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
Virginia's Seat Belt Laws
Virginia’s seat belt laws require that all passengers in the front seats must wear a safety belt. The penalty for violating this statute is only $25, but the costs to your health and safety can be much greater.
Despite the fact that car accidents kill thousands of people a year, one in every five Virginia drivers do not wear the safety belts. There were nine fatal accidents in Virginia over the 2007 Memorial Day weekend and the Virginia Beach area alone had 28 fatal car crashes in 2005. In each of the nine Memorial Day deaths, the drivers and passengers were not wearing their seatbelts.
Young drivers are the ones least likely to wear their seatbelts. Maybe this is why traffic accidents are the number one cause of death among children and young adults. Traffic accidents are responsible for 3,800 deaths a year of teens age 15-20. Another 326,000 young drivers are injured each year.
Virginia also requires all children under the age of 16 to wear seatbelts, regardless of where they are sitting in the car. The fine for driving with a minor who isn’t wearing their seatbelt is $50. Additionally, the National Safety Belt Coalition advises that children under the age of 12 should always ride in the back seat. This is because air bags are not designed for children. While an air bag might save the life of an adult, the younger, shorter child might be struck at the wrong angle by the air bag, snapping his neck.
Safety belts work by distributing the impact of the collision across your chest. There are three collisions in any car crash. The first one is the car colliding with the other object. The second is your body colliding with the object that stops it. What that object is will often decide whether you live or die.
The third collision is called “the internal collision” and it is the one that is often responsible for the driver or passenger’s death. In this collision the skeleton comes to a complete stop and your organs collide with your rib cage. In the case of an unbelted driver, the entire force is stopped by the car’s steering wheel and will more likely cause his death. In the belted driver, on the other hand, the force of the collision is distributed across his entire body, protecting his organs and saving his life.
The bottom line is that seatbelts save lives. So buckle up Virginia!
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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?