A dropped cell phone led to a very serious rear end accident in Bells, North Carolina, with three people taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
The North Carolina State Police stated that a black Honda was stopped at a traffic light in Bells, North Carolina at US 64 and Route 751 when a Subaru slammed into its rear.
Three people in the Honda were transported by helicopter and are in critical condition. The driver of the Honda had minor injuries and was released from the hospital.
The police stated that the Subaru driver was distracted when he dropped his cell phone. Charges are pending.
Our View
As Virginia and North Carolina personal injury attorneys who represent the victims of distracted driving, we would like our readers to know that 3154 people died in 2013 across America from distracted driving.
Also, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that an astonishing 40% of car accidents are caused by distracted driving. Most of us think of distracted driving as people texting while driving, but people also can be distracted by reaching for a cell phone, or by attempting to program a GPS device while driving.
Experts tell us that if you are driving, you should put the cell phone away and do not touch it while you are behind the wheel – ever. And if you are going to use a GPS, you should put in the address before you start to drive.
There is no excuse for being distracted by an electronic device or for any reason while you are driving. A second’s inattention can lead to a massive car accident with serious personal injuries or death.
Our Virginia personal injury lawyers represented a client in Virginia Beach who was in a violent car crash when a driver failed to yield when he entered Virginia Beach Blvd. The driver was distracted for some reason, and the resulting car accident left our client with massive lower body injuries, including a femur fracture and a left open ankle fracture that have disabled him for life.
Dropping the cell phone obviously implies that it was being used or examined by the distracted driver in the moments before this tragic collision. There are so many levels of errors one does not need to cycle through them.
We were pleased to secure him a $1 million settlement so that he can start to put his life back together, but we wish that the accident had never occurred in the first place.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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