Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog

A series of unrelated Oregon rollover accidents have left accident victims with injuries. In one auto crash, a Multnomah County judge sustained critical injuries after the car he was riding in rolled over when it was struck by a pickup truck. Three other people, including the judge's two children, were also injured in the head-on collision. According to Oregon State Trooper Duane Larson, pickup truck driver Craig Gilbert lost control of his vehicle.

In another Oregon auto crash, a 5-year-old boy was killed on Saturday when he was thrown from the family’s 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe during a rollover accident on I-82 south of Umatilla. His mother reportedly lost control of the vehicle while breaking and the SUV rolled over three times.

In another deadly rollover crash, an Oregon woman died on January 17 when her car rolled over on Highway 26, close to Prairie City. According to Oregon State Police, Fredina Sue McKrola, 66, was found close to her Chevrolet Suburban. Investigators think that the auto collision happened because she lost control of her car. There were ice spots reported in the area where her accident happened.

Rollover Accidents
There are many reasons for why rollover accidents occur, including:

• Negligent driving
• Products liability
• Unsafe conditions on the road that should have been cleared out
• Multi-vehicle crashes

While some rollover accidents are the drivers' fault, there are rollover crashes that do occur because another party was negligent. If you were a passenger injured in a rollover accident caused by a negligent driver, or if your loved one died in another kind of auto kind of accident caused by someone else's carelessness or recklessness, you may have grounds to file an Oregon personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit to claim compensation.

Continue reading " Recent Oregon Rollover Accidents Result in Injuries " »

Posted by Matthew D. Kaplan | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Car Accidents , Motor Vehicle Accidents , Products Liability

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Police in Oregon say alcohol may have been a factor in a deadly Eugene auto accident that left 10-year-old Jakobi Mulgrave in serious condition and killed four other people on Wednesday. Injured in the Oregon auto wreck was the boy’s mother, 34-year-old Heather Yvonne Mulgrave, 10-year-old Jaziah Vermilyea, 34-year-old Connie Marie Vermilyea, and 11-year-old Nima Gibba. All of the victims were from Springfield, except for Nima, who is a Eugene resident.

The accident occurred at about 9:16pm at night when the Toyota Highlander carrying the victims and an Isuzu Rodeo collided. Both vehicles were totaled in the crash. The driver of the Isuzu, 24-year-old Eugene motorist Matthew N Ellmers, was listed in serious condition at a Springfield hospital as of yesterday.

The deadly auto crash happened at an intersection where there is a 4-way traffic signal. One teenager says the cement building she was in shook when the vehicles collided. The Highlander reportedly flipped into the air following the crash and drove into a utility pole.

According to The Register-Guard, multi-vehicle crashes don’t happen very often in Eugene. The last time local police investigated an auto accident death involving more than one victim was in 1978.

According to the state's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, there were five Oregon multi-vehicle accidents involving at least four fatalities in 2007 and 2008.

Multi-Vehicle Collisions
Proving liability and obtaining personal injury or wrongful death recovery in a multi-vehicle crash can be complicated—unless you are working with an experienced Oregon car accident lawyer who knows how to properly investigate your case.

Accident reconstructionists, medical specialists, accident investigators, and other experts may have to be called in to investigate all of the evidence to determine fault and figure out how much compensation you should receive. If you or someone you love was injured in a multi-vehicle Oregon auto accident—do NOT try to negotiate an agreement with the other parties’ insurance companies or their legal representatives without seeking your own legal counsel.

Police need public's help with investigation of crash that killed 4, KVAL, January 23, 2009

Accident Touched Lives of Many, The Register-Guard, January 23, 2009

Continue reading " Deadly Oregon Motor Vehicle Accident Leaves Four People Dead and a Young Boy in Critical Condition " »

Posted by Matthew D. Kaplan | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Car Accidents , Injuries to Minors , Motor Vehicle Accidents , Wrongful Death

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Beginning January 1, anyone younger than age 16 is only allowed to operate an all-terrain vehicle while under adult supervision. All ATV operators, regardless of age, must complete an Oregon-approved safety training course. Young ATV operators must also meet rider-fit guidelines, as well as minimum physical size requirements involving leg length, brake reach, handle bars, and grip reach.

The new rules come after an increase in the number of young ATV riders that are injured in accidents. According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-All Injury Program, from 2001 to 2003:

• 108,724 ATV riders younger than 15 required medical attention at a hospital for nonfatal injuries.
• Male ATV riders, 11 – 15, made up 52% of these visitors.
• Common nonfatal ATV injuries include facial injuries, foot injuries, leg injuries, and fractures.

At least 107 young riders died in ATV accidents in 2007. Last year, the Consumer Product Safety Administration introduced the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, which requires ATV manufacturers to comply with ATV standards and develop an ATV Action Plan regarding training, safety, ATV manuals, hang tags, labels, and other requirements.

While there are steps that consumers can take to protect young riders from getting hurt when riding ATV’s, manufacturers must also take steps to prevent injury accidents by making sure that their products are free from defects or flaws that can lead to injury accidents. They must also make sure that they warn users of the potential hazards that coming with riding an ATV. The Oregon Trauma Registry says some 1,200 young ATV riders have been injured in the last five years.

Oregon Imposes New ATV Rules, NewsInferno, January 6, 2009

ATV Injuries and Deaths Continue to Rise, ConsumerAffairs.com, October 28, 2008

Related Web Resource:
Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008

ATVs, Oregon.gov

Continue reading " New Oregon ATV Rules Bar Operators Younger than Age 16 from Driving Without Adult Supervision " »

Posted by Matthew D. Kaplan | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Injuries to Minors

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This week, the National Safety Council (NSC) issued a call for a US-wide ban that would prohibit motorists from using cell phones while driving. The consumer safety organization says it will lobby all 50 US states and Washington DC to implement laws that ban the use of both hand-held and hand-free cell phones and text messaging whenever a driver is behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

The NSC says that there is now clear scientific evidence to show that use of a cellular phone while driving increases the risks of the driver becoming involved in a motor vehicle crash. According to the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis:

• 6% of traffic accidents (636,000 motor vehicle collisions) that occur each year happen because someone was using a cell phone.
• 330,000 people were injured in these accidents.
• 12,000 of the injuries were serious.
• 2,600 people died in auto collisions that involved cell phone use.

According to researchers at the University of Utah, over 100 million people talk or text message on cell phones when driving. Dr. Gavin Melmed of Baylor University Medical Center in Waco, Texas agrees that legislation, more education, and enforcement are needed to get people to see how cell phone use, like driving without a seatbelt and drunk driving, is unacceptable behavior while operating a vehicle.

While certain US states have a ban on handheld cell phones, no state has completely banned the use of all cell phones while driving. Oregon law bans drivers younger than 18 from talking or text messaging on a cell phone while driving. However, in order to be cited for violating this law, the use of the cell phone must be a secondary offense. This means the young or novice driver had to have violated another law by, for example, speeding or drunk driving. Oregon police officers say that enforcing this law has proven challenging. As of January 8, there were no records of citations in Portland, Eugene, Pendleton, and Bend.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says drivers who use cell phones when operating their vehicles quadruple their chances of becoming involved in a motor vehicle crash. Cell phone use while driving is a form of driver inattention.

National Safety Council Calls for Nationwide Ban on Cell Phone Use While Driving, NSC.org, January 12, 2009

Ore. teen drivers not cited, year after cell-phone ban, KTVZ, January 8, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Cellphones and Driving, Insurance Information Institute

Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association

Continue reading " Impose a US-wide ban on using cell phones will driving, says National Safety Council " »

Posted by Matthew D. Kaplan | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bus Accidents , Car Accidents , Motor Vehicle Accidents , Motorcycle Accidents , Pedestrian Accidents , Truck Accidents

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Oregon Department of Transportation is reporting that seven people died in five motor vehicle accidents between 6pm and 11:59pm on December 31, 2008. These figures are an increase from the same period beginning December 31, 2007, when five people were killed in four motor vehicle accidents. There were four Oregon auto deaths on New Year’s Eve 2006.

Poor road conditions were a contributing factor in four of this New Year's Eve deadly accidents, while intoxicated driving was a factor in the fifth collision that took place in Bend, Oregon, on Highway 20. Five people who survived these crashes have since been released from local hospitals.

Holiday Drunk Driving
The Oregon State Police say they made 52 DUI arrests between December 31, 2008 and January 1, 2009 at 8am. Between 6pm on New Year’s Eve through 11:59pm on January 4, 2009, they made 85 DUI arrests—that’s 13 less than for the same time period last year. Police throughout the state had increased their efforts to stop drunk drivers and prevent them from causing Oregon motor vehicle accidents.

What to Do If You Are Involved in an Oregon Car Accident:
• Do not leave the scene of the Oregon motor vehicle crash without stopping to see if anyone was hurt and exchanging contact and insurance information with the other party.

• Document any injuries or property damage to your vehicle.

• If applicable, talk to police who arrive at the crash scene and make sure you tell them exactly what happened.

• Do NOT try to settle your claim with the other party’s insurance company without exploring your legal options.

• Talk to an experienced Portland personal injury lawyer about your case.

OSP holiday patrols net 85 DUI arrests, StatesmanJournal.com, January 6, 2009

OSP Troopers Report Over 50 DUII Arrests During New Year's Eve, January 1, 2009

Related Web Resources:

Oregon DMV

Oregon State Police

Continue reading " Oregon Department of Transportation Reports Seven Motor Vehicle Deaths on New Year’s Eve " »

Posted by Matthew D. Kaplan | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Car Accidents , Motor Vehicle Accidents , Wrongful Death

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The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act has finally gone into effect. The new law mandates that all public pools and spas be fitted with a federally approved anti-entrapment drain or grate cover to prevent people from getting caught by the suction and drowning. Children are especially at high risk of suffering a fatal injury when getting caught in a swimming pool, wading pool, or hot tub drain.

The law is named after the granddaughter of former US Secretary of State James Baker. Virginia, 7, drowned in 2002 after she sat on the floor drain of a hot tub. Her mother, Nancy Baker, tried to pull her daughter from the drain but to no avail.

Last March, 6-year-old Abigail Taylor died nearly nine months after the suction from a wading pool drain pulled out part of her intestinal tract. She had to undergo liver, small bowel, and pancreas transplants and suffered complications before her death.

The design of the approved dome shaped drain covers should keep the human body from being suctioned by a pool or hot tub drain. Schools, recreational centers, hotels, health clubs, and apartments are among those affected by the new law. Some pool owners and managers, however, are complaining that drain manufacturers have not been able to keep up with the demand for these federally approved designs, which is making it harder for compliance to occur. Hopefully, these drains should be in place in spas and pools throughout Oregon when the hot weather returns.

Pool Entrapment Accidents
According to Safe Kids USA, about 100 children in the United States sustained serious injuries and at least 33 children younger than 14 died because of entrapment by a pool or spa drain between 1985 and 2004. Serious personal injuries can include body entrapment, massive internal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, drowning, and wrongful death.

If you or your child was seriously injured in a pool entrapment accident, you may have grounds to file an Oregon premises liability claim or products liability lawsuit against the liable party.

New Federal Pool Safety Law to Take Effect, KOHD, December 11, 2008

Pool drain safety covers required today, but supply is backlogged, Sacramento Bee, December 20, 2008
Federal drain law forces pool closings, Boston Herald, January 5, 2008

Related Web Resource:
The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (PDF)

Continue reading " Preventing Oregon Drowning and Entrapment Accidents with New Pool Safety Law " »

Posted by Matthew D. Kaplan | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Injuries to Minors , Premises Liability , Products Liability , Wrongful Death

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