You can follow every rule.
You can exercise every bit of caution.
And still find yourself blamed for causing your own injuries.
That’s not hypothetical. That’s exactly what happens to people every day in Virginia.
I’m Brandon Osterbind, a personal injury lawyer here in Virginia. And because Virginia follows a harsh legal rule called pure contributory negligence, even a false accusation of fault can put your entire case at risk.
We saw this play out firsthand in a recent case we handled. If you’d like to see some of the footage and my verbal explanation, go watch “They Will Try to Blame You . . .” on our YouTube channel.
A Pedestrian Hit — and Immediately Blamed
Our client was a pedestrian walking home after getting off a city bus. She crossed exactly where the bus let her off, walked the same route she always walked, and was nearly all the way across the street when a driver struck her.
She did nothing wrong.
But almost immediately, the narrative shifted.
The driver who hit her repeated the same phrase over and over:
“I never saw her. I never saw her.”
When police arrived, the officer wrote a report that pointed the finger at our client, not the driver. The report stated that witnesses claimed she “darted into the road” and that she contributed to her own injuries.
And that’s where most cases quietly fall apart.
Why This Matters So Much in Virginia
Virginia is one of only a handful of states that still applies pure contributory negligence.
This rule is not written into a statute. It comes from long-standing Virginia common law and decades of court decisions. But its impact is severe:
If you are found even 1% at fault, the insurance company will argue you recover nothing.
Not a reduced amount.
Not partial compensation.
Nothing.
So when a police report suggests fault, even incorrectly, insurance companies treat it like gospel. They cling to it, quote it, and build their entire defense around it.
The Police Report Looked Damaging — Until We Dug Deeper
If you read the police report alone, you would think:
- She stepped into traffic suddenly
- The driver had no chance to avoid her
- She caused her own injuries
But we don’t accept police reports at face value. We never do.
So we pulled the officer’s body-worn camera footage.
And what we found changed everything.
What the Body Cam Actually Showed
Not one single witness said our client ran into the street.
Not one person blamed her.
Not one person described a sudden or unexpected crossing.
One witness admitted they didn’t even see the beginning of her crossing. Another said the driver wasn’t paying attention.
The officer’s written report did not match what he recorded.
This is why body-worn camera footage is so powerful. It captures raw, unfiltered statements before anyone starts interpreting, summarizing, or filling in gaps.
Reconstructing the Scene
We didn’t stop with the body cam.
We reconstructed the entire scene:
- The city bus route and exact stop
- The bus timetable
- The direction she walked
- Where and how she crossed
- Google Maps street-level views
- Aerial photos
- Distance measurements
What the evidence showed was unmistakable.
Our client was almost completely across the street — just a few steps from the opposite curb — when she was hit.
This was not someone darting out unexpectedly.
This was not a sudden appearance.
She was in the roadway long enough and visible enough that any reasonably attentive driver should have seen her.
“I Never Saw Her” Usually Means Something Else
Drivers say this all the time.
But “I never saw her” usually doesn’t mean the person wasn’t there. It means:
- I wasn’t paying attention
- I wasn’t looking where I should have been
- I didn’t see what was plainly visible
When we overlaid the maps, measurements, and timing, it became clear the driver had an unobstructed view for a significant period of time.
No weather issues, blind curves, or obstructions.
Just inattention.
The Evidence Flipped the Entire Case
Once we presented the evidence, everything changed.
The question was no longer:
“Why didn’t she see the car?”
It became:
“Why didn’t the driver see her?”
That shift is everything in a contributory negligence state like Virginia.
Relevant Virginia Law: Pedestrians & Fault
While contributory negligence itself comes from Virginia common law, Virginia statutes still matter, especially in pedestrian cases.
Virginia Code § 46.2-924
This statute requires drivers to yield the right of way to pedestrians crossing within marked crosswalks — and in many situations, unmarked crosswalks at intersections.
Virginia Code § 46.2-928
Pedestrians must also exercise reasonable care, but the law does not require them to anticipate inattentive drivers or vehicles failing to yield.
Together, these laws matter because insurance companies often try to blur the line between reasonable care and perfect behavior. Virginia law does not require perfection, but contributory negligence allows insurers to argue otherwise.
That’s why evidence is critical.
The Police Report Is Not the Final Word
Police reports are important, but they are not infallible. Officers arrive after the fact. They rely on quick statements, assumptions, and incomplete information.
When those assumptions are wrong, they must be challenged.
And if they aren’t, the insurance company will gladly use them to deny your claim.
Final Thoughts: Evidence Wins Cases in Virginia
In Virginia, the margin for error is razor thin.
- A mistaken assumption
- A poorly worded report
- A single line suggesting fault
Any of it can erase an otherwise valid case.
Evidence wins cases.
Truth wins cases.
And getting the right evidence early can mean the difference between a full recovery — and no recovery at all.
If you’re being accused of fault and you know you did nothing wrong, reach out. This is what we do.
