Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog

With the holidays now behind us this is a good moment to pause to examine the Oregon drunk driving and Washington drunk driving statistics reported over the Christmas and New Year’s weekends. DUII/DUI crash and arrest numbers are always a sad reminder of the importance of not overindulging when one goes out to celebrate, and of the crucial role our courts play in ensuring personal accountability.

According to radio station KBND, the Oregon State Police reported “one death and 28 DUII arrests on Oregon’s roads and highways.” The comparable figures for the New Year’s period on Oregon roads were 53 arrests and two crashes resulting in three fatalities, according to a report published in The Oregonian. To our north, in Washington, troopers “arrested 161 drivers suspected of being impaired by drugs or alcohol during the Christmas holiday weekend,” according to the Tri-City Herald.

In both states the Christmas figures represent notable decreases compared with the comparable period a year earlier. The Oregon New Year’s figures, however, were up by approximately 25% over the previous year and show a 55% increase compared to two years ago.

The connection between drunk driving and holiday weekends (especially New Year’s Eve) is as unfortunate as it is predictable and seems to endure despite decades of public service campaigns designed to raise awareness and stigmatize the practice.

After the holidays are over it is an equally unfortunate fact of life that our courts often must become involved, as reckless drivers are held to account for their actions and victims seek to obtain justice, often with the assistance of a Washington or Oregon drunk driving victims’ attorney. In addition to the personal responsibility drivers must take for their actions it is also important to consider Oregon’s dram shop laws, under which those who sell alcohol to people who clearly ought not to be drinking can also be held accountable for the consequences of their actions. It would be better if none of us ever had to consider situations like these, but granted that we all must, it is reassuring to know that attorneys and our courts are here to see that justice is served.

Tri-City Herald: Washington State Patrol arrests 161 across state for DUI during holiday

KBND.com: 1 death on Oregon roads over holiday

The Oregonian: Oregon State Police report 47 intoxicated driving arrests over New Year’s holiday

The fatal Oregon drunk driving crash made headlines around the state: a young woman killed when her pick-up truck veered off the road “at a high rate of speed, hit a power pole and landed in a stand of trees,” according to an account in the Oregon City News.

“Officers said it took half an hour to free" the victim, a 25-year-old woman, from the vehicle. "She was flown by Life Flight helicopter to Oregon Health and Science University Hospital … in critical condition and died the next day from her injuries,” the newspaper reports. The Oregon truck accident attracted an unusual amount of attention because the collision with the electrical pole caused many residents of Oregon City to lose power for several hours on that late-September evening. Police said alcohol appeared to be a factor in the crash. The victim’s father told the newspaper that an open container of alcohol was found in the car’s wreckage.

Now, in a gesture he hopes will offer a lesson to other young people, that grieving father is donating the frightening-looking remains of his daughter’s car to Oregon Impact, a non-profit group that “tours mangled cars to illustrate the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol,” according to the newspaper. The group’s website lays out the scope of the problem in stark terms: 30% of Oregon teen driving deaths, it notes, are “alcohol-related.”

For an Oregon drunk driving victims attorney it is important to acknowledge the vital education and public service offered by Oregon Impact and similar groups. No one ever wants to hear of a parent losing a child to a Portland or Oregon City drunk driving accident, but Oregon Impact’s work is a sign that many in our community understand the importance of both education and personal responsibility where this critical issue is concerned.

Oregon City News: Father Donates Car After Daughter Dies in Crash

Oregon Impact website

A 29-year-old Oregon City woman died recently as a result of a two-car Oregon drunk driving accident, according to a report in The Oregonian.

The crash occurred just before 2 am on state route 213 in Oregon City, the newspaper reports, quoting a spokesperson with the Oregon State Police Portland Command. “Police said Jennifer Miller, 29, of Oregon City, drove eastbound on the highway and ran a red light, crashing into a southbound Dodge pickup… Miller was declared dead at the scene, police said,” according to the newspaper. A passenger traveling in her car suffered injuries the paper describes as “serious.”

The pick-up truck’s driver was not injured in the Portland-area car crash, and was reported to be cooperating with police. Though The Oregonian’s report on the crash does not seek to assign blame, it does note that the pickup’s driver “had a green signal at the time of the crash.”

The exact role of alcohol in the accident remains unclear. The newspaper quotes police sources saying that alcohol was “a contributing factor” in the accident, but does not say which of the two drivers had been drinking.

The potential complexities of a case like this are among the best reasons why anyone who becomes the victim of an Oregon drunk driving accident should speak with an Oregon drunk driving accident lawyer as soon as possible after an incident occurs. Oregon dram shop law places some of the burden for drunk driving accidents on irresponsible bars, restaurants and alcohol retailers who sell intoxicants to people – notably drivers – who should not be drinking at all. Sorting out the specifics of the law and how they relate to your particular case is the first step.

The Oregonian: One woman killed in car crash on Oregon 213 in Oregon City

Marking Oregon car crash deaths is one of grim rituals that follow most holiday weekends. As the Seaside Signal notes, citing state statistics, Labor Day is traditionally one of the deadliest holiday weekends for drivers here in Oregon and nationwide.

The good news this year is that fatalities were down statewide. Two holiday weekend crashes led to three deaths, the newspaper reports: two people died on Friday evening as the holiday weekend began in a Clackamas County, Oregon motorcycle crash that also involved a car. The other fatality was discovered early Monday morning, on Labor Day itself, in Grass Valley. “An adult male was found deceased in the wreckage of the crash believed to have happened September 4 or during the early morning hours of September 5,” the paper reports, citing the Oregon State Police.

Tempering news of a drop in actual Oregon car crash deaths was word that DUI arrests were up. This is especially worrisome since, as the paper notes, “impaired driving is a major factor in holiday-related traffic crashes and alcohol is a known contributing factor in over half of holiday fatalities.” A total of 70 Oregon DUI arrests took place over Labor Day weekend, up from 67 last year – with an eye-opening ten OSP command centers statewide reporting three or more arrests during the period.

For a Portland drunk driving victim’s attorney the evidence offered by these numbers could not be clearer: victims of reckless, intoxicated drivers need all of the help our legal system can offer. Justice must often be fought for, especially in the wake of a serious Portland drunk driving crash. A criminal citation, even the loss of one’s driving privileges for a period of time, is often not enough for victims to feel they have been made whole again. The peace of mind that comes with having help putting one’s life back together is one of the most important services our courts and Portland drunk driving lawyers offer.

Seaside Signal: Labor Day Holiday Traffic Fatalities

A civil suit filed earlier this month here in Portland is an excellent illustration of Oregon dram shop law and the ways it seeks to protect the public at large and accident victims in particular. According to The Oregonian, the husband of a woman who died in a Portland drunk driving accident last February is suing not only the alleged drunk driver but also two bars which, he claims, served the driver “while he was visibly intoxicated.”

The newspaper goes on to add that “the complaint accuses the bars of negligence for allowing him to drive, failing to determine whether he planned to drive and failing to alert authorities.”

This is practically the definition of a claim under the Oregon dram shop law – a statute that says a bar or alcohol retailer can be held legally responsibly for the damage done by a patron who clearly should not have been served in the first place.

This case is particularly tragic since it resulted in death. According to the newspaper, 32-year-old Tessa Conradi died when the defendant “crashed into her Kia Sportage near the intersection of Northeast Cully Boulevard and Northeast Portland Highway.” The suspect left the scene of the accident but was apprehended by police shortly thereafter. The driver, Jesse Lee Ream, “pleaded guilty last month to first degree manslaughter in the fatal crash. He also entered no contest pleas to drunken driving, failure to perform duties of a driver and other charges in connection with the crash,” The Oregonian reports.

The decision by Conradi’s widower to pursue an Oregon dram shop case against the two bars Ream allegedly visited in the hours immediately prior to the accident is a reminder that justice does not stop with – and is not necessarily fully served by – the criminal court system. Legal and moral accountability extends beyond the drunk man behind the wheel. A Portland drunk driving victim’s lawyer with expertise in dram shop cases can assist victims and their families in making sense of the court system and obtaining the justice they need and deserve.

The Oregonian: Husband files $7.1 million civil suit against drunken driver, two bars in NE Portland crash that killed wife

A 25-year-old Oregon woman has been sentenced to a fine and a diversion program and also had her license suspended after pleading guilty to Oregon drunk driving, according to The Oregonian.

The short article, published earlier this month, is a useful reminder both of the serious consequences of Oregon drunk driving and the tough sanctions that even a first offense can entail. The article does not detail how Lauren Thomas came to be driving drunk when she caused an Oregon car crash in I-5 in Tualatin, but notes that she “drifted out of a lane of traffic and crashed into a flatbed pickup.” The truck’s driver was not injured in the accident.

Thomas, the paper reports, must attend treatment sessions and has lost her driving license for 90 days. She will also have to pay a fine and during this period “cannot consume or possess alcohol, or enter bars or liquor stores.” She will also have to read a book on the consequences of drunk driving and submit a report on it to the presiding judge in her case.

All of this stems from a single incident in which no one was hurt, and that is a good thing. Our legal system has, over the years, come to take drunk driving more and more seriously. Victims of accidents such as this one, however, need to know that the criminal side of our court system may not always be able to address all of their concerns and provide them with the justice they deserve.

When that happens, a Portland drunk driving victims’ lawyer can help victims and their families put their lives back together. The consequences of reckless driving can be severe, and we all need to do what we can to see that justice is done when others act irresponsibly.

The Oregonian: Woman who crashed into the back of flatbed in Tulatin admits to drunk driving

Chalk one up for Orange County, California in the quest for innovative ways to combat drunk driving. According to a recent article in the Orange County Register a recent student assembly in the San Clemente High School gym featured “an actual court session and sentencing of a DUI defendant.”

The paper reports that the County Superior Court session was moved to the school for part of one day as a way of emphasizing the seriousness of drunk driving and its consequences. Placing the session in the school allows anti-drunk driving activists to demonstrate this directly to teens – a group who have traditionally both been at extremely high risk for drunk driving injuries and fatalities while also being unusually difficult to reach in effective ways.

A session later in the day at the same school featured “an Orange County deputy district attorney (discussing) family consequences from a teen DUI or DUI-related crash.”

On one level the court session and later panel discussion may seem like a bit of a stunt, but with drunk driving continuing to be an epidemic here in Oregon and elsewhere around the country our neighbors to the south ought to be applauded for their innovative attempt to get the message out.

Here in Portland it is also important that bar owners and shops selling alcohol understand that the Oregon dram shop laws can make them liable for the damage caused by an Oregon drunk driver, above and beyond the potential licensing consequences of selling to minors. A responsible Oregon drunk driving attorney can assist victims and their families in the difficult process of coping with the consequences of an Oregon teen drunk driving crash, helping to explain the legal system and its intricacies and to chart a family’s path toward achieving justice in our courts.

Orange County Register: Teen-DUI Seminar to include court session at high school

Fox News used to run a regular segment called “stupid criminals.” If it were still on the air the subject of today’s Oregon drunk driving blog would definitely be a candidate.

According to The Oregonian, Aaron Arrell killed a woman in an Oregon fatal hit-and-run accident in March, and was apprehended in large part because he tried to cover his tracks by having his wife phone police to report their van – the vehicle involved in the accident – stolen. “Had they not called, it may have gone unsolved,” the paper quotes a Multnomah County prosecutor saying.

When police caught up with Arrell – based largely on the description of the vehicle that his wife had given them – he tested for blood alcohol at almost twice the legal limit, according to the paper. It also emerged that he was driving on a suspended license, and had been cited twice previously for doing so in the weeks prior to the Portland drunk driving fatality.

The Oregonian reports that Arrell pled no contest “to criminally negligent homicide, failures to perform the duties of a driver to an injured person and drunken driving.” He was sentenced to 50 months in prison as a result of the Oregon drunk driving conviction. The fact that this was also a Portland hit-and-run accident made the charges all the more serious.

It is good to know that such an irresponsible motorist is going to be behind bars. We have here a driver with a suspended license who went out anyway and, by his own admission, drank at two bars that evening, and who then left the scene of the accident caused by his own recklessness. There is no word, according to The Oregonian, on whether the victim’s family plans to seek further justice in the civil courts. Regardless of how they come down on that very painful decision, it is important that other families in similar situations understand that the court system is here to help defend their rights. An experienced Portland drunk driving victims’ attorney can offer invaluable advice at such moments, helping families see beyond the immediate trauma, and helping them to protect their rights.

The Oregonian: Drunken driver who tried to cover up fatal crash ends up helping Portland police track him down, gets 4 years in prison

A Clatsop County court has convicted a 45-year old Portland man in a case stemming from a fatal drunk driving car crash last year, according to The Oregonian.

The case of Ken Middleton’s Portland fatal car crash is particularly shocking not only because of the sheer amount of alcohol he consumed in the hours leading up to the accident, but also because he got behind the wheel so completely intoxicated despite having his own 13-year-old daughter riding with him. The Daily Astorian reported that Middleton, at his trial, “admitted he had consumed at least 12 beers that day.” His daughter, mercifully, “suffered only minor injuries,” according to The Oregonian.

In addition to Oregon drunk driving Middleton was convicted of manslaughter, second-degree assault and three counts of reckless endangering, The Oregonian reports. The manslaughter charge stems from the death of Andrew Church, a motorcyclist whom Middleton struck head on when he drifted over the centerline as he and his daughter drove along US-30 in Astoria last May.

It is difficult to know what to say about a crash that takes a man’s life even as it endangers the perpetrator’s own child. Suffice it to say that resolving issues like these and bringing some feeling of justice and closure to victims are one of the main roles our courts – civil and criminal alike – serve in cases such as this.

An Oregon car crash attorney can work with victims and their families, especially those who may feel that criminal courts alone have been unable to see justice properly done in wrenching Oregon drunk driving cases.

The Daily Astorian: Jury convicts driver who had a dozen beers, killed motorcyclist

The Oregonian: Clatsop County jury convicts Portland man on drunk driving, manslaughter charges

An innovative program at a high school in Yamhill recently brought together students and local safety officials to demonstrate the dangers of Oregon drunk driving, according to an account in the Yamhill Valley News-Register.

The program, known as SKID (Stopping Kids Intoxicated Driving) was developed in 1998 by the Sheriff’s Office in Washington County, west of Portland. It encourages students to work with local police and fire officials, the sheriff’s office, state police and a local funeral home to demonstrate Oregon drunk driving car crash scenarios that are, in the paper’s words, “highly realistic but not real.”

The demonstration described by the newspaper was designed to simulate the effects of drunk driving and drug use in the imagined aftermath of prom night. In addition to the students assigned to simulate impaired driving, others were texting in the car, some of them riding without wearing seat belts. Those details were designed to emphasize to teens the importance not just of not driving while impaired, but also of not choosing to ride along with an impaired driver.

The paper reports that “all of the emergency services personnel volunteered their time to make the program possible. They would rather teach teens to make the right choices, State Police Trooper Bridget Taylor explained, than to investigate the aftermath.” Some of the student actors’ families were also present – an experience they described as disconcerting granted the realistic post-accident carnage utilizing large amounts of fake blood and real emergency vehicles.

Programs like this play an important role in cutting down on Oregon drunk driving. Our state’s dram shop laws, designed to hold those who sell or serve alcohol responsible for their actions, can only go so far. Any Portland drunk driving attorney would agree with the emergency personnel quoted above that it is far better to convince teens and young adults that drinking and driving do not mix in the first place than to be forced to deal with its tragic consequences later, via the legal system.

Yamhill Valley News-Register: Mock crash raises awareness

A story from Northern California offers a vivid reminder for us here in Oregon that drunk driving can lead to all kinds of trouble above and beyond car crashes. According to a recent account in the Red Bluff Daily News, a man is now in prison after what appears to have been an alcohol-fueled road rage incident on Interstate 5.

The paper reports that the alleged incident unfolded after a 21-year-old driver passed a car on the right. That vehicle was driven by 66-year-old Warren Hawkins. The younger driver reportedly went around Hawkins after driving behind him for some time in the fast lane where Hawkins was reportedly traveling several miles per hour below the speed limit.

Hawkins allegedly responded by first pulling alongside the younger man “yelling and making hand gestures,” and then attempting to side-swipe him twice. He then moved back behind the 21-year-old’s vehicle so that he could ram it – again, twice. The paper reports that Hawkins next followed his alleged victim when he exited the interstate, making a u-turn in an intersection and then coming “back the wrong way… before swerving left to complete a circle” around the younger man. The out-of-control driver was reportedly shouting “death threats out an open window” when police arrived on the scene.

On one level it is hard to say anything about this other than…wow. By the time the incident was over drunk driving was the least of Hawkins’ concerns. According to the Daily News, he has also been charged with “assault with a deadly weapon and making terrorist threats.”

Taking the longer view, the incident is a reminder for Oregonians of just how much damage a drunk driver can actually do. When out of control drivers in Portland, or elsewhere, become a menace to everyone on the road our courts play an important role in ensuring that justice is done. The damage done by drivers like Hawkins often is not fully addressed by license suspensions or even time in jail. An Oregon drunk driving attorney can help victims use our court system to achieve the justice they deserve in the wake of incidents like this one.

Red Bluff Daily News: Road rage lands Cottonwood man in custody

Oregonians could learn some lessons about the dangers of drunk driving accidents from an incident unfolding to our south, in Northern California.

A 64-year-old retired La Selva Beach man is facing serious charges after what media reports describe as a classic drunk driving hit-and-run accident. The Santa Cruz Sentinel, quoting police sources, says the alleged perpetrator “was driving a 2006 Camry south on State Park Drive approaching the Highway 1 off ramp just before 2 p.m.” last Sunday when he hit a 12-year-old boy in a crosswalk.

The paper reports that the driver fled, but witnesses at the scene “helped identify him” leading to his arrest just over an hour later. The good news is that the child does not appear to have been seriously injured.

Here in Oregon we, like many other Americans, often fall into the trap of thinking of drunk driving as primarily a young person’s problem. It was, after all, barely a generation ago that curbing drunk driving among teens was cited as the main motivator behind the nationwide campaign to raise the drinking age to 21. Accidents like this one, however, should serve as a reminder that the problem of drinking and driving – and of bars and stores that violate the Oregon dram shop law by selling or serving alcohol to obviously intoxicated people – is not confined to teens and 20-somethings.

It should not take drunk driving injuries to Oregon children to remind us how important these issues are. The California driver in question is now facing serious charges (though the newspaper reports that he was released from custody after his initial arrest pending further legal proceedings), as should anyone foolish enough to get behind the wheel while impaired. Victims and their families should know that our legal system is here to help them and defend their rights. Contacting an Oregon drunk driving injury lawyer can be an essential first step in seeing that justice is done.

Santa Cruz Sentinel via The Silicon Valley Mercury News: La Selva Beach man arrested after child is hit in crosswalk

As reported by The Oregonian, the circumstances surrounding a recent two-car Coastal Oregon car accident on Highway 101 raise a number of potential legal issues, including whether the victims may be in a position to press an Oregon dram shop case.

The newspaper, quoting police sources, reports that the accident took place when an Oldsmobile traveling north on US-101 crossed the center line and hit a southbound pick-up truck. “The impact of the crash tore the Oldsmobile in half, with the two sections coming to rest on opposite sides of the highway,” the paper notes. All three people involved in the crash – the driver of the Oldsmobile and the driver and a passenger in the pick-up – were seriously injured.

Police told The Oregonian that alcohol was a factor in the crash, though the exact nature of its involvement is still under investigation.

If the driver of the Oldsmobile is shown to have been coming from a restaurant, bar or liquor store the other victims of this Central Oregon car crash may be able to make the Oregon dram shop law a key part of their fight for a just settlement in the wake of the accident. That law extends liability for a drunk driver’s actions to businesses that sold him or her alcohol despite the person’s already being intoxicated.

Portland drunk driving and dram shop cases can be an especially complex area of Oregon law. If you have been the victim of an Oregon drunk driver and believe that responsibility for the accident may extend to a business that should not have sold alcohol to the perpetrator in the first place prompt consultation with an Oregon drunk driving victim’s attorney is your best initial course of action.

The Oregonian: Alcohol believed to be factor in Highway 101 crash that injured 3

Schools in Wallowa, in the far east of Oregon, are targeting distracted driving by going directly to the source: placing students in a car equipped with virtual reality technology to convince them of exactly how real the danger is.

According to the Wallowa County Chieftain roughly 50 of the people put through the simulator on a single day at an area high school wound up being ‘victims’ of Oregon distracted driving or Oregon drunk driving accidents. The paper quotes the “impaired driving awareness instructor” who ran the event saying that in the real world “eighty percent of accidents are due to driver distraction” (a statistic which obviously goes far beyond cellphones to encompass ‘legal’ distractions – such as the radio or CD player or dealing with kids in the back seat).

The project, the paper reports, is organized by “UNITE, a Michigan-based organization that sends three teams around the nation for similar demonstrations at high schools and colleges.” The set-up involves placing students in a stationary car while wearing virtual reality goggles. Both the car and the goggles are connected to a computer. To simulate phone-related distractions and texting students use their own cellphones. Drunk driving is simulated by having the computer acknowledge a students’ actions in the car with the appropriate delay for varying levels of intoxication.

As I have written on previous occasions, a core issue when it comes to distracted driving is the widespread belief that ‘I’m very careful – the problem is with all those other people who aren’t.’ Systems like the one UNITE is taking to schools here in Oregon are an especially useful way to demonstrate to individuals that their ability to multi-task is not necessarily as uniquely high as they believe.

In the wake of distracted driving accidents an Oregon distracted driving attorney can be an essential ally of victims and their families as they struggle to put their lives back together. Drunk driving has been a problem for decades. Distracted driving, at least as it relates to cellphones, is relatively new. In both cases, however, education and justice go hand-in-hand: demanding personal responsibility before accidents happen, and enforcing it once they do.

Wallowa.com: How to text yourself to death

The driver of a van whose crash left his two passengers dead earlier this week has been charged with a range of offenses, including manslaughter in the first degree and Oregon drunk driving, according to The Oregonian.

The Oregon car accident occurred Tuesday morning near Seal Rock, on the Central Oregon coast. The Oregonian, quoting Oregon State Police, reports that 24-year-old Jose De Leon Colomo was driving north on US-101 when his “van failed to negotiate a left curve, traveled over an embankment, and crashed into a tree, police said. The van broke into several pieces.”

The two passengers in the van were pronounced dead at the scene of the alleged Central Oregon drunk driving crash. Colomo, the driver, was treated at an area hospital before being placed under arrest and transferred to the Lincoln County jail. In addition to drunk driving and manslaughter he has also been charged with recklessly endangering another person and reckless driving, according to The Oregonian.

In incidents like these survivors and their families, once they are past the initial crisis and shock of the accident, need to consider their options as they seek to see justice done and to put their lives back together. Drunk driving can often be traced to bartenders or liquor store staff who can be held accountable for their actions under Oregon’s dram shop laws. Car accidents that stem from negligence may lead to Oregon wrongful death claims.

A Portland personal injury attorney with expertise in Oregon dram shop laws, Oregon drunk driving cases and Oregon wrongful death actions can offer advice in difficult times like these, helping bereaved families consider their options as they try to put their lives back together and seek justice.

The Oregonian: Newport man charged with manslaughter after two die in van wreck

Siuslaw News: Update on 101 fatal crash: driver arrested

A dramatic Oregon car accident near Redmond landed a 25-year-old Prineville woman in prison on suspicion of Oregon drunk driving, according to the Bend Bulletin.

The newspaper reports that Deneice Tebbits “was driving south a few miles south of Redmond shortly before 7 a.m. (last Wednesday) when she attempted to pass a line of cars and spun out of control, crossed three lanes of traffic, and struck a northbound vehicle.” According to MyCentralOregon.com neither Tebbits nor the driver of the car she hit were injured, but Tebbits was arrested at the scene and charged with suspicion of Oregon DUII.

If there were ever a case that illustrates the many dangers of Oregon drunk driving this has to be it. Based on media reporting of the case, we allegedly have an impaired driver (at seven o’clock in the morning!) endangering both herself and a significant other number of motorists.

We can take some solace from the fact that no one was injured in this Oregon drunk driving crash, but it highlights the damage a negligent and impaired driver can do. Victims of such irresponsibility are not only those physically injured in an Oregon drunk driving crash, but can include those whose property is damaged (for example, the driver Tebbits allegedly hit), and those who suffer emotional trauma as a result of the accident.

One of the most important services an Oregon drunk driving attorney can offer to victims of accidents like these is experienced and intelligent advice on the choices victims must make in the wake of a Portland, Salem, Corvallis, Redmond or Bend drunk driving accident. We all come out of incidents like these wanting to see justice served. It often requires professional advice, however, to determine the best course to take to see that this happens.

Bend Bulletin: Woman jailed in Redmond-area crash

MyCentralOregon.com: Prineville Woman Arrested After Hwy 97 Crash

A local fire department official had to be rescued by his own colleagues after causing an Oregon injury car wreck near Walterville, the Eugene Register-Guard reports. The Oregon car accident took place on Highway 126 last Sunday and resulted in three injuries, one of which was described as “serious” in media reports.

The newspaper, quoting witnesses and the local police, reported that a Toyota driven by Michael McCall was “weaving in and out of its lane and traveling in the opposing lane before it crashed into an oncoming Ford Taurus occupied by two Eugene residents.”

McCall, described as “a volunteer lieutenant with McKenzie Fire & Rescue” had to be rescued from the wreck by his fire department colleagues. He was transported to a hospital in Springfield and treated for serious injuries following the Oregon head-on collision. The driver and passenger in the Taurus were transported to a different Springfield hospital with injuries that were described as non-life threatening.

No explanation has yet been offered for why McCall was allegedly weaving across the road, leading to a head-on Oregon car crash. Incidents like this, however, are exactly the kind that cry out for prompt consultation with an Oregon car crash attorney as soon as possible following the incident. Regardless of whether drunk driving or distracted driving was a factor in the crash – even if it resulted from simple negligence and inattentiveness – it is important that those who cause Oregon car accidents be held accountable for their actions.

Eugene Register-Guard: Erratic driving seen before collision

KEZI.com: Three people injured in Head-on Crash near Walterville

A crowd turned out on Barbur Boulevard last night to remember Angela Burke, according to an account posted on the Bike Portland website. Burke, 26, was killed last week by what The Oregonian, quoting police and witnesses, described as a speeding car (reportedly doing 75 in a 35 mph zone) traveling barely on the edge of control.

The Oregonian reports that the driver who allegedly struck Burke was arraigned last Friday “on allegations of negligent homicide and driving under the influence of intoxicants.” He was reported to have significant amounts of both alcohol and marijuana in his system at the time of his arrest, shortly after the Portland fatal pedestrian car crash that killed Burke. The suspect has another court date scheduled later this week.

As both the newspaper and Bike Portland noted, the stretch of Barbur where Burke died is notoriously difficult for Oregon pedestrians and cyclists to cross safely, especially at rush hour. Even those going to last night’s vigil were urged to take safety precautions.

There is a certain irony in the fact that Portland – a city known nationwide for its friendliness to bicyclists and pedestrians - has seen such a rash of fatal bike and pedestrian accidents over the last few years. The very stretch of Barbur where Burke died last week was the site of a similar Portland fatal traffic accident just two months ago.

While authorities say they are working to correct this situation many broader questions need to be considered by our community. In particular, one has to ask what sort of justice family members of Burke and victims like her can obtain in the wake of Portland pedestrian accidents such as this one. Criminal accountability does not begin to settle the accounts of a family’s pain and suffering, lost wages or companionship. It does not, in short, settle the accounts required by justice. For that we must rely on the civil court system and the assistance a Portland pedestrian and bike accident lawyer can offer bereaved family members, or victims struggling to put their lives back together in the wake of someone else’s recklessness.

The Oregonian: Vigil planned tonight for Angela Burke, struck and killed by motorist on SW Barbour Boulevard

Bike Portland: Vigil brings light to tragic stretch of Barbur Blvd

KXL Radio: Vigil Mourns Another Portland Pedestrian Death

An August 2009 head-on car crash that left two dead in Bethany, near Beaverton, is the subject of a suit brought under Oregon’s dram shop laws, according to an article published last week in The Oregonian.

The Oregon dram shop suit has been brought by the family of Thai Hoang-Williams, who died as a result of a head-on collision with Belinda Lopez, who also died in the Oregon car crash. Lopez’s car crossed the centerline to strike Hoang-Williams’ vehicle. At the time, police blamed speed for the accident, but a private investigator hired by Hoang-Williams’ family also found that Lopez had been drinking heavily at a nearby restaurant, Chen’s Dynasty, shortly before the accident.

According to the newspaper, the Oregon wrongful death lawsuit alleges that Chen’s Dynasty shares responsibility for the accident with Lopez herself because it allegedly continued to serve her alcohol after she was drunk. This claim, according to the newspaper, is based on toxicology reports that were not released publicly at the time of the crash, but which show Lopez to have been significantly over the legal limit for blood alcohol at the time of the accident.

The case is a strong reminder of the responsibility bartenders bear, especially when they know that many of their customers arrived by car and also intend to leave that way. Bartenders and retail alcohol merchants need to understand that they, too, can be held responsible for Oregon drunk driving and the irreparable damage it can cause to families across our state.

If you, or a member of your family, have been victimized by a Portland, Beaverton, Corvallis or Bethany drunk driver it is essential that you consult with an Oregon personal injury and wrongful death attorney who is familiar with the ins-and-outs of dram shop laws. Obtaining justice can be a long and difficult road, but with the help of a Portland car crash and wrongful death lawyer you can help send a message that responsible behavior is required of vendors as well as drinkers.

The Oregonian: Family accuses Chen’s Dynasty of overserving Lake Oswego teacher before fatal crash

The Oregonian reports that the 6-year-old survivor of a Labor Day weekend Oregon car crash is still hospitalized in serious condition, even as the operator of the car that caused the accident has been charged with a series of vehicular offenses by the district attorney in Klamath Falls.

The boy was seriously injured, and his great-grandparents killed, when 22-year-old Carrie Ames allegedly slammed into them in a head-on Oregon car crash. Ames and an 18-year old passenger in her car suffered only minor injuries.

According to The Oregonian, Ames has been charged “with two counts of first-degree manslaughter, driving under the influence of intoxicants, second-degree assault in connection with the 6-year-old’s injuries, and third-degree assault in connection with injuries “ to the teenage passenger in her own car.

This is a tragedy on so many levels: an injured Oregon child, drunk driving and, especially, the deaths of the boy’s great-grandparents, who were reportedly visiting from California. Anyone unlucky enough to be faced with such a sea of troubles following a devastating accident should make a point of consulting an Oregon car crash attorney as soon as possible after the accident for assistance in discussing what remedies the law may offer.

The court system does not, by itself, guarantee justice for the victims of tragic Oregon drunk driving accidents like this one. For that, victims often have to go to civil court. Especially when fatalities or an Oregon child injury are involved, it is important that victims seek legal counsel to consider their reaction to any Portland or Klamath Falls auto accident.

AP via Silicon Valley Mercury News: Ore. Woman charged with manslaughter in crash

The Oregonian: 6-year-old survivor of fatal Klamath Falls crash remains in serious condition

A car crash near the center of the Glenn Jackson Bridge earlier this week wrecked a semi-trailer and a Honda, sent two people to the hospital and ended with the driver of the Honda facing legal trouble in both Oregon and Washington.

The Oregon car and truck accident left 21-year old Ilya Anikin facing drunk driving charges in two states after crashing his vehicle on the bridge just inside the Oregon state line in the early hours of Thursday morning, according to The Oregonian. Police are still on the lookout for the driver of a red Pontiac alongside whom, they say, Anikin was driving recklessly as the two cars crossed the bridge headed from Washington into Oregon.

NWCN reports that the Oregon truck accident unfolded in an Oregon DOT workzone near the middle of the bridge when Anikin’s Honda swerved, hitting the semi “in the left rear axle, causing its two trailers to drive over, and somewhat flatten, the car.” The Oregonian reports that the trailers tipped over, smashing into the bridge’s center divider, blocking the road and spilling a huge amount of glue, which the truck was hauling (and which work crews struggled – successfully – to get cleaned up prior to the morning rush hour). The driver of the truck was uninjured, but Anikin and a passenger were treated at a local hospital, where Oregon police cited Anikin for DUII and reckless driving. Washington state police then arrested him and issued another, Washington State, DUI citation.

Portland car accidents, especially those involving Oregon drunk drivers, are serious legal matters requiring skilled legal representation from the outset. If you have been the victim of an Oregon drunk or reckless driver, an Oregon personal injury attorney should be one of the first calls you or your loved ones make after attending to immediate medical needs.

A police citation (or even two citations, in two different states) does not, by itself, guarantee you either justice or appropriate compensation for the pain and suffering, lost wages and medical bills and damage to your vehicle or other property stemming from an accident that resulted from someone else’s negligence or misbehavior. Prompt consultation with an Oregon car crash lawyer is the best assurance you have that justice will be served.

NWCN: Alcohol, reckless driving led to I-205 crash

The Oregonian: After night is full moon traffic accidents, Portland police looking for driver in dramatic Glenn Jackson Bridge crash

A Multnomah County man convicted in a drunk driving incident that seriously injured two pedestrians has already been sentenced to nearly six years in prison, but faces additional time behind bars if he refuses to cooperate with a related Oregon dram shop law case pending in civil court, according to The Oregonian.

The newspaper reports that Dallas Lawrence, now 25, struck two women after he left a bar while clearly drunk last February. His Oregon drunk driving conviction in the criminal case growing out of the incident is separate from the potential Portland dram shop law case focused on the bar that allegedly continued to serve Lawrence. That case turns on the allegation that the bar allowed Lawrence to get into his car and drive off into the night despite being so drunk that, according to The Oregonian, he “fell off his bar stool” before heading out to the parking lot.

The paper reports that Lawrence’s two victims have not yet filed suit against the bar where he spent the evening drinking. Lawrence faces an additional 2-1/2 years in prison if he does not cooperate, should a suit go forward.

Dram shop cases focus on the responsibility of bars or other alcohol vendors for the damage done by visibly intoxicated people whom they continue to serve. As The Oregonian notes, such cases “are relatively rare in Oregon, often because it’s difficult to prove in court that bar employees served a visibly intoxicated person.”

Lawrence’s case, however, would appear to offer proof that an experienced Oregon personal injury attorney well-versed in the specialized area of dram shop cases, can help accident victims get the justice they deserve. One of the women Lawrence hit was hurled 60 feet before hitting a parked car, according to The Oregonian. Conventional Portland drunk driving laws, especially those focused on criminal conduct alone, cannot make situations like these right. That is why Oregon’s dram shop laws, and the specialized Portland, Salem and Eugene lawyers who help enforce them, are so important.

The Oregonian: Portland man sentenced to six years for running down two pedestrians after night of heavy drinking

An Oregon car crash Wednesday left two people dead in Beaverton, highlighting in the most tragic way possible the need for caution behind the wheel as we head into this holiday weekend.

According to The Oregonian, the Washington County car accident took place at mid-afternoon on South Murray Boulevard. The driver “barely stopped for the red light” before making a right turn and then speeding up. The abrupt acceleration caused “the car to fishtail across both lanes, jump the curb and crash into” a concrete wall, the paper reports. A 54-year old man riding in the passenger seat was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. The driver, a 61 year old woman, was airlifted to a Portland hospital following the Oregon car accident, but died a few hours later.

Television station KGW quotes police investigating the accident saying both that speed “appears to have been” one cause of the Oregon single car accident, and that alcohol use may also have played a role.

As we move into a busy holiday weekend, this Oregon car crash is a reminder of the importance of safe and sober driving. Holiday weekends are notorious for their increased death toll along the nation’s highways, and particularly noteworthy for injury car crashes involving alcohol use. Other factors taking on increased importance during heavy holiday travel periods include reckless driving in the form of speeding, alcohol use and distracted driving.

Drivers who are reckless represent a threat to the community as well as themselves. When accidents occur as a result of their actions it is important that they be held to account, by their victims as well as the criminal justice system. An experienced Beaverton car crash lawyer can help you and your loved ones sort through the intricacies of Oregon personal injury law and advise on the best ways to achieve the justice you deserve if you have been the victim of someone else’s poor choices, leading to a serious Portland, Eugene, Beaverton or Medford car accident.

KGW.com: Two dead in Beaverton Murray Blvd. crash

The Oregonian: Second person dies from single-car Beaverton crash

Alcohol-related Oregon fatal car accidents and holiday weekends seem to have a grim connection. As the Daily Astorian notes, Memorial Day has long been the holiday weekend in Oregon most closely associated with alcohol-related fatalities. This year is no exception. According to the newspaper an Oregon drunk driver strayed over the center line of Highway 30 just east of Astoria Sunday night, striking a motorcyclist nearly head-on.

The motorcycle rider, who was wearing a helmet, was thrown from his bike and killed. Both the alleged drunk driver and his 13-year old daughter who was riding in the truck with him were uninjured. The Oregonian, quoting Oregon State Police, reported that the truck driver was arrested and charged with drunk driving, reckless driving, manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person (this is presumably a reference to the child in the truck).

Unmentioned by the media, but also worth considering as we think through the legal implications of this tragic Oregon fatal motorcycle accident, is where the alleged driver obtained his alcohol. If a bartender continued to serve the suspect or a store clerk sold him alcohol after he was obviously drunk that person too could be subject to legal action.

If you or a loved one have been the victim of a Portland, Eugene, Astoria or Medford drunk driving accident, consulting with an Oregon personal injury lawyer with extensive experience in cases involving Oregon drunk drivers is essential. Responsibility for your, or your loved one’s, injuries may extend beyond the person behind the wheel to include those who enabled an Oregon fatal traffic accident driver’s reckless and negligent behavior. The road to justice in the wake of tragedy is rarely smooth, but a Portland traffic injury attorney can be a key ally and guide on that journey.

The Oregonian: Portland man held in fatal wreck near Astoria

The Daily Astorian: Man killed in holiday accident