Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog

A number of recent, unrelated Oregon motor vehicle accidents have resulted in catastrophic injuries and deaths. On Sunday, a 62-year-old Roseburg motorcyclist’s leg became severed below the knee when he became involved in a hit and run accident near Fair Oaks.

On Monday, police arrested Oakland resident Billy Whitehead for felony hit and run, driving while suspended, and reckless driving. Motorcyclist John R. Granholm sustained his catastrophic injuries when his motorcycle and Whitehead’s Toyota Corolla collided. Granholm flew off his bike, crashed into the car windshield, and landed on the pavement. As of yesterday morning, Granholm, who was admitted to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland, was listed in critical condition.

Near Sandy, an Eagle Creek mother and daughter were killed on Saturday in a motor vehicle collision on Highway 26. Oregon State Police say 42-year-old Pamela Benson and 11-year-old Clarice Marie Benson were pronounced dead at the Oregon crash site.

Preliminary evidence indicates that Benson’s Toyota Corolla was struck on the driver’s side by a 1987 Toyota R Runner. Boring and Sandy fire department workers had to extricate the SUV driver, 18-year-old Estacada resident Daniel Ingle, from his vehicle.

Last week, a 40-year-old Grants Pass man died on Monday after he was hit by at least one motor vehicle on Interstate 5 close to Merlin. Police are investigating the Oregon pedestrian death.

If you were involved in an Oregon traffic accident with an insured motorist, an injured driver, a drunk driver, a hit and run driver, a distracted driver who was talking on his cell phone or text messaging, or any other kind of negligent driver, you should contact an experienced Portland car accident attorney today. Having an Oregon personal injury law firm that is on your side can make a huge difference in terms of how much financially recovery you can obtain from all liable parties.

Hit-and-run deaths near Merlin spur OSP probe, Mail Tribune, April 28, 2009

Hit-and-run crash severs man's leg, NRToday.com, April 27, 2009

Identities released in Sandy double-fatal accident, Oregon Live, April 26, 2009

Related Web Resources:
Oregon Department of Transportation

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Continue reading " Recent Oregon Motor Vehicle Accidents Result in Serious Injuries and Deaths " »

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

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

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A leading cause of pediatric malpractice is a birth defect that isn’t often discussed but occurs more often than one would think: Malrotation, which involves the abnormal alignment of the bowel. This usually happens while the fetus is growing. This birth defect can also be hereditary. Occurring in 1 in 500 live births (like cerebral palsy), most cases are diagnosed by the time the baby turns one.

However, it is not uncommon for pediatricians to misdiagnose or delay diagnosis of this potentially deadly bowel condition and mistake malrotation for a mild illness, such as acid reflux. The only way to untwist the bowels if the malformation is serious is through surgery and when treatment is delayed, the defect can be fatal if blood flow to the intestines is blocked for too long. In many instances involving a misdiagnosed malrotation, a child with this birth defect end up having to be rushed to an emergency room.

Signs of Malrotation:

• Abdominal pain
• Projectile vomit that is green or yellow in color
• A bloody stool
• A swollen abdomen
• Rapid breathing or heart rate
• Drawing up of the legs

Malrotation can also result in other complications, such as Ladd’s bands, volvulus, and obstruction caused by either of these complications. The sooner malrotation is diagnosed, the better the chances that a child will recover fully and develop normally.

Pediatric Malpractice:
Your son or daughter deserves the proper medical care and when a pediatrician or another doctor is careless or makes a mistake that causes injury or death, the medical care provider should be held liable for the injuries to your child. Grounds for pediatric malpractice can include:

• Surgical errors
• Birthing injuries
• Meningitis
• Negligent care
• Delayed diagnosis
• Wrong diagnosis
• Prescription mistakes

Malrotation: Potentially fatal bowel condition often misdiagnosed as mild ailment, Chicago Sun-Times, April 21, 2009

Intestinal Malrotation, KidsHealth

Related Web Resources:
Malrotation

Malrotation and Volvulus, The American Pediatric Surgical Association

Continue reading " Malrotation in Children is a Leading Cause of Pediatric Malpractice " »

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

Posted In: Injuries to Minors , Medical Malpractice

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The Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (OBPAC) has written a letter to the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) calling on it to push for a ban on cell phone use while driving and increase its efforts to notify the public about the dangers of distracted driving. The OBPAC not only wants the OTC to support the National Safety Council's call that all cell phone while operating a motor vehicle be barred, but it wants details about the hazards of distracted driving to be added to Oregon’s DMV manual.

Oregon doesn’t have any laws regarding adults and cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle. The state, however, does currently ban drivers younger than 18 from text messaging or talking on a cell phone while driving.

Next week, the House Transportation Committee will hear House Bill 2377, which bans the use of “mobile communication devices” when people are driving their motor vehicles. The bill makes talking or texting on a cell phone illegal—albeit only a secondary offense, which means an Oregon police officer has to catch the offender committing another offense first. However, the law doesn’t apply to hands-free devices.

According to a 2006 University of Utah study, people who talk on cell phones while driving exhibit behavior similar to that of motorists who are drunk driving. Among the study’s findings:

• Hands-free and handheld held cell phones impair driving to an equal degree.
• Drivers who talk on cell phones tend to drive slower and step on the brakes slower than drivers who aren’t using cell phones.
• Motorists who talked on cell phones while driving exhibited 24% more variation in following distance and were 19% slower when it came to accelerating back to normal speed after braking than drivers who weren’t talking on cell phones.
• Drunk drivers tended to drive slowly but more aggressively than sober drivers. They were also slower to brake and did so with 23% more force.

If you were injured in an Oregon car accident because another motorist was driving drunk, talking or texting on a cell phone, fell asleep behind the wheel, or was impaired, distracted, or negligent in any other way, you may have grounds for filing an Oregon personal injury lawsuit.

Oregon bike/ped committee urges state to ban cell phones while driving, BikePortland.org, April 17, 2009

Drivers on Cell Phones are as bad as drunks, U News Center, June 29, 2006

Related Web Resources:
Oregon Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Oregon.gov

National Safety Council

Continue reading " Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Wants Oregon Transportation Commission to Support Ban on Cell Phone Use While Driving " »

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

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

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The parents of 15-year-old Austin Miller have reached an Oregon wrongful death settlement with TriMet over their son's bicycle accident death. Austin died on February 11, 2008 when he was struck by a bus while riding a bicycle. Under the terms of the agreement, TriMet will pay Michael and Stephanie Miller $200,000 with an additional $175,000 pending adjudication.

TriMet has argued that the Oregon Tort Claims Act caps its liability at $200,000 and that is the maximum they should owe for Austin’s death. Personal injury attorneys for the Millers, however, have pointed out that the state's current tort claims cap is now $400,000.

The Miller family’s Oregon wrongful death complaint accuses a TriMet bus driver of acting negligently when driving into the bike lane where Austin was riding his bicycle. Their wrongful death lawyer has said that the bus driver can be overheard in an audio recording telling TriMet’s dispatch that she thought she gave Austin enough space.

Some Steps Motorists Can Take to Help Prevent Oregon Bicycle Accidents:

• Check sidewalks for bicyclists, especially if you are entering or leaving a driveway or an alley where the road crosses over a sidewalk.

• Give bicyclists 3-5 feet of space when passing a bicyclist.

• Unless you have to, don’t honk too much at a bicyclist when you are approaching them from behind. You could startle the rider and cause him or her to swerve unexpectedly onto the road.

• Avoid driving in bicycle lanes.

• Before opening your car door, make sure that a bicyclist isn’t approaching.

TriMet to pay $200,000 in wrongful death case, Valley Times, April 9, 2009

Mother sues TriMet over teen son's fatal bicycle accident, Oregon Live, June 18, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Oregon Transportation Safety

TriMet: Public Transportation for the Portland, Oregon Metro Area

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

Posted In: Bicycle Accidents , Bus Accidents , Motor Vehicle Accidents , Wrongful Death

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According to the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 37,313 people died in US traffic accidents last year. This annual estimated death toll is the lowest in 47 years when in 1961, 36,285 died. Last year’s fatality rate was also the lowest ever recorded at 1.28 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

The decrease in overall traffic accidents last year was clearly reflected in the Oregon city of Portland, where its Bureau of Transportation is reporting that 20 people died in traffic accidents last year—15 motor vehicle occupants and 5 pedestrians—and there were no bicyclist deaths. In the past, there have only been three other years—in 2000, 2006, and 2007—when the number of Portland traffic crash deaths was below 30.

Total number of traffic deaths in Portland were particularly high in the 1930’s and 1940’s before neighborhood speed limits, traffic signals, and sidewalk extenders existed. Now, the city has over 1,000 speed bumps—boasting more than any US city. It also has red light cameras, photo radar vans, and over 350 miles of designated trails, bike lanes, and boulevards. The NHTSA lists Oregon (at 96.3%) as one of the 16 US states where seat belt use is 90% or more.

According to traffic safety specialist Greg Raisman, the fact that more people are biking and walking makes them more cautious when they do get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. This is another reason why there were less Portland motor vehicle deaths last year.

Despite these improvements, there are still some areas that are considered dangerous corridors for potentially deadly Portland traffic accidents:

• Burnside Street (beginning from Southeast 20th Avenue to Northwest Cornwall Road)
• Southeast Foster Road (from 52nd to 92nd Avenues)
• 82nd Avenue (stretching from Northeast Columbia Blvd to Southeast Clatsop Street)
• North Lombard Street (from Williams Ave to the St. Johns Bridge)
• Southeast Division Street (from 82nd Avenue to 148th Street)

The decrease in Portland motor vehicle deaths, is of course, excellent, but Oregon car crashes and injuries and fatalities still happen and can be grounds for a personal injury or wrongful death claim if there are any injuries or fatalities.

Accident fatalities in 2008 lowest in Portland history, TheOutlookOnline.com, April 2, 2009

U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood Announces Record Low Traffic Deaths, Improved State Seat Belt Use, NHTSA, April 6, 2009

Seat Belt Use in 2008—Use Rates in the States and Territories (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
City of Portland, Office of Transportation

US Department of Transportation

Continue reading " US Department of Transportation Says the Number of Motor Vehicle Deaths in 2008 is Record Low Since 1961, and Portland, Oregon Exhibits Lowest Traffic Fatality Figures Ever " »

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

Posted In: Car Accidents , Motor Vehicle Accidents , Pedestrian Accidents

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The Cambridge Health Alliance is recommending that truck drivers be tested for obstructive sleep apnea. The condition, which makes individuals prone to exhaustion and falling asleep during the daytime, can be deadly in the trucker line of work.

Drivers are already on the road for hours at a time and may be exhausted from working such long shifts or irregular hours. Compounding their fatigue with a greater chance of dozing off behind the wheel of a semi-truck, a tractor-trailer, or an 18-wheeler truck does not bode well for the truck driver or the motorists or pedestrians around him or her and can result in catastrophic truck collisions.

About 2.4 million to 3.9 million commercial truckers in the United States have OSA. Some experts, however, believe that this estimate may be rather low—especially as many truck drivers don’t even know that they are suffering from sleep apnea.

A trucker afflicted with sleep apnea has a seven fold greater chance of becoming involved in a traffic accident. According to the Divided Attention Driving Test, a person who has sleep apnea may exhibit driving behaviors similar to someone who is driving drunk—meaning that their ability to drive responsibly and safely can become severely impaired.

The Cambridge Health Alliance is also reporting a noticeable connection between obesity and obstructive sleep apnea. Findings of their study, which confirms that obesity-driven test strategies can help identify the truck drivers that are at risk of having OSA, can be found in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

The study recommends making OSA screenings mandatory for commercially licensed truck drivers. Meantime, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is considering whether to require all obese truckers to undergo sleep apnea screenings.

In 2006, an article in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine reported that many of the approximately 5,600 commercial truck crash-related deaths that occur in the US every year happen because a trucker fell asleep behind the wheel. Identifying the truck drivers that are more prone to drift off behind the wheel because they have OSA could save lives.

Obesity Linked To Dangerous Sleep Apnea In Truck Drivers, Science Daily, March 12, 2009

Many Commercial Drivers Have Impaired Performance Due To Lack Of Sleep, Science Daily, August 16, 2006

A Study of Prevalence of Sleep Apnea Among Commercial Truck Drivers, FMCSA

Related Web Resources:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorder Channel

Sleep Apnea, National Institute of Health

Continue reading " Some Oregon Truck Accidents May Be Prevented By Testing Truck Drivers for Obstructive Sleep Apnea " »

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

Posted In: Motor Vehicle Accidents , Truck Accidents

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