, an automobile driver can employ a number of defensive driving measures which will reduce the risk of colliding with a tractor trailer. First, it is imperative that automobile drivers recognize and respect the operational limitations of tractor trailers. Tractor trailers do not have the same ability to maneuver in traffic that automobiles do. Always keep this in mind as you drive with trucks nearby. For example, where a car traveling 55 mph can come to a stop within about 265 feet, it will take a large truck 313 feet to stop.

This limitation leads to an important safety rule. Always keep your vehicle a safe distance behind or in front of a tractor trailer. Should you need to stop suddenly, you want the truck behind you to have sufficient space in which to stop without striking your vehicle’s rear end. Likewise, you want to be able to stop your own vehicle if the truck in front of you slows down suddenly. Never follow a truck closely or let one follow you closely.

A corollary to this rule involves situations where the automobile driver passes a truck and then abruptly cuts back into the truck’s travel lane without leaving sufficient distance between truck and car. Such an unexpected move can force the truck driver to slam on his brakes endangering not just the vehicle cutting in front but others close by. Make sure you have safely passed a truck, leaving plenty of distance between the two of you, before you attempt to move back into the truck’s travel lane. Likewise, don’t pass a tractor trailer quickly and then cut directly in front of it with the intention of exiting the highway. This behavior causes accidents.

You may have heard about “blind spots” or “no-zones”. You don’t want your vehicle traveling in a “blind spot” for more than a few seconds. Most vehicles, even cars, have blind spots. These are spaces you cannot see in your rear or side view mirrors. These “no-zones” around the left rear, right front, and the back of a tractor trailer are large. When your car moves into a “blind spot” while it passes a truck, the truck driver can’t see you or your car. The most immediate danger is that the truck driver will pull left or right into your travel lane without seeing you, causing a collision.

What can you do to reduce the risk of such a collision? Do not travel alongside a tractor trailer for longer than it takes you to move past the truck at a reasonable speed. This sounds simple enough, but it is not unusual for many of us to find ourselves cruising down a major highway beside a truck, sometimes for several miles at a time. The road ahead is clear, the weather is good, and we think nothing of it.

Make it a habit, as you approach a tractor trailer, to either pass the truck immediately or drop back in your lane behind the truck to a point where the truck driver can see your vehicle easily in his side view mirror. Likewise, before you begin passing a truck, make sure it doesn’t have its left turn signal activated and that it doesn’t appear to be moving, even slightly, towards your lane of travel. These are indications the truck driver is contemplating an imminent lane change. You can’t just assume the driver knows you’re there or that he will wait for you to complete your pass before he moves into your lane. Maybe he will, but maybe he won’t!

Sometimes, stopping your vehicle on the highway or on the shoulder is unavoidable. Remember, however, that there are few things more dangerous to all passengers and vehicles on the road than another vehicle stalled in a travel lane. If there is any way you can drive your vehicle entirely off the highway and also off the shoulder, do so.

Think ahead. If your vehicle seems to be developing mechanical problems or your gas gauge is near “empty”, don’t wait to take action to resolve these difficulties. Many a fatality has occurred when a tractor trailer driver fails to recognize soon enough that the vehicle ahead in his travel lane is at a dead stop. The trucker can’t come to a halt in time and ploughs into the rear of the stalled vehicle. Ordinarily, the automobile’s occupants don’t stand a chance under these circumstances.

It is best for you and your passengers to get out of harm’s way entirely if you can exit your broken down vehicle safely. After you activate your hazard lights, get as far off the highway as possible and as quickly as you can. Another auto or truck may crash into the rear of your car, and one or both vehicles could be knocked off the roadway in your direction. Keep in mind, however, that abandoning your vehicle on the road itself is extraordinarily dangerous for approaching vehicles.

On the other hand, it may be equally dangerous for you and your passengers to stay in your vehicle or try to push it off the road. Use good judgment under all the circumstances. One of the first things to do is contact the state and/or local police immediately to alert them to the road hazard. Law enforcement officers can warn approaching traffic of the hazard, reroute traffic safely around your broken down vehicle, and have it moved off the road promptly.

At night, vehicles stopped on the road or shoulder become even more dangerous. It can be almost as hazardous to stop on a highway shoulder after dark as it is to stop in a highway travel lane. No one sees well in the dark. Night vision can play strange tricks on what all of us perceive and think we see. Those tail lights far ahead of us may be nothing more than reflectors posted on either side of a driveway. On the other hand, the lights we see in the distance and assume belong to a vehicle in a moving travel lane may belong instead to a vehicle stalled on the road or shoulder. If the driver of a tractor trailer makes this error and follows what he perceives to be a moving lane of travel, he is likely to strike the stopped vehicle whether it is in a travel lane or on the shoulder. Truckers are especially prone to make this mistake at night when they are tired after a long day’s drive.

Such accidents are not uncommon, and unfortunately you read about them in the newspaper or see them reported on the television news. The most tragic examples involve cases where a “good Samaritan” stops in front of or behind the broken down automobile to render aid. The vehicle occupant(s) and the “good Samaritan” are checking under the hood of the car or are changing a tire when the tractor trailer slams into the rear of the vehicles. Don’t hang around a broken down vehicle at night. Leave its hazard lights in operation. If you can safely set out flares or triangles, do so, but, otherwise, leave the scene immediately and call for help. Stay in a safe place, out of the danger zone, until help arrives. State troopers and police officers are trained to handle these situations. You are not.

Watch out for the tractor trailer making a right turn. You don’t want to be the victim of what is commonly called a “right turn squeeze”. Tractor trailers cannot turn on a short radius. To make a sharp right turn at an intersection, they must “swing wide”. This means they often don’t approach the intersection entirely in what we think of as the “turning” lane. In making a right turn, the truck driver may move towards the left, either partially out of the right lane or completely out of it in the next lane over. This sometimes confuses the automobile operator approaching the same intersection. He may conclude, wrongly, that the truck is making a left turn or simply moving straight ahead.

In this situation, look first for the tractor trailer’s turn signals. Is the right turn signal activated? If so, you know the truck driver is preparing to turn right. Stay in your lane behind the truck. Don’t try to squeeze in to the right of the truck thinking you can get the jump on him when the light turns green. Don’t pull up to the intersection alongside the tractor trailer and assume its driver knows you’re there. You will have moved directly into his “blind spot”.

Just because your driver’s side window is directly opposite the truck’s passenger side window doesn’t mean the truck driver can look out his window and see you. Usually he can’t because he sits high up in the truck cab. If the truck driver doesn’t know you’re there, he is likely to cut you off as he makes his turn. Suddenly, you find yourself in the middle of a “squeeze play” between the truck on your left and the curb on your right.

Of course, you may have passed beyond the rear turn signals of a long tractor trailer when the trucker first activates his signal. As a result, in the end, you can’t rely simply on whether or not the truck’s right turn signal is blinking. You have to make a judgment call, and it is better to err on the side of caution. Before sliding into the space immediately to the right of a tractor trailer at an intersection, keep in mind that the truck may start turning right, directly into your path. When the red light turns green or as you approach the front end of a truck on your left side, watch the truck carefully for signs it is beginning to move into your lane of travel. If it does, take quick action to avoid it.

There is always the potential for a collision when either your vehicle or a tractor trailer is merging into traffic. If you merge into traffic improperly, from the shoulder of a highway, for example, you may cause a nearby tractor trailer to brake or turn suddenly. This may, in turn, cause a collision. Whenever you see a truck ahead of you merging into traffic, slow down and let the truck merge in front of you. Trucks simply don’t have the ability to accelerate as quickly as automobiles do.

The most potentially dangerous place on the road to find yourself is between two tractor trailers – both within a few hundred feet in front of and behind your vehicle. Just imagine what will happen to you and your car if the truck ahead slows down or stops suddenly without warning, and the truck behind you has to do the same when you begin to slow down or stop for the truck ahead. It is not a pretty picture. Remember, you can’t see around a tractor trailer to know what is going on in front of it which means you are unlikely to have any warning of the impending slow down of the truck ahead of you.

It goes without saying that unsafe speed contributes to tractor trailer accidents. Never approach a tractor trailer too fast from the rear. Also keep in mind that it is easy to misjudge a truck’s speed, especially as it approaches you.

There are many ways motorists, primarily automobile operators, can share the roads and highways more safely with nearby trucks and tractor trailers. This is not to suggest that truck drivers do not engage in unsafe behavior themselves. They do. However, whenever there is a collision between an automobile and tractor trailer, the automobile operator and his passengers are much more likely to die in the crash than the truck driver. Statistics tell us that 86 percent of those persons killed in accidents involving large trucks were not occupants of the truck. They were, for the most part, occupants of passenger vehicles. As a result, it is the automobile driver who has the most to lose in any collision with a large truck. Consequently, it is up to the automobile driver to keep the odds in his favor by driving defensively whenever he sees tractor trailers and large trucks close by.

About the Author: Elizabeth M. Allen is a Richmond truck accident attorney with the law firm of Allen & Allen.

Gayle Bragg

By Gayle Bragg

We frequently hear in the local news about automobile crashes and fatalities involving teenage drivers. Are teenage drivers involved in accidents more than other age groups ? Recently I had the opportunity to study reports from Virginia Commonwealth University Transportation Safety Training Center-Crash Investigative Team. The reports provide a comparison of crash frequencies and causes are examined to explore reasons why and what possible remedial actions can be taken to reduce these problems. In review of one report entitled Special Report #14: Special Report on Young Drivers Involved in Fatal Crashes (January 2001), I found that not only are teenage drivers involved in more accidents with fatalities, there also appears to be an increase in youth fatalities from motor vehicles crashes.

More drivers between 16 and 20 years of age are involved in fatal crashes than any other driver age group in Virginia. The study finds there are four major factors that contribute to increased risk: male drivers, teens accompanied by other teens, single vehicle/run-off-the road crashes and infrequent belt use among teens. Young drivers more often engage in higher risk behavior than do older drivers, and young drivers frequently crash because of driver inexperience and /or driver immaturity. Many of us remember hearing about the tragic deaths of eight people in Prince George County which occurred last year while watching street racing. A 21 year old and an 18 year old were charged with eight counts of vehicular manslaughter.

I hope, with this article, to bring your attention to this issue and these Reports . The information in the Reports can be used to assist driver education personnel, teen drivers, parents of teens, law enforcement and DMV authorities, the Virginia General Assembly and other in increasing awareness and taking appropriate countermeasures needed to better combat the problem of young people being overrepresented in fatal crashes. I urge you to look at the reports yourself.

Here is a summary of some of the information in the fatality Report cited above:

1. The number of 15-20 year old highway fatalities occurring in 2000 has dramatically increased by 47.5 (177 vs. 120) as compared to 1999 and 60.9% (177 vs. 110) compared to 1998.
2. The total numbers of highway fatalities (all age groups) likewise increased in 2000 about 4.9% over 1999.
3. Of significance is the increase in the percentage of 15 to 20 year old fatalities compared to the total number of fatalities occurring on Virginia’s highways during the three most recent years: 1998, 1999, and 2000. At least 12% (110 of 934), 14% (120 of 877) and 19% (177 of 920) respectively, of those killed were in this age group. In 2000, 15-20 year olds experienced their single highest reported percentage of total highway deaths occurring during the last decade.

This special Report has many other statistics you may find interesting. A few more that should be noted are as follows:

1. 1. Running off the road was a very common first occurrence in fatal crashes involving 15 to 20 year old drivers, especially in those crashes where they or their peers were killed (75.6%, 83.2% and 68.6%). Usually, between one-third to one half of these drivers then overcorrected. It is not surprising that single vehicle crashes were more common (64%, 75.8% and 63.5% of these fatal crashes) or that crossing left of the center line was major factor in multiple collision fatal crashes for these drivers.
2. Consistent with past findings, most young victims were unbelted (61.8%, 65% and 62.1%) 34.5%, 22.5% and 31.1% respectively of 15 to 20-year-old fatal crash victims were ejected from the vehicles in which they were riding.
3. The most common causal factors in all fatal crashes involving 15 to 20 year old drivers included:
   1. Excessive speed (51.9%, 52.5% and 52.4%)
   2. Driver inattention (14.3%, 28.1% and 13.7%)
   3. Driver left of center on road (16.2%, 11.5% and 9.5%)
   4. Alcohol use (18.2%, 8.6% and 12.5%)

Special Report #14 includes Highway Safety Recommendations. The entire report can be viewed at the vcu.edu—Transportation Safety Training Center –Crash Investigation Team website.

About the Author: Gayle Bragg works in the Charlottesville, Virginia branch for the personal injury law firm of Allen & Allen. She is a former insurance adjuster and works with the firm’s car accident attorneys to assist clients in settling their personal injury claims.