Police Investigate I-85 Wrong Way Wreck That Left Five Dead in Brunswick County, VA

In more than two decades of working as a personal injury lawyer in Virginia Beach, some of the worse accidents I have seen have been caused by wrong way drivers.

But an accident in Virginia in which a pick-up truck driver went the wrong way on I-85 and hit a Toyota Corolla, was worse than anything I have seen. I was saddened to read it left five people dead.

The New York Daily News reported 70-year-old Walter Edward Skinner, died after plowing his Honda pickup into a silver Toyota Corolla on I-85 in Brunswick County, Va., just before 6 a.m. on Tuesday, April 2, 2013.

Virginia State Police reported four people in the Toyota were burned beyond recognition. My deepest sympathy is with the families of those who lost their lives.

Skinner had been traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of I-85. Another driver called the police but tragedy occurred before they could arrive on the scene.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Michelle Anaya told WTVR: “‘Before the troopers could even respond to this location, the pickup truck hit another vehicle head-on.”

Police are investigating why the driver of the pick-up was going the wrong way. It’s not clear if alcohol or drugs was involved or if he fell asleep at the wheel.

What I do know as an experienced wrongful death lawyer, is that wrong-way crashes are often very serious because they involve head-on collisions.

Recently Fort Eustis soldier Jesse Evans Jr., 35, was convicted of the DUI deaths of two Christopher Newport University students. He had been driving the wrong way on I-64, in Hampton, VA.

In cases such as this the grieving families of those who have lost their lives have clear grounds to file a wrongful death lawsuit.