Winter weather causes traffic accident headaches for Virginia police

Virginia police have been busy cleaning up after errant motorists this holiday season.  Snow, rain and ice have made driving on Virginia roads and highways more dangerous than usual.

According to a Virginia state police spokesperson, in a single recent snowy weekend, troopers had to handle 135 traffic accidents and 395 disabled cars on Northern Virginia roads. 

In addition, troopers received 6,780 calls for service.  1,153 of those calls were for cars that had been in an accident, and 1,969 were for calls involving disabled vehicles.

The recent spate of bad weather has police reminding drivers to take it easy on Virginia roads.  This holiday season, stay safe and remember to:

• Slow down and drive at a speed that is safe for weather conditions
• Don’t drive if you have had too much to drink
• Pull over if you are too tired to drive safely
• Pay attention to the road – don’t talk on your phone, send text messages, eat, groom, etc. while driving
• Give snow plows and other large vehicles plenty of room to maneuver in bad weather

Please read more about winter driving in our law library article “How Negligent Drivers Contribute to Serious Winter Car Accidents”.

Do laws banning cell phone use while driving really work?

Have you ever used your cell phone while driving?  Maybe just that one time, when it really was an emergency?  Do you think that you’d be persuaded to pull over to a safe place and come to a complete stop any time you had to make or accept a call on your phone if - in order to reduce the number of auto accidents - the law called for it?

Despite the growth of legislation restricting or banning cell phone use while driving, experts remain doubtful that such laws will make any difference to drivers at all.  Cell phone use is so pervasive in our society that most people can’t resist answering or making calls while they drive, even if there is ample evidence that distracted driving is dangerous.

In this situation, technology might be the best answer.  Some experts believe that the use of voice-recognition technology that allows drivers to perform so-called distracting tasks without removing their hands from the wheel will make our roads safer.  Manufacturers are also evaluating the layout of controls in new vehicles, to ensure that drivers can do what they need to drive without becoming unduly distracted.

Regardless of what experts may think about the usefulness of these laws, public sentiment will continue to pressure lawmakers into banning cell phone and texting while driving.  We just need to remember – the phones aren’t the problem, it’s the people in the driver’s seat who need to treat driving as their primary responsibility each time they get behind the wheel.  And if it’s a law that makes that happen – well maybe that isn’t such a bad thing after all.