Legal Question in Traffic Law in Virginia

Re: Injury in an accident

There are enough questions here that you really should consult an attorney. Many will offer a free consultation to evaluate whether or not you have a case, whether to go any further.

WHO was going the wrong way, your husband or the driver of the SUV? If your husband was responsible, neglient, or even partly responsible (contributory negligence), then he could not recover anything from the other driver.

However, I don't know what you mean by a scooter, nor what it means to be "going" at a very slow speed.

The driver of the SUV is not allowed to hit people or other vehicles in the middle of the street, whether it is a one-way street or a two-way street.

So if a scooter means something going at a very slow speed, it might be similar to hitting someone standing in the middle of the road. The driver of the SUV is responsible to keep his car under control. That means not hitting things in the road in front of him.

However, the higher the speed of the scooter coming TOWARD the SUV, the more we would have to say that driving the scooter the wrong way was the REASON for the crash.

NOTE: you can be sure that if you make a demand, the immediate answer will be "NO, we won't pay, you were negligent." You may have to fight it past that point, not take the first "no" for an answer.

For example: If your husband thought it was a 2 way street, was he on the other side of the road? If there was room for two cars to pass in opposite directions, there is no excuse for the SUV to hit your husband if your husband was on the other side of the road, leaving plenty of room for both to pass.

REMEMBER: Although you are 100% blocked from recovering in Virginia if you are "contributorily negligent" the negligence must actually CONTRIBUTE to the accident. You can be negligent in a way that is NOT RELEVANT to the accident. Lawyers and judges forget the "CONTRIBUTORY" part of "Contributory negligence." It must actually CONTRIBUTE to the accident.

Re: Injury in an accident

If your husband was found to be contributorily negligent in this incident in which he was injured, under the Virginia rule he could not recover any damages for his injuries arising therefrom.