Practice Areas
- Personal Injury and Automobile Accidents
- Medical Malpractice
- DUI, Traffic and Criminal Law Defense
- Business Litigation
- Divorce
Blog 
Personal Injury and Automobile Accidents
- Virginia Seatbelts
- Nursing Home Cases
- Personal Injury Cases where the injured party has died
- Dog Bite Cases II
- Looking out for your teen driver
- Dog Bites
- Hosting a Graduation Party in Virginia? Read This First!
- Virginia Beach Sheriffs Immune
- Chesapeake to Install Countdown Crosswalks
- Charlottesville, Virginia Police Taking Heat After Hitting Wheelchaired Pedestrian
Medical Malpractice
- More heparin deaths? Yes, its true.
- Joint Commission Targeting Children Medication Mix-Ups
- Finding The Best ER For Your Child
- Why Free Drug Samples Are a Bad Idea
- Knee and Hip Replacements Expected to Spike
- Supreme Court Grants Immunity for FDA Approved Medical Devices
- FDA Warns Doctors to Retrieve Device Fragments
DUI, Traffic and Criminal Law Defense
- DUI Cases II
- Can walking in a straight line really reveal that I’m unfit to drive?
- Your Right to Remain Silent
- Drug Offenses
- DUI Cases
- 'Click It or Ticket' and Virginia's Seat Belt Laws
- Inside the Officer's Mind
- UVA Professor: Vague Traffic Laws Invite Discrimination
- Great DUI Information
General Observations
General
Firm News
Kaine announces newest attack on drunken driving
Christie Brinkley Divorce Case Settled
Shia LaBeouf receives DUI, cleared of blame in car crash
Police: charges pending against injured Virginia Beach motorcycle rider
Norfolk Police officer off the streets after DUI arrest
Bicyclist Killed After Being Struck By SUV
W&L professor formally sues Virginia Lottery
Salmonella can ride water into tomatoes
Cold Medication Use In Young Children Can Lead To Adverse Effects, Even Death
Man in critical condition after being hit by car in Norfolk
Firm Library
Personal Injury and Automobile Accidents
- Car Insurance Terms in Virginia
- What are Virginia's Laws Regarding Dog Bites?
- One in Three Va. Drivers Texting
- No Civil Liability for Hosts or Bars in Virginia
- Is Your Car Spying On You?
Medical Malpractice
- Switching to Electronic Health Records has Great Benefits, But Poses Liability for Hospitals
- Why is Heparin Killing Babies?
- Website Allows Consumers to Compare Hospitals
- Transient Ischemic Attacks & Strokes
- How Medical Mistakes are Costing U.S. Healthcare $8.8 Billion
DUI, Traffic and Criminal Law Defense
- Having one more for the road may skew breath tests
- Virginia DUI Laws for First Time Offenders
- Virginia Legislature Working to Repeal Fines
- Requesting a Restricted License in Virginia
- Ignition Interlock Devices & DUI Law
Divorce
General
One in Three Va. Drivers Texting
An alarming study has more than one-third of Virginia drivers taking their hands and eyes off the road to send text messages. According to Vlingo, a company that makes voice-recognition software, 35.6% of drivers in Virginia admit to sending text messages from the road. This percentage ranks Virginia 6th in the country in terms of percentage.
Texting is even more dangerous on the roads than talking on a cell phone, because it requires the drive to take both his hands and his eyes away from the road. According to Frank Drews of the University of Utah at Salt Lake City, people how try to multitask like this lose their ability to monitor their driving. Drews’ research has found that drivers who are texting are six times more likely to be in an accident than those who are not. Drivers who are talking on a cell phone are, similarly, four times more likely to be in an accident.
The cause of these accidents is that taking our focus off the road causes our braking time to increase by as much as 22%. Drews found that drivers who paid full attention to the road had a reaction time of .88 seconds, but those who were texting and driving had a reaction time of 1.077 seconds. This split second increase in reaction time can be the difference between stopping short and rear-ending someone.
Text messaging is most popular among young, inexperienced drivers. This contributes to the risk that teen drivers already pose by taking their attention from the road. Other studies have found that teen drivers are more likely than adults to be distracted by things like the radio and other passengers in their car.
In 2005, Virginia passed a law banning drivers 18 years and younger from taking on their cell phones while driving. It seems like its about time to institute a similar ban for texting. Maryland, which came in 4th in the country in the texting while driving survey has already considered a text message ban.
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Weisberg & Zaleski, P.C.
112 College Place
Norfolk, VA 23510
Toll Free: (800) 690-0235
Phone: (757) 622-7740
Fax: (757) 533-9223
FAQs
Personal Injury and Automobile Accidents
- Do I need a specialty lawyer for my personal injury case?
- When do I have a personal injury claim?
- Will a traffic court's determination of guilt or innocence affect the outcome of my civil suit for personal injury?
- Should I leave my vehicle unmoved at an accident scene until the police arrive?
- Should I call an Attorney before seeking medical attention?
Medical Malpractice
- What will the attorneys fees cost?
- What should I do if I feel that I, or someone close to me, have been a victim of medical malpractice?
- How is medical malpractice defined?
- The result of the medical care was bad and I believe that my doctor made a mistake. Will I win my case?
- Do doctors have a duty to tell the patients of every possible risk associated with a medical procedure?
DUI, Traffic and Criminal Law Defense
- Will a traffic court's determination of guilt or innocence affect the outcome of my civil suit for personal injury?
- Does the failure of the police to give the Miranda warnings prior to arrest operate to make your arrest unlawful?
- I have failed my breathalyzer test. What good can an attorney do in such a case?
- When should an attorney be present with me?
- I have been asked to sign some forms by the police officers. What should I do?
Business Litigation
- What is involved in litigating a business matter?
- What are the alternatives to litigation?
- How does mediation differ from arbitration?
- What effort will you put in to my case?
- What fee schedule is employed for a class action?
Divorce
- If your spouse is in the military and you have been married less than ten years, do you have any rights to the military pension?
- Do you have to have the agreement of your spouse to get divorced?
- How is it possible to agree on a divorce with the best possible outcome for both parties?
- Can I and my spouse use the same attorney for our divorce for the purpose of saving money?
- How likely is it for a father to retain custody of the children?