Virginia DMV allowing three-year registration renewals online

 Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has a press release about new options for renewing your driving registration.

Drivers that renew online or over the phone are now able to renew their registration for three years. Plus a $3 discount for a three year renewal and a $4 discount if you renew on their website.

“Virginians who use the Internet or renew for multiple years are rewarded for helping reduce future DMV operational costs,” said DMV Commissioner D.B. Smit. “These options emphasize cost and time savings for our customers, because our agents can focus on customers who have complex transactions.”

Go to the DMV website for more details.

Designate a Sober Driver for Super Bowl Celebrations

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Virginia Highway Safety Office encourages you to designate a sober driver for Super Bowl celebrations and to choose a HERO to stay sober before leaving for a party.

Super Bowl Sunday is one of the most dangerous days of the year to drive due to the high number of alcohol impaired drivers. Last year in 2008 there were three deaths on Virginia’s roads, two of them alcohol-related.

“Getting caught driving while impaired will earn you a costly penalty from local law enforcement, and could likely result in loss of your driving privileges and even jail time,” said VAHSO Director John Saunders. “Impaired-driving crashes and fatalities can be prevented. Designating a sober driver should be on the top of everyone’s Super Bowl party list.”

Please use good sense this Sunday and plan on not driving anywhere after drinking any amount of alcohol. Virginia has some of the toughest DUI laws in the nation and most people are surprised at how few drinks it takes to be legally drunk.

Getting a DUI can be expensive and can land you in jail or without a drivers license for a year or more. Most people can’t afford the fines and the disruption to their daily life.

FAQ: Why does the adjuster keep calling me and asking for information?

When you get into a car or truck accident you will often be contacted by the car accident adjuster who represents the insurance company of the vehicle that hit you, don’t answer any questions.

You might want to know that the reason the adjuster wants all this information from you is so the insurance company can find some reason – any reason – to deny or minimize your case.

You shouldn’t be talking to this adjuster. There is no requirement that you speak to him or her. It does not benefit you to speak to this type of adjuster. The adjuster is trying to get information that he or she plans to use against you in your claim.

The adjuster may ask you to do a number of things such as sign a medical release or give a sworn statement. If you sign a medical release you give the insurance company access to your entire medical history. They can use this information of prior injuries to try and deny your claim.

By the time most injured people get to an offer, the insurance company has a file full of reasons to offer as little as possible — any all the reasons were provided by the unsuspecting injured person.

How do you like that? You help the adjuster dig your own grave.

A lawyer will talk to the insurance company adjuster for you as well as gather all the needed bills and records relevant to your case. An attorney has the knowledge of other types of insurance coverage that you may be entitled to collect. Things you may not know about such as uninsured motorist coverage.

Update: Teen Hit And Run Victim Dies

Update: Teen Hit And Run Victim Dies.

Sad news today of a teen dying from injuries sustained in a hit-and-run accident on Friday evening.

Richmond Police are seeking help from the community in locating the driver that hit 15-year-old Tiara Rosa. 

The driver is descrived as a white male with long, light-colored hair and was wearing a baseball hat. The truck is being described as a small beige or tan single cab pickup and should have front end damage on the right side with headlights broken out. The driver was last seen heading north on Walmsley Boulevard. 

Tiara and her mother, from New York, were walking Westbound in the 4400 block Walmsley Boulevard on the side of the street when the accident occurred.

If you have any information that might help the driver to be found please call Crime Stoppers at 780-1000

Unfortunately there are no sidewalks in the 4400 block of Walmsley Boulevard so pedestrians are forced to walk in the street. This is a very dangerous situation, especially at night. The web site Perils for Pedestrians has the following information:

A 1983 study by Tobey et. al. investigated the safety effects of sidewalks. Sites with no sidewalks or pathways were the most hazardous for pedestrians, with pedestrian hazard scores of +2.6 and a PxV exposure score (i.e. exposure measure includes pedestrian volumes times traffic volume) of +2.2. This indicates that accidents at sites without sidewalks are more than twice as likely to occur than expected. Sites with sidewalks on one side of the road had a pedestrian volume and PxV hazard scores of +1.2 and +1.1, compared to scores of -1.2 and -1.2 for sites with sidewalks on bothsides of the road. Thus, sites with no sidewalks were the most hazardous to pedestrians, and least hazardous where sidewalks are present on both sides of the road.

There are many streets in the Richmond metro area that have no sidewalks. Please be careful when you walk these streets and make sure to wear bright clothing, especially at night. Pedestrians walking are difficult to see when driving.

Hidden Inside Secrets Big Insurance Companies Don’t Want You to Know About Your Injury Claim excerpt

WILL THE INSURANCE ADJUSTERS BE LAUGHING ABOUT YOUR CASE WHEN THEY GATHER AROUND THE WATER COOLER TO EXCHANGE WAR STORIES?

• The truth of the matter is that insurance adjusters love to deal directly with injury victims because they know how to manipulate them. They canʼt do that with an experienced injury lawyer.

Adjusters get their thrills by seeing how little they can pay on a claim. And when the injury victim deals with them directly, itʼs like taking candy from a baby.

• You see, big insurance companies handle millions of claims a year. In reality, what untrained individual can go up against that and come out ahead? Almost none. And the insurance companies understand that.

Thatʼs why they make tremendous efforts to keep people from getting a lawyer. They know theyʼll have to pay a lawyer more on the claim.

• They even have a name for this effort – they call it Keeping Control of the Claim! And they do it by being nice to you early in the claim process. They want you to stay away from a lawyer long enough for serious damage to be done to the claim.

They try to keep you away from treatment – even if you need it. They try to get you to go back to work quickly, even if you should not. They try to move an injured person away from treatment, because that saves the insurance company money.

• And believe me, big insurance companies are interested only in money. They will step on you, they will step on their own policyholders, they will even step on their own employees — if thereʼs another buck in it for them.

BIG INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS!

They will pretend to be your friend – if it helps them save a buck. And that is exactly what the adjuster does. They are nice to you at first. They laugh and make jokes. But it is all a pretense. All they are trying to do is to control you and your claim – to keep their costs down.

Eventually, the time comes for a settlement offer. This is where reality sets in. The offer is awful! Itʼs insulting! Youʼre angry and disgusted. But what can you do at that point? The case value has been destroyed – just as the adjuster knew it would be.

They will have a big laugh at the water cooler and you will walk away with pennies on the dollar.

Who Pays In a Virginia Auto Accident?

When it comes to auto accidents in Virginia, injured people are often confused about whom to send their auto and medical injury bills to. Every car wreck is different with unique circumstances, so who pays the bills depends on several factors.

However, here are some general guidelines to consider:

• If you are the victim or the person who was hit in the accident, the defendant’s insurance company may take care of the property damage. However, if you were at fault, then your insurance company may or may not compensate you for your loss depending on your insurance contract. Moreover, your liability insurance will pay for the other driver’s injuries and damages.

• If you are the victim, the defendant’s insurance company will pay your medical bills at the end of the case. Until then, you will have to pay your own medical bills out of pocket or have your health insurance pay until you receive a settlement. Keep in mind that you may have to pay back your health insurance provider when you do receive the settlement.

• If you are hit by a driver who does not have insurance (which is legal in Virginia), you may recover any auto damages, medical expenses, or lost wages through your own insurance. Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is mandatory in Virginia.

Before you deal with your insurance company or the other driver’s insurance company, it is probably in your best interest to contact a lawyer who specializes in auto accidents in Virginia. At O’Bryan Law we will negotiate with the other driver’s insurance company to reach a settlement that is fair and will compensate you for all of your medical and auto bills.

“Dirty Little Secrets” Insurance Companies Don’t Want You to Know pt 1

GET MEDICAL ATTENTION…NOW!

If you are in an accident you need to seek immediate medical attention. This is for your own good and for the good of your accident injury case. A doctor will document in his medical records everything he finds during his examination of your injuries. This is valuable information to have.

Victims are often in some state of shock after an accident. The shock period can often mask serious or mild injuries, and the injured will not feel any pain. While you may have no visible bruises or abrasions, the sudden exaggerated thrust of your head either backwards, forward or sideways – which occurs in all accidents – can cause damage to your vertebrae, discs, nerves, muscles or ligaments. Pay attention to your body. Note any changes in your mobility and/or your normal routine.

Most people even deny being hurt because they don’t want to make a “big deal” out of the collision. Don’t try and be tough. You might be injured far worse than you think.

There is a trick the insurance companies use against accident injury victims when settlement time comes. They claim “If your client was hurt in the accident, why didn’t he or she go to the doctor right away.”

Don’t let them win this argument, get the medical treatment you need as quickly as possible.

O’Bryan Law is here to help you in any way possible with your car wreck case. Our motto is “Service is our way of life.” Our attitude is that it is our client’s case, not our case, and we are here to help our clients make it through the many difficulties that arise from a car accident.

Speed limit reduced in two Chesterfield locations

The Midlothian Exchange reports that the speed limit along 2 miles of Hull Street Road (Route 360) has been reduced.

From Winterpock Road to Woodlake Village Parkway the limit has dropped from 55 mph to 45 mph and fromWoodlake Village Parkway to Fox Club Parkway it dropped from 55 mph to 50 mph.

According to a fall 2008 VDOT traffic study, the majority of drivers on Hull Street Road between Winterpock Road and Fox Club Parkway were already traveling at slower speeds due to traffic congestion. However, to ensure all motorists are driving at a consistently safe speed, VDOT enacted the lower speed limit. “If there’s an improvement we can make that will help drivers get to where they need to go safely, then we will make a change,“ said Chesterfield Residency Administrator, Dale Totten P.E.

This is good news for the people of Chesterfield. Lowering speed limits tends to cause fewer accidents and makes it easier to catch those who are speeding. The number of wrecks in that vicinity should decrease significantly.

For more information about speed limits go to the Virginia Department of Transportation web site.

6-Year-Old Drives Himself To School

Most kids are happy to stay home from school if they’ve missed the school bus in the morning, but not a 6-year-old boy from Virginia’s Northern Neck. Recently a first grader took the keys to his parent’s Ford Taurus and drove himself to Northumberland Elementary School.

The boy’s father was at work while the mother was fast asleep. After about 10 miles of weaving in and out of traffic, witnesses observed the boy crossing a double line and saw a tractor-trailer coming towards him in the other lane. He whipped back into his lane, but lost control of the car and ended up hitting a utility pole.

Thankfully, the boy came out of the car accident alive, but now his parents, David E. Dodson and Jacqulyn D. Waltman, are under arrest for child endangerment. The boy and his brother are currently under foster care.

This is definitely a lesson for parents to teach their kids the dangers of driving a car on their own. Just because they play video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Monster Truck Jam, that doesn’t make them an expert driver! Perhaps your kids wouldn’t dare do something like this, but you never know! As a precaution: Always keep your car keys in a place where the kids can’t get a hold of them.

As car accident lawyers in the Richmond, Virginia area, we understand how nerve-wracking a situation like this could be. Contact us at 1-800-368-6495 to help you with your car accident case.

For more information see this article in The Washington Post.

Dog Bite At Richmond County Kennel and Steps To Take If You’ve Been Bitten By a Dog

A dog bite at a Northern Neck kennel prompts the state of Virginia to pass a law that limits kennels to 50 dogs only. This new law just went into effect on January 1st.

Dalin Kennels of Richmond County is owned by Lynn DeRosa who has been breeding, showing, and selling poodles since 1965. According to county records, DeRosa had obtained 160 licenses. The dog bite started an investigation and questions were raised by animal activists as to the condition of the kennel.

Thankfully it was only a puppy that bit the woman and it barely broke the skin. According to this article at JournalPress.com, the woman is ok and the puppy was quarantined.

If a dog in the Richmond area has bitten you, here are some steps to take:

1. Take mental note of the breed, size, and color of the dog. If the dog bite happened near your home – do you recognize the dog from the neighborhood?

2. Treat the wounds as best as you can and/or see a physician if the bite looks serious.

3. If you know who the owner of the dog is, notify them immediately.

4. Contact local authority if you were bitten without provocation. An animal control officer will conduct an investigation and take the necessary steps to see that something like this doesn’t happen again.

5. Contact a Richmond lawyer who specializes in dog bites.

For more information, visit our previous post about dog bites in Richmond, Virginia.