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Blog 
Personal Injury and Automobile Accidents
- Tidewater area drivers: Beware, more Toyota recalls!
- Victim's Family Files Suit Against Winery and Market for Their Role in DUI Automobile Accident
- Will VDOT approve raising the speed limit to 70mph more Virginia roads?
- Driver, cyclist killed in Fairfax crash
- Virginia Beach, Norfolk law enforcement focusing on seat belt use
Firm News
Norfolk VA car & bicycle accident leaves cyclist injured
Posted on 7/29/2010
Virginia Beach police officer, civilian taken to hospital after crash
Posted on 7/27/2010
Virginia Beach car wreck kills one and injures three others
Posted on 7/27/2010
Tidewater motorists, get ready for a new seat belt law
Posted on 6/30/2010
Windsor woman dies in tragic car wreck on Rt. 258
Posted on 6/29/2010
Pickup truck wreck injures three in Suffolk
Posted on 6/29/2010
Homeless man killed by dump truck accident at Virginia Beach
Posted on 6/29/2010
Fatal Car Crash in Norfolk on I-64 Blamed on Speed & Weather
Posted on 5/31/2010
Virginia Beach man killed in serious auto wreck on I-264
Posted on 5/28/2010
Three men thrown from car in fatal crash
Posted on 5/20/2010
Firm Library
Personal Injury and Automobile Accidents
- Virginia Crash Victims: What You Need to Know About Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)
- What three mistakes could WRECK your Virginia auto accident claim?
- Virginia motorists: What does the MOVE OVER law mean for you?
- Study of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake schools asks: does more sleep for teens mean fewer car crashes?
- How a Virginia Auto Accident Attorney Can Make a BIG Difference In Your Case
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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Michael S. Weisberg, P.C.
112 College Place
Norfolk, VA 23510
Phone: (757) 622-7740
Fax: (757) 533-9223
Toll Free: (800) 690-0235
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