In suburban, semi- to mostly rural cities like Chesapeake, Suffolk and the southern half of Virginia Beach, people need to have access to a car to shop, go to appointments with doctors and physical therapists, buy food and visit relatives. To a great extent, taxicabs meet that need for the people of Hampton Roads who have physical or mental disabilities or who otherwise cannot qualify for drivers’ licenses.
Mostly because cab drivers and taxi companies take their duty to transport passengers safely with great seriousness, traffic accidents involving hired vehicles are pretty rare across Hampton Roads. But a serious crash between a taxi and a van did occur on Military Highway in Chesapeake in July 2008.
The Virginian-Pilot reported on October 28, 2010 that a mentally retarded woman with cerebral palsy was riding in the Black and White cab on her way to a therapy session when the accident occurred. The woman has had to use a wheelchair since the crash, and she and her mother just received a $975,000 settlement for her injuries and increased need for intensive lifelong care.
Companies that offer transportation services — such as bus companies, railroads, cruise lines or commercial or charter airlines — take passengers’ lives in their hands, by definition. Any time those companies or their employees cause injuries or deaths to passengers, they need to be held accountable.
EJL
About the Editors: The Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm, whose attorneys work out of offices in Virginia (VA) and North Carolina (NC), edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard, Eastern Shore Virginia Injury Attorneys Blog and Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard as pro bono services.
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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