As many of us know, distracted driving is becoming more and more of a problem on our roadways.  The National Safety Council has an urgent request for all drivers: Make April the month you ditch the cell phone behind the wheel.  

Thousands of fatal crashes each year involve drivers using cell phones, and the number is growing every year.

While most people understand that distracted driving is a major danger, they continue to use their cell phones when they drive, thinking they are an exception to the rule.  The idea behind distracted driving awareness month is to put this issue center stage and encourage people to think and talk about it, and ultimately understand that distracted driving affects all of us - even those of us who refrain from using the phone on the roadway.  The truth of the matter is that we all share our roadways, and distracted driving is a very real danger for all of us.

As auto accident lawyers in the state of Virginia, we see our fair share of tragedy caused by distracted driving.  Not a week goes by without a new case involving one of our clients being hit by a driver distracted by a cell phone.  If you or someone you know has been injured by the negligence of others, contact the auto accident attorneys of Rutter Mills today for a free, no obligation consultation of your legal rights.

The estate of a man killed in a 2009 motor vehicle crash were awarded a $2.5 million civil settlement yesterday.  The defendent driver was traveling 94 mph when he collided with a car driven by the plaintiff.  Both passengers were killed in the accident, a male and a female both only 19 years old.  

Wrongful Death lawsuits are always a tragedy, and require a special kind of attorney to handle the case.  The Rutter Mills Wrongful Death Litigation team consists of a group of compassionate lawyers with many years of experience with Wrongful Death claims.  If you or someone you know has suffered the tragedy of a Wrongful Death, contact Rutter Mills today so we can help your familly through this tragedy.

While every case is different, there are a few constants in every auto injury case.  The first such constant is that as soon as the accident occurs, the insurance company is immediately on the defensive - becoming your opponent very quickly.  The insurance company is a very well educated, and well funded operation with an army of employees who go to work to make sure that you receive as little of a settlement as they can get away with you accepting.  One quick way to change the balance of power is to hire an injury law firm for your accident.

Rutter Mills has been helping injured people for over fifty years, and we know the tricks that the insurance company employs and the games that they play.  In fact, the second you hire an auto accident lawyer to represent your case the game changes immediately.   We will stand up to the well funded defense of the insurance company and fight for every dime that you deserve.  Our goal is to focus on dealing with the insurance company while you focus on your health and your injuries.

If you have been injured in an auto accident, call the personal care attorneys at Rutter Mills today for a free, no obligation consultation of your legal rights.

An $8.8 Million settlement was awarded to the family of a woman killed in an automobile accident.  The woman and her husband were struck by a teen driver who was not only speeding, but texting while driving.  After further investigation it was found that the teen was texting his girlfirend when the accident occured, and had sent a total of 127 texts that day.

Texting and driving is a serious problem on our roadways, and this is just one of many extremely sad cases that result from this extremely wreckless activity.  Texting and driving can change lives in an instant, and is never worth the risk.  If you are a parent of a teen, please express the importance of not texting while driving.  

If you have been injured in an auto accident, or are the victim of another driver's negligence - contact the personal injury lawyers of Rutter Mills today.

As auto accident injury lawyers, we see our fair share of serious accidents caused by distracted drivers. Both talking on a cell phone while driving and texting while driving can distract a driver, and result in serious accidents and injuries.  Last month in England, a case was reported where a driver was seen doing both - at the same time.   A man was seen talking on one cell phone, and texting on another - leaving no hands on the steering wheel while driving 70 MPH on the highway.  The man was banned from driving for a full year by the British court system.

While this is an extreme case of negligence behind the wheel, smaller cases occur thousands of times a day causing devastating accidents along the way.  Please be careful behind the wheel, and understand how serious of an issue distracted driving really is.  If you or someone you know is involved in an accident due to the negligence of a distracted driver, contact the auto accident lawyers of Rutter Mills today for a free consultation of your legal rights.

In these tough and uncertain economic times, the last thing most families want to do is to obligate themselves to pay larger monthly auto insurance premiums. What you may not realize is that the savings of ten or fifteen dollars a month in insurance premiums may cost you dearly if you are in a car accident.

Take this scenario for example: middle aged family man gets home from work one afternoon. He decides to head out for a haircut. While driving through an intersection with a green light, his car is struck by another motorist who neglects to stop for the red light. The man driving to the haircut is seriously injured. It takes some time for him to recover from his injuries. The person who caused the wreck has a minimum limits Virginia liability auto insurance policy ($25,000.00). So does the injured man who turns out to be our client. For settlement purposes, the man’s personal injury case is worth in the neighborhood of $85,000.00. He will never be fully compensated because the most he can recover from insurance in this example is $25,000.00. Had the client raised his own insurance coverage to $100,000.00, he would have been able to recover the full settlement value of his claim by tapping into the underinsurance coverage available under in his own auto policy. The cost per month for this additional insurance coverage would only have been about the same as he would have paid for a decent haircut! This situation is not an isolated incident. We have had numerous clients at Rutter Mills who have been in the same or worse situations.

You must plan ahead to protect yourself and your family from the risk of being the victim of someone’s carelessness. Look at your insurance policy. If you have minimum liability and underinsured motorist coverage ($25,000.00), speak with your insurance agent or insurance company. Get quotes for premiums which will give you higher policy limits. Then make a decision which will protect you and your loved ones from being a victim of the negligence of another.

A recent study from AAA found that traffic deaths involving teenagers were at their highest from May through August.  The association released an analysis that found that seven of the top 10 deadliest days of the year for teen drivers fall between Memorial Day and Labor Day.  "We know that in the summer, kids are out of school, so they drive more, and when they drive more, they crash more," said Justin McNaull, Director of State Relations for AAA.  The goal of the study is to encourage parents to put an additional emphasis on safety as the summer month's approach.   The high accident rate of teens also affects all other drivers sharing the road with the "school's out" teen drivers.  Whether you are the parent of a teen, or just another driver on the roadway's this summer - you should be informed of the increased risk, and stay aware and focused on your surroundings.   Remember, most traffic accidents can be avoided by remaining alert on the roadways.  

With Memorial Day Weekend just a few days ahead, the Virginia State Police are out in full force looking for drivers who aren't buckling up.  While estimates say that 80% of Virginia drivers are currently buckling up, the Virginia State Police's annual "Click it or Ticket" campaign is designed to increase this percentage.  While receiving a ticket for failure to wear a seatbelt is certainly inconvenient, it is very important to remember how important the use of a safety belt is.  Below are a few statistics about the importance of a seatbelt.

- 80% of all death to children in an auto accident could be prevented by properly securing seatbelts.

- As many as 17,000 lives could be saved each year by simply buckling up.

- For accident survivors, average medical costs are 50% higher for those not wearing a seatbelt.

- Almost 60% of passengers killed in auto accidents are not wearing seatbelts

- 73% of passengers that are ejected from a vehicle in an accident are killed.  Only 1% of passengers wearing a seatbelt are ejected from a vehicle in a car crash.

While wearing a seatbelt is an easy thing that we all can do, it can't prevent all accident related injuries.  If you or someone you know has been injured in an auto accident, be sure to contact the auto injury attorneys at Rutter Mills today.

Why texting drivers can't be stopped: wavy.com

Last week, Norfolk VA news station Wavy TV 10 rode along with State Troopers to observe the effects of distracted driving in action. The results are quite frightening, as just about everywhere the cameras looked they the prevalence of distracted driving.  

This is just one example of the effects of distracted driving in action.  Distracted driving is said to account for more than half of the accidents on our roadways.  As this story points out, texting and driving is a secondary offense in Virginia, and not a ticketable offense on it's own.  Because of this, most drivers in the 757 aren't taking it very seriously, and texting while driving is rampant on our roadways.  As safe drivers, we need to understand that we are sharing the road with others that are not so safe - and become aware of our surroundings at all times.

If you or someone you know is injured in an auto accident due to someone elses negligence, the personal care attorneys of Rutter Mills are here to help.

According to the New York Times, California lawmakers are working to enact a bill that would force rental car companies to pull recalled vehicles off the road.  Wait, rental car companies are not doing this already?  No, apparently it literally takes an act of Congress to force some of our country's largest rental car companies to treat their customers fairly and to care for their safety.  It is currently illegal for car dealerships to sell recalled vehicles, why should car rentals be any different.  

When renting a car, be sure to verify with the rental agent that the vehicle you are renting isn't subject to any recalls.  If you or someone that you know suffers an injury in an auto accident, be sure to contact someone that cares about your rights and safety, like the personal injury lawyers of Rutter Mills.

An accident by definition is something that happens when something occurs unexpectedly or unintentionally. Because we as drivers have to make conscious decisions on the road, auto accidents do not always fall under this definition. We choose whether or not to drive the speed limit or to obey traffic rules and regulations. Choosing not to obey these laws is an intentional act with expected outcomes.

The selfish act of driving carelessly causes lives to be changed through death or injury on a daily basis. According to the National Car Accident Statistics, excessive speed is the second most common cause of deadly auto accidents, which accounts for about 30% of all fatal accidents in the U.S.

Accidents caused by speeding aren’t really accidents at all. They are potentially devastating events that could have been prevented if the driver stayed within the limits of the law. Watch your speed out there folks, it really isn’t worth it.

A recent report from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) shows that for the past three years, more than 1/3 of all complaints made by consumers to state insurance regulators have been about auto insurance.  The most frequent resons for complaints according to the report were delays, denials and unsatisfactory settlement sizes. 

At Rutter Mills we see these complaints in action on a daily basis.  We deal with insurance companies everyday, fighting for the rights of our clients.  If you are having a hard time dealing with the insurance company to recieve the settlement you deserve for your auto accident injuries, call the personal care attorneys of Rutter Mills today.

For more information on the NAIC study, including their best rated auto insurance companies - click here. 

My philosophy on life has always been “get where you’re going but enjoy the ride.”  And if you’re like me, you feel spring in the air and you want to roll the windows down, find a south-bound road, and just drive.  Good music and my Mazda3 have always done wonders for my mood.  I think there is a part of the soul of the American driver that has always connected with the Sunday drive – not needing to be anywhere in particular except for THIS tree-lined road dappled by a mid-afternoon sun.  Maybe, in such a time, you share my reluctance with having to share the road with anyone else.  Maybe you’re guilty, like I sometimes am, of taking that turn just a little more quickly, or of rushing to find the left lane and the empty space ahead of you with a smile and the radio turned up.
After becoming part of the Rutter Mills family I was more than a little surprised to discover how quickly my defensive driving increased. My day revolves around the stories of perfectly responsible people injured because someone else failed to exercise reasonable care.  After a while you begin to see that failure everywhere.
But this story is not all doom and gloom – I choose to see it as a reaffirmation of a simpler motto.  Be practical!  It’s easier to avoid irresponsible people if you’re doing the speed limit.  Put your iPod on shuffle and don’t mess with it; you won’t take your eyes off the road and you’ll find yourself singing along to songs you forgot you owned.  Put down your phone and stop being so instantly accessible to everyone.  You’ll be a safer driver and you might just learn to enjoy some solitude.
You may be the safest driver on the road but remember this – Twitter now has 200 million subscribers averaging 1,600 posts every second.  With the smart phone industry wrecking havoc on our driving records, eyes on the road please!  Get where you’re going, but enjoy the ride.

A college student was awarded a $490,000 personal injury settlement for serious injuries sustained in a May 2008 auto accident.  The student was a passenger in a vehicle that was transporting him back to his college campus. The driver was exceeding the speed limit and lost control of the vehicle causing it to roll several times.  The victim sustained serious injuries including a fractured clavicle, hand and wrist, and a partial amputation of his toe.

The victim filed liability claims against the vehicle owner's insurance carrier and the driver's personal auto insure carrier, which ultimately led to a $490,000 settlement.

If you or someone you know has suffered serious injuries as a result of another driver's negligence, call the personal care attorneys at Rutter Mills for a free consultation of your rights.

Have you ever noticed that accidents often come in 2's? I can only imagine that the driver that caused accident 2 was not paying attention to the change in the flow of traffic after accident 1. I would surmise that the driver was either talking on the phone, playing with the radio dial or, the latest trend in driving, texting. How often do you see other drivers texting on the freeway? I’ve tried it once (okay – who hasn’t been tempted), and it is impossible! Virginia Beach and Norfolk!...You have to hang up the phone and drive to prevent accidents. This reminds me of a billboard I saw this weekend as I was driving on the Eastern Shore. It said, "Honk if you love Jesus. Text while driving if you want to meet him."

A 83-year-old woman will be paid $3 million in the settlement of her suit against a trucking company and one of its drivers over a March 2007 accident in which she suffered traumatic brain injury and numerous broken bones. Prior to the trial, the U.S. District Judge refused to dismiss claims for punitive damages against the trucking company. The judge ruled that if the jury found the truck driver had 'entered the intersection without even braking for an obvious red light, it could then go on to reasonably decide that the defendant was recklessly indifferent to a very real danger to others in the area.

Often truck drivers are tired from long hours on the job. Truck and auto accidents happen when truck drivers fall asleep at the wheel or are just not paying attention. If you are the victim of a tractor-trailer accident, contact a truck accident specialist. The tractor-trailer wreck attorneys at Rutter Mills have experience working with truck accident victims. Injuries caused by these accidents can be fatal or life changing. If you have been injuried in a truck accident call the tractor-trailer accident attorneys at Rutter Mills.

A Georgia state court jury has held an alleged drunk driver responsible for $15 million in damages to a girl injured in a car accident. The jury wanted to attribute some portion of the liability to Chrysler, because the seat belt the injured girl was wearing broke during the accident.

The case began Jan. 1, 2007, when a Honda Accord driven by the alleged drunk driver ran a red light in and hit the right side of a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee carrying the plaintiffs. The girl was in the rear left-hand seat and wearing her seatbelt, according to the pretrial order. The impact caused a hinge pin at the base of her seat to pop out and she was pitched backward into the cargo compartment.

If you are injured in a car accident contact an auto accident attorney to get you and your family the compensation they deserve.