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The Northern Virginia Legal Examiner provides coverage of personal injury and safety issues making headlines in Virginia and nationwide. Our Latest News section brings together breaking stories and legal insights that matter to individuals, families, and communities.

Self Driving Cars and Ethics

Unfortunately, when dealing in autonomous technology, ethics questions will always be raised. While these cars will be programmed to understand intricate maneuvers and driving situations, will they be self-aware? Often when driving crazy situations occur that defy the posted rules. Jaywalking, broke

By Thomas Curcio

/ 8 Mar 2018

Insurance Series: Liability

Insurance, especially auto insurance, is never an easy concept to master. With so many options, and differences in requirements across state lines, many people can be confused by what they’re actually buying and paying for. Over the next few posts I will explain various aspects…

By Thomas Curcio

/ 6 Mar 2018

Most Distracting Phone Apps while Driving

We have all been distracted by our phones. As I sit here writing this blog I’m tempted to check facebook or my messages. However, teenagers are even worse at utilizing willpower, often checking social media in school, while working, and even while driving. So study…

By Thomas Curcio

/ 1 Mar 2018

Most Distracting Phone Apps while Driving

Self Driving Cars and Money

It always comes down to money. How much will self driving cars cost? Will they cost taxpayers infrastructure costs? Will they boost revenue in the automobile industry? There are many working theories out there on just how much autonomous vehicles will cost the public. I’ve…

By Thomas Curcio

/ 27 Feb 2018

The Tragedy that is School Shootings and Mass Violence

I write this piece today with a heavy heart, thinking of the 17 lives that were lost on February 14th at Stoneman Douglas High School. My love and support pours out to the victims, the survivors, and their families during this most difficult of times.…

By Thomas Curcio

/ 22 Feb 2018

Types of Driving Distractions

Last time we discussed examples of distracted driving, but this post we will delve deeper into the types of distracted driving. Distracted driving falls under 3 categories: Visual, Manual, and Mental. Visual is anything that takes your eyes off the road, whether that be your…

By Thomas Curcio

/ 20 Feb 2018

Man vs. Machine: PTC Final Thoughts

When it comes to rail safety, America ranks very low in comparison to other countries. As pointed out by twitter user, @380kmh, “Japan is averaging 6.6 deaths per year with over 18 billion riders…whereas the USA is averaging 10.9 deaths per year with less than…

By Thomas Curcio

/ 15 Feb 2018

The Truth Behind Distracted Driving

Distracted driving has been a buzzword since the penchant for constant communication took hold. The CDC claims that nine people are killed daily due to distracted driving. According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, in 2016, distracted driving was reported in crashes that killed 3,450 pe

By Thomas Curcio

/ 13 Feb 2018

“Weather” Self Driving Cars Can Cut It

In the DMV area especially, our cities shut down at the mention of inclement weather; but if autonomous cars are to be successful, they will need to learn to navigate challenging weather. That’s why in September of last year, Waymo, an autonomous car developer, announced…

By Thomas Curcio

/ 8 Feb 2018

Guardrail Safety

This year, Curcio Law retained a case involving guardrail safety. It got us to thinking about guardrails and what people know about them. In 2015, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) both released memos about guardrails, their safety features

By Thomas Curcio

/ 6 Feb 2018

Self Driving Cars and Infrastructure Needs

Autonomous vehicles pride themselves on being able to navigate our busy roads without driver input, however, in order to do that certain smart technology may need to be installed.

By Thomas Curcio

/ 1 Feb 2018

Man v. Machine: Legislation of Positive Train Control

Positive Train Control (PTC) is an ever evolving system, one that has seen many reinventions throughout its history. From 1920s where systems to automatically stop a train were first created, to now where PTC looks more like the technology of self driving cars, it has…

By Thomas Curcio

/ 30 Jan 2018