Chesapeake to pay $4.3 million to settle lawsuit in 2006 crash

"We are all at risk under those circumstances."

A responsible driver has no need for the road shoulder. I sincerely hope you all are careful when driving the two lane roads of NC. I am dumfounded that this type of abuse of litigation is continuing in our country. This is in fact the primary reason we are becoming less competetive than other countries. We are constrained by lawyers.

no matter whether its paid by the Government or the insurance company, in the end we all wind up paying. the insurance company is just going to raise the city's premiums. The scary thing is the city admitting that people's lives are at stake, but they just aren't willing to pay the price for repair. We are all at risk under those circumstances. They should have awarded them 310 million dollars.

She said a piece fell. It didnt say it was found.

"The Virginia Municipal Group Self Insurance Association (VMGSIA) is a tax-exempt, non-profit association of Virginia local political subdivisions that began July 1, 1980. VMGSIA provides workers' compensation and employers' liability coverages. VMGSIA has approximately 410 members with an annual premium of about $25 million.

The Virginia Municipal Liability Pool (VMLP) is a tax exempt, public entity pool of Virginia local political subdivisions that began July 1, 1986. VMLP provides general liability, automobile liability, auto physical damage, public officials' liability, law enforcement liability, property, boiler & machinery, fidelity and crime coverage. VMLP has approximately 340 members with an annual premium of about $35 million. "

Here's your bill. Every member in Virginia of this self insured group felt that one.

I'm very surprised to hear that the city didn't do anything to fix that issue if they were informed of the issue. I called the city (Ches)once to report the really bad "speed bumps" on Military Hwy near Deep Creek/I64 area. I got several calls back from their highway dept informing me on the progress of repairs. They were repaired very quickly. So, thinking this was a fluke, I called again about a month later to inform on the rail crossing on Military between the Gilmerton and Shell Rd. Again, the follow up calls were made from the city on who was responsible for the crossing and when it would be addressed. Whats being reported here seems to me waaay out of character given my experience.

That's why people should read the WHOLE story before they comment. That way it prevents a person from looking like a complete duffus. Beside, we all know that the Pilot hardly ever prints the WHOLE story. They just print what will sell.

I think that whether there was an actually object on the road should be part of the story. What was it I learned in 9th grade? Who, What, Where, When and HOW.

Im not trying to play detective but to me for some reason, this omission has peaked my interest.

I may be mistaken, but I believe the first version of this article did not mention why the SUV swerved off the road. At least I didn't see it.

Sounds like driver inexperience. If you must swerve onto the shoulder, you have to come to a controlled stop, wait for traffic to clear, and ease slowly back onto the roadway. I've had to perform that maneuver a few times in my life, once even on a 600 pound motorcycle. Roadways are rarely perfect. Drop-offs, deer, potholes, debris...all part of the game.

The last thing you do, once you go off the shoulder, is frantically jerk the steering wheel at high speed, to get back on the roadway. The over-correcting can lead to a myriad of problems, such as was witnessed here.

These guys obviously had one helluva lawyer, and a bleeding heart jury. Otherwise, the verdict and judgement make no sense.

Why must we compensate people for their own mistakes? You have to use your brains and experience to avoid problems. Lacking either is a recipe for disaster.

Perhaps the trucking company should be brought into this. I do agree that perhaps the city should not shoulder the entire liability for this. I have seen some of these hauling trucks and the way they drive with a load, it is amazing that there haven't been many more accidents. But the trucking company should be considered. In the chain of responsibility, the trucking company had a responsibility to ensuring the load was secure prior to entering a public hiway. The City had a responsibility to ensure the roads are safe for public transportation. The Driver of the SUV had a responsibility to control her vehicle. So, there is enough responsibility to go around. But I still don't fault the driver of the SUV for her reaction to empending danger.

Is there any situation in 2008 that requires accepting responsibility for one's own actions?

The SUV driver is completely responsible for the accident. The SUV driver made the wrong decision when they went off the road to avoid debris. Any basic rule of driving says "hit it".

Debris allegedly falling off a truck may have damaged the SUV. However, it is very unlikely it would have created the chaos and tragedy running off the road has.

That doesn't excuse the City from repairs.

This lawsuit also doesn't excuse the SUV driver for causing the accident.

Cell phones, following too close, inattention and being so important that you are always in a hurry cause more death and destruction with an automobile than falling debris ever has or will.

Similar to the president of this lawsuit. What a shame.

Well, for everyone except the winning attorney.

if you choose to avoid one collision yet cause another; you are considered at fault and your insurance company would pay out and you would be surcharged for this accident. Had she not swerved and the debris hit her car; it could have possibly been considered a comprehensive claim and her car would be fixed by her insurance co. with no surcharge on her insurance policy. I'm not suggesting that people not swerve if the conditions are safe however it was her choice/gut reaction. I can't say I wouldn't have done the same but understand the consequences and stop fishing the city for money!

Point the finger? No not my intention. I would like to know as it goes to her credability.

I travel that stretch of road quite often. There is a large industrial complex there with a large amount of trucking traffic. I see debris falling off the trucks pretty often. But I think the point here is that the city was remiss in their responsibility and as a result of their mismanagement a terrible thing occurred. What happened to the driver of the SUV is completely understandable. She made a decision to avoid the debris. You and I would have done the same thing. She had an expectation that the shoulder would be safe enough for her to negotiate safely back on the road. The shoulder was not safe enough and caused her to loose control. It would have probably happened to anyone posting on here. So don't point the finger at the driver of the SUV.

Did they find the debris?

For years this highway should have been overpaved to add side buffer to manuever considering 120 mph+ closing speeds. As you know there have been many fatalities on this stretch due to driver error, very little room for driver error. The law of averages is in play for travelers. If governments continue to fail to use existing road taxes to repair or repave existing highways, this suit is not the first, it will not be the last. And now every reader knows the name of the lawyer who proved in a court of law what a city knew and when they knew it. The expensive damage to our vehicles and death or injury to our person in Tidewater, by allowing interstates and highways to crumble is about to reap the whirlwind. David Dickerson is a dynamite attorney for those in the know. Drivers pay road taxes and drivers have a reasonable expectation for a safe transportational process.

For those that are faulting the SUV driver didn't anyone read the article? The article clearly says that something fell off of a truck in front of the SUV and the driver swerved to avoid it. WOW... Fast to find fault .... Must be "selective" readers.

What about ditches? It sounds like the driver of the SUV over reacted and jerked the steering wheel to get back onto the road. They should have let off the gas and come to a stop. What happened to the kids? Are they all messed up? There is more to this story.

Sorry about the errors in my previous post, gov't educated. Anyway, I saw the pictures. I found the second one to be interesting, it seems to the right of the white line there was a 6 inch drop off. I did take drivers ed in school, so I might be wrong, but I thought we were to drive between the yellow and white lines and not to the right of the white line. I bet the SUV driver was on a cell phone and not paying attention.

... are paying off big time for the personal injury lawyers.

The SUV driver should be 100% liable. I have travel on that road every single day and have yet lost control. This is kind of like getting in an accident because of speed and then suing the car manufacturer for making a car that goes over 55 mph, this makes not sense and there has to be more to the story.

they do have insurance and they will cover it to a degree, the insurance company is VML (vmlins) thats VIrginia Municipal League insurance

If a city can get sued over road conditions, then Philadelphia better do something quick. Their roads are so bad that some radio stations have a "Pothole of the Week" contest, and the winner (who discovers the worst pothole) wins a free alignment.

"This is why cities have liability insurance......tax dollars shouldn't be involved."

So tell us who it is that insures the City of Chesapeake? Then IF they have insurance which most cities do not, who pays the premiums? Nice reasoning going on here today.

Otherwise, why would the city be responsible for their reckless driving? If a city can be sued because of the poor "roadside" conditions, then Norfolk is really in a bad way. Hampton Blvd near the Naval Base has three to five inch pot holes. This makes driving a normal car down Hampton Blvd hazardous but try it on a motorcycle. The pot holes are deep enough to have flattened my car tires four different times and has bent the rims. Right now even, I have one tire that has busted cords on it because of the Hampton Blvd potholes. So I guess next time I hit one of these potholes I'll sue Norfolk because I'm sure the damage to my car is more than just the tires. I've had to change out the wheel-bearings and even the C-V joint on one side, that's not normal wear and tear maintenance for a car with no more miles than it has on it. I guess it pays to have friends in the right spot.

Chesapeake definitely stepped in it on this one. They were informed about the condition of the area that caused this accident, but chose not to repair it properly.

Lawyer gets apx. $1.7 mil, they get 1.6 mil each. After dr. bills that doesn't leave much to live off the rest of your life when you still have 50 years to live.

This is why cities have liability insurance......tax dollars shouldn't be involved.

Remember the Boy Scouts and parent that were killed in Suffolk/Isle of Wight/thereabouts when their vehicle went off the road while returning home from a weekend in the woods? Remember how the driver was faulted, not the roadway. Then why did the city have to payout to the families of the dead? Similarities abound. This development in Chesapeake has me thinking that I JUST might get them to pay for new shocks, struts, even tires due to, what I'll call "quicker breakdown," because of poor-quality roadways and incomplete construction. Worth a shot right?! And to think that I actually believed the government report that they were going to crack down on frivolous lawsuits and/or they're amounts desired.

It is sad to see that the City of Chesapeake seems to care less about the citizens that drive the roads and more about the budget. That road should have been fixed!!!! I just hope all involved in that accident are going to be ok.

Lawyers paid enough would think of any excuse. So the law firm gets 2.3 million and the families get a million each. So why did the other driver run off the road way? and how much did he or she have to pay out?

This should be a lesson for everyone, next time you get a flat tire or your car is damage because of some road hazard sue the city for the damage or tire amount.

"SUV going the other way swerved off the road, damaged a tire because of poor roadside conditions and crashed into the car, said the teens’ Virginia Beach attorney, David Dickerson."

I guess it doesn't really need to be offroad at all then. One more reason to quit building roads. Is there anything out there that people are actually responsible for themselves? Chesapeake has set a very dangerous precedent with this.