Virginia Beach, VA Car Accident Injury Reports: Driver who Hit Family at School Bus Stop is Charged with DUI
By John Cooper, Virginia Beach Car Accident Injury Attorney
A driver is in serious trouble with the law and three children and an adult have been injured – one of them critically.
This tragic scenario is the result of an apparent act of recklessness in a suburban part of Virginia Beach on the morning of January 19, 2012, when a pickup truck swerved around a school bus that was picking up students, and ploughed into a family.
Passing a school bus with its lights flashing and stop sign up is a serious offense in Virginia and often leads to a reckless driving charge.
See this video about a school bus violation.
But, in this case police say the 43-year-old female driver was also intoxicated, the Virginian-Pilot reported.
“The operator of a 2001 Ford Ranger truck was heading eastbound on Chester Street when she passed a school bus stopped at the intersection of Paladin Drive and Chester Street,” Virginia Beach police spokesman Jimmy Barnes said in a statement.
“The bus did have its lights flashing and gate out waiting for the children. For an unknown reason, the truck, after passing the intersection, veered to the left off the roadway striking the adult and three children standing in a yard. All four were transported to local hospitals with injuries.”
The pickup driver has been charged with DUI, second offence; reckless-passing school bus and maiming as a result of driving while intoxicated x 3.
Tragically this incident has caused immense harm to a family. While a seven-year-old girl and the father have non-life threatening injuries. a 5 year-old is in critical condition and a 7 year-old is in stable condition at a local hospital.
As experienced Virginia Beach, VA car accident injury attorneys who help the victims of many wrecks, we are appalled by this incident and our thoughts are with the family.
If the charges stick in this case the driver deserves to face the full force of the law as well as personal injury lawsuits that could result from this case.
DM
The Norfolk and Virginia Beach based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles car, truck, and motorcycle injuries as well as brain injury, wrongful death, railroad workers’ injuries (FELA) mesothelioma and medical malpractice. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010 and has been a member since 2011 of the Multimillion dollar Advocates Roundtable. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us (757) 455 -0077. For a free consultation with a specialized Hampton Roads, Virginia personal injury lawyer contact us through this website
