Parents of 19-year-old Heather Lerch grew worried one night when they had not heard from their daughter who was two hours late coming home. After calling her cell phone and going straight to voicemail, Heather’s parents decided to go out looking for their daughter. Not far from home, they saw emergency vehicle lights and noticed Heather’s car. They parked their own car and ran to the accident scene only to be stopped by a state trooper. After persistent questioning, the parents learned Heather was dead.
Her parents were informed Heather has received text messages at 10:27 and 10:30 pm, the later shortly before she steered her vehicle into a guardrail. Even though Heather was wearing a seatbelt, the impact of the crash crushed her body, and she died instantly. The cause of the accident was ruled to be texting while driving.
When Heather first got her license, her parents had their daughter sign a contract to always wear a seatbelt and never drink and drive. It never dawned on them that using a cell phone while driving would be just as dangerous as driving unbuckled or while intoxicated.
Heather’s tragic story is used nationwide as a reminder and warning that driving distracted is very dangerous to all drivers’ safety on the road. According to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers who use handheld devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves than people who do not talk or text on cell phones while driving. As an injury lawyer who has represented numerous car accident victims, I condemn the use of a cell phone while driving. The benefits certainly do not outweigh the risks.
SL
About the Editors: The Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm, which has offices in Virginia (VA) and North Carolina (NC), edits the injury law blogs Virginia Beach Injuryboard, Norfolk Injuryboard 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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