Car Accident - Personal Injury - Virginia - Sudden Emergency Defense
Personal injury case law in Virginia permits a defendant in a car accident case to raise the defense of sudden emergency. What this means is that the defendant is claiming that he or she was confronted with some set of circumstances that did not give time for the deliberate exercise of judgment. The defense does require that the defendant prove that he or she acted reasonably under the circumstances. Virginia case law holds that this type of defense should rarely be permitted. It is only appropriate where the emergency is truly an unexpected event and, most importantly, it is not a result of the emergency being created by the driver's own negligence. For instance, puddles of water on a highway during a rainstorm should be anticipated by the prudent driver. The puddles are not "unexpected." Also, it is not "unexpected" that a car in a line of traffic will stop suddenly. So you can see that there are actually very few occasions where such a defense is going to be available.
Francis P. Hajek
Wilson & Hajek, LLC, a personal injury law firm
Experienced Injury and Accident Lawyers
Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro
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Interesting comment. The defense of sudden emergency may include a medical condition. One question would concern the car being driven by the person claiming the defense. Where did he get it? Di he have permission to drive it? Is it insured?
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