$490,000 verdict upheld: one less defense in auto accident personal injury trials

The Virginia Supreme Court handed down a decision in Richmond during its January session which removes  the "unavoidable accident" doctrine from the available defenses in personal injury claims arising from automobile, motorcycle, and truck accidents. A car accident in Central Virginia gave rise to the case of Hancock-Underwood v. Knight, 227 Va. 127 (2009). An Amherst County jury awarded the victim's family $490,000 in compensation for the death and injuries suffered as a result of the car accident. That verdict was upheld in the Virginia Supreme Court's decision. 

In reference to the "unavoidable accident" doctrine, Justice Donald W. Lemons wrote for the Court: "In consideration of the prevailing concerns of the states that have rejected the instruction -- that it merely restates the law of negligence, overemphasizes the defendant's case , and is apt to confuse and mislead - we join those states and hold that it is error to grant an unavoidable accident instruction." Id. at 136.