car crash and out of action :(

[vavision]

I was in a car crash on Sunday. G/f was driving, going about 40 mph when she tried to merge left. She hit a ridge in the road from ongoing road construction (about 3-4 inches high) that threw the car back to the right. She corrected but the car started swerving and she was unable to regain control of the car. We hit the guard rail pretty much head on. She's ok but the crash shattered my humorous into at least 3 places (too drugged to remember if it was more). The arm is back in one piece after emergency surgery though and i should get full range back. Apparently the swelling led to a compartment syndrome which may have led to some extra damage. Currently the arm is im a sling and soft cast. i get that off thursday. currently i havea radial nerve palsy and can't open my hand or have any feeling on the outside of my hand.

anyway, the car has been totaled and the state police cited her for reckless due to losing control of vehicle. we have some law enforcement on the board if i can recall, can you explain why an officer would do that when there were obviously defects in the road that have caused similar wrecks before and even 2 since then? It even killed a motorcyclist a month ago. of course no further warnings have been added to the road and problems are still there. It's interstate 66 btw near Manassas Va.

I was on my way back from an msf instructors course that i may not be able to finish

threw in some pics. my side wasn't even hurt that much... makes me seem like a wuss  :-\

[Night Vision]

I hate these bad news posts and usually don't reply because I'm just not good at these things....

but I'm glad you're fairly ok.

I am surprised you got banged up so bad only going 40mph. Looks like the car made out better than you did.
were you wearing a seat belt?

[Lucky]

So glad you weren't hurt worse!! feel better soon,

i'm interested to hear our boys in blue's explanation, but i suspect if you took pics of the road conditions, brought evidence of the other incidents (newspaper clippings) that a judge would dissmiss the charge.

i've been down 66 a few times visiting my sister-in-law, it's not a fun road under good conditions, Manassas drivers are agressive...

[YellowJacket!]

Man, Im glad you and your girlfriend are ok and hope you both get better soon.  Can't offer legal advice about the ticket but that sounds typical.  >:(

Get well soon!

David

[Mutt]

Glad it wasn't any worse and no one was killed. Your young so I'm sure you'll ride again.
Been down that road a couple times. I don't recall a road in the Manassas/Woodbridge area I would consider a fun road!

I'm not law enforcement but since it's a one vehicle accident I can't think of anything else he could have charged her with. I would take the advice of taking pictures (be careful) and present it to the judge during the hearing. Since she was only charged with reckless and not speeding (that's correct right?) I would think he would be very forgiving. If not dismiss it at least drop it to a lesser charge although I don't know what that would be except "too fast for conditions". Of course the later would probably be based on her driving record. They always take that in to consideration.

Mutt

[vavision]

We're getting a lawyer to go to bat for us. Better to have a pro working for you than not. a working theory put forth by the guy behind us is that the road ripped the front left tire off the car.

already have some pics but it was on film not digital, hope to show you what i mean by conditions later.

Of course her record isn't the best. 3 speeding tickets in the last 6 years. though none within 3 years

[h2olawyer]

Sorry to hear of your accident & injuries.  At least it wasn't worse.  Heal fast!

Not really my area of law, but most police officers tend to assume there has to be some sort of driver error in any "accident".  Their theory is that the driver should always operate the vehicle in a safe manner so as to maintain control at all times.  Thus, from their perspective, there is no such thing as a vehicle "accident".  Great theory but at times, you may be more of a traffic hazard going the safe speed than if you are keeping up with traffic.  Your lawyer should be able to get it knocked way down since there are so many other similar incidents in the same area.  May not be able to totally dismiss it, but often around here, they may bring the citation down to a defective vehicle or something similar through a plea bargain.  Good luck in all the aftermath of this incident.

H₂O 

[zore]

Atleast you are ok and that soccer ball survived to be kicked another day.

[haunter]

Atleast you are ok and that soccer ball survived to be kicked another day.

x2


althought it looks as if the ball is autographed so maybe its not for kicking


hope you heal well, it will probably take a hwile to rehab that arm thought  :-[

[kiawrench]

sorry to hear and read of accident, and no ,,you arent a wuss--- can almost tell you the crash dynamics,,, car swerved, you placed hand on dash and reflex action put knee up into dash-(sort of as if to brace yourself) car goes bang, bones go snap,,, you get ride to orthopedics. easy to understand ,,, is called human nature,,,, saw a lot of that in military . you had no more control over it than if you were trying to hold an airplane down with one hand .

as for the accident and the ticket- any good accident attorney will eat the state alive on that . if you can prove the road is not ,and was not properly posted as "dangerous uneven pavement ahead" you can write your own ticket------
hire a good accident attorney, the kind always on tv ,,, some folks call them ambulance chasers, but hey,, if they get the ticket dropped ,and your bills paid,,, and maybe a bit of pocket money too,,, i say use them, thousands do every day .

[vavision]

hope you heal well, it will probably take a hwile to rehab that arm thought  :-[

Arm/hand have a 98% chance of being back to 100% in 3 months. Possible to get all motion back in my hand anytime. 2% chance of nothing to almost full recovery.

[h2olawyer]

Good odds.  When they're that favorable, things look good for a full recovery.  Hope you stay as positive as the prognosis!  I'll second kiawrench's assessment - you are not a wuss!

H₂O

[Tiger]

... makes me seem like a wuss  :-\[IMG]

.....Wuss, no way... :o Sorry to "hear" of your bad fortune, good to know "human" damage is minimal...the car Ahh...its metal, plastic, glass, etc.
Many year's ago I span out in a Ford escort, (Company car!!!), during a freak snow storm, at 30 m.p.h........Outcome.......:
...3 month's on my back in hospital, right leg in traction (broken femur...big bone that connects your hip to your knee... ;D ;D), head in a "turbin", a few band-aid's, etc, etc.....followed by 10 month's in a rehab centre learning to walk again, total of 2 year's and 5 month's off work...Don't let anyone think low speed road traffic accident's aren't damaging to your health.....WUSS...uhuh...Get well soon bro'... ;)

                            8).......TIGER....... 8)

[VinceDee]

Sorry to hear about the accident, but glad the prognosis is good.

As far as the cause:

My brother was in a motorcycle accident a few years ago. He was riding my SR500 on highway 24 from Walnut Creek to Berkeley (to my place) late at night when he hit a section of highway where the road had raised up a few inches due to a crappy patch job by Caltrans. The front wheel hit it the raised patch and jerked the bars out of his hands. He went down hard and sustained moderate injuries (broken wrist, injured knee, bumps and bruises). Thankfully, because it was late at night, there were no vehicles immediately behind him.

Anyway, he called me from the hospital and I went out the next morning and found the spot he crashed at and took numerous pictures of the offending piece of road (good thing, too. They immediately went out and fixed it, so if I hadn't gotten pictures there might not have been any evidence). He sued the State and won damages. He had one advantage over you...he was a former California Highway Patrol Officer at the time, so was able to talk to the reporting CHP officer as such and make sure that the officer understood that he was not at fault for the accident. That doesn't mean that you won't be able to fix this situation, though. Make sure that you take many pictures of the area and, in particular, the piece of road that the car struck. Include all angles that would show that any reasonable driver would have hit this piece of curb (or whatever it was). Hiring a lawyer was a good move, but make sure that it's a lawyer that only gets paid if they collect damages (you know, Jacoby & Meyers Accident Attorneys and such? Yeah, they're generally ambulance chasers, but they're also extremely effective at scaring the crap out of defendants).

Whatever you do...good luck, and let us know how your recovery goes and what the results are of any actions you take.

Vince

[louthepou]

Hope it's your right arm, because it's hard to ride when the left one's in a cast.

(Please don't try what I just suggested)

Take good care and remember, crushed metal and a slim wallet are better than splattered brain!

Lou

[QBS]

Glad to hear you weren't on a bike.  It could have been much worse.

The road construction company may be liable.  There shouldn't have been any sharp grade changes, period.  At least some type of asphalt ramp between the two surfaces should have been in place.  There also should have been warning signs regarding uneven road surfaces.  Get pictures of the entire area if possible.  Do it quickly before someone has a chance to cover their tracks. 

[vavision]

got the word back on this. they paved over area the night of the crash. no pics possible, but we have the witnesses

[MotorPlow]

Sorry to hear about the accident, glad your okay (or somewhat okay).

As for the ticket, the reason she got the reckless driving ticket is that "every accident can be avoided" (so we are told in the police academy). The ticket would normally be written for "Failure to Maintain Control" (In Va.), which is listed in the Va Code under the Reckless Driving Statute. Failure to maintain control is similar to "Too Fast For Conditions". It's easier for the cop to just write Reckless Driving.

I agree, get pictures. If the road is under construction, get pictures soon, as the road surface will change on a daily basis. Try and get pictures showing that there is no "Uneven surfaces" sign. If there is a sign, the police officer will testify that there was one. Go to court whether you have a lawyer or not. A one vehicle accident is very likely to be dropped to a lower charge. Before you leave the Court, file a suit against the construction company for damages. If I remember correctly, filing a small claims (Warrant In Debt) for damages under $5K is $18.00. For something like $5K-$10K it can be in either District or Circuit Court. Over $10K it needs to be filed in Circuit Court. However, you will need to know who the "Registered Agent" is for the construction company. You need to call the (I think) The Secretary of the Commonwealth's office (or maybe it is the Corporation Commission) and they will tell you that information over the phone.

Good Luck,
Officer MotorPlow

[ProfessorRex]

My Dad is a lawyer, and I'm exremely well versed in this area of law.  Don't do ANYTHING yourself, you'll just make it more difficult for your lawyer to work it out for you.  You get to file suit agaist the state, etc. for your damages. There seems to be plenty of damage both to the car and to you yourself!  In civil law (that's what this is) you don't pay anything to bring a suit, the lawyer takes your case and you only pay when he wins for you.  That's how it works, it's like a gamble for the lawyer, not the plaintiff(you).  Granted I guess you could go to small claims court, but I think the injury to your arm alone makes that no longer viable.  If I were you I'd call my lawyer, and I'll assume you don't have one that you work with, in which case I'd say ask around (lawyers shouldn't advertise, they get their buisness through word of mouth) and if that doesn't work try the yellow pages.  You'll make an appt. with the lawyer, meet them and discuss your options, the lawyer will (or possibly wont) offer to represent you, and then you don't need to do anything but hang out, get better, and wait fo yo money!

-Rex

[vavision]

I'll see if a lawyer will do it.

officer motorplow. thanks for the clarification. question for you.

when the troopers showed up, first to respnd, they came up to me and asked if i was the driver. i said no, passenger and they went to monica and asked if she was the driver. she said yes. so they asked if she was speeding and wearing her seat belt. didn't ask if we were ok and one of those entrapment double questions. is that how you guys get trained? It seemed kind of crazy to harass the hysterical girl who couldn't stop crying or saying sorry sorry sorry. I've been thinking about writing a complaint or at least add to the suggestion box. why would a trooper do that?