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Matthew D. Kaplan

If you watch enough courtroom-themed television programming, you likely have heard certain legalese words like jurisdiction and venue. In the real world, these terms are essential concepts that can make or break whether your case goes forward in the court where you filed it… or is dismissed before a trial begins. That is especially true if the state you call home and the state where your accident took place are two different places. A knowledgeable legal advocate can help you ensure that your efforts to get justice go forward in a court of proper jurisdiction and venue. If you have questions about your Oregon crash, consult an experienced Oregon auto accident lawyer about how best to proceed.

A common thread links two terrible recent crashes: they involve people who died in out-of-state accidents. Earlier this month, an Oregon man died in Idaho following a two-vehicle accident. The man was a passenger in a car that was making a left turn from a northbound highway when a southbound SUV hit the car.

In September, the accident scene was in Marion County, Oregon. According to police, a Silicon Valley woman, who was headed southbound, “entered the intersection, which is controlled by stop signs,” when an eastbound driver slammed into her, sending both vehicles “off the roadway and into a field.” The woman’s 88-year-old passenger, also from California, died at the scene.

Any fatal auto accident is a tragedy. A death that occurs because one or more people engaged in reckless driving is particularly disheartening. When people engage in street racing, stunts, aggressive driving, or impaired driving, they may have done more than engage in mere negligence. When misconduct behind the wheel rises to the level of recklessness, it may significantly impact an injured person’s pursuit of justice. If a reckless driver has hurt you, the law presents many options. To enhance your case, ensure you have retained an Oregon auto accident lawyer who has experience in these cases.

Reckless driving resulted in the death of a teenage boy in Northeast Portland in late November, according to police. Authorities believe that an 18-year-old driver performed “donuts” in his car when the vehicle rolled over onto its right side. The man’s passenger died in the accident.

Police also believe that the driver’s stunt driving was part of a street racing/street “takeover” event on North Marine Drive. (Street takeovers are events where people block off an area of roadway where people race, perform stunts like donuts and burnouts, and engage in other “exhibition driving” maneuvers.) These events frequently involve reckless driving. (Authorities charged the Northeast Portland driver with reckless driving and negligent homicide.)

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Whether a person behind bars is a detainee or has already been convicted of a crime, they are constitutionally entitled to appropriate health care, including mental health care. Incarceration is incredibly stressful, and that stress can lead people to deep emotional depths, including suicidality. Too often, however, jail staff members do not do their jobs (such as skipping mandatory checks), and they miss clear signs of mental health distress. When a person behind bars harms themselves because the staff at their jail failed, that failure may represent a civil rights violation. If you suspect that has happened to a loved one, an experienced Oregon jail neglect lawyer can provide knowledgeable answers about your options.

A jail death to our south is one of the latest examples of these stresses and these kinds of jail staff failures.

A.A. was inside the Riverside County Jail in Southern California. According to the Desert Sun, he “had an extensive history of mental illness” and was housed in the jail’s mental health unit.

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No one wants to think about their child being in an auto accident, but hundreds of thousands are each year. Of the four million-plus involved in crashes from 2018-2022, more than 540,000 were hurt, and almost 3,000 died. These numbers are a stark reminder of how vital child car seat safety is. This includes ensuring that the seat you have purchased is installed and used correctly, but it also means selecting a safe seat. Regrettably, some injuries occur because a seat was an unsafe product that failed to perform as it should have. When that happens, legal action may be necessary. An experienced Oregon product liability lawyer who handles injuries to minors can provide essential advice about how to proceed in your situation.

Safety recalls of child car seat products remind us that even products like these are susceptible to manufacturing and design defects.

The first of two recent recalls covered a relatively small number of flawed products—between 1,200 and 1,300. According to the recall, some of Britax’s One4Life car seats manufactured in July 2024 had a labeling error. The product is designed to be a long-term solution, functioning as a rear-facing seat for infants and toddlers and a forward-facing seat for bigger kids. The erroneous labels incorrectly stated that the weight limit for using the seat in the rear-facing position was 40 pounds, but the correct weight limit was 35 pounds.

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The death of 27-year-old S.B. was the tragic final chapter of a man allowed to “fall through the cracks” repeatedly. The man’s situation included many institutional failures, but one of the biggest was the inadequate mental health care he allegedly received while behind bars in Douglas County. Inmates and detainees are constitutionally entitled to appropriate health care while incarcerated, and a failure to receive that care can represent a violation of that person’s civil rights. If you have lost a loved one in this way or have questions about appropriate standards of care and jail inmates and detainees, be sure you get the reliable information you need by talking to an experienced Oregon jail neglect lawyer.

S.B. died seven weeks after he entered the Roseburg jail. On February 28, 2024, law enforcement officers encountered the man at a coffee shop repeatedly “asking customers if they wanted to ‘box’ and acting strangely.” A day later, police found the man wandering in traffic on a Douglas County highway. Despite the man’s mental health crisis, police arrested him for disorderly conduct.

When the man entered the Roseburg jail, he weighed 235 pounds. By the time deputies entered the man’s cell on April 18 to transport him to his court-ordered psychiatric treatment, he was down to 139 pounds, having lost more than 40% of his body weight.

Proper maintenance, inspection, and repair of commercial trucks are vital to ensuring the safety of truckers and all those who share the road with them. An improperly maintained truck is at an elevated risk of breaking down and causing an accident and, as the data shows, truck accidents cause thousands of deaths annually… usually to someone other than the trucker. If you have lost a loved one in a commercial truck crash, the civil court system may allow you to seek justice through a liability action against one or more parties. An experienced Oregon truck accident lawyer can help you look at your circumstances, assess your options, and choose the best path forward.

Truck maintenance was a potential issue in a recent multi-vehicle crash in Lane County. The operator of a Kenworth log truck experienced a “catastrophic engine failure” as he passed through the Knowles Creek Tunnel along Highway 126. The trucker cautiously passed through the tunnel and brought his vehicle to a stop along the side of the highway’s westbound lane. Unfortunately, the trucker’s broken engine had left behind a “200-yard-long” oil spill.

A westbound driver behind the truck hit the oil slick then hit the truck, but managed to move off the highway. The next westbound driver, however, slid not into the log truck but into the oncoming lane. That vehicle and an eastbound Chevrolet HHR slammed head-on. The driver of the Chevrolet died at the scene. The other driver suffered serious injuries.

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Running between the Columbia River and the Willamette Valley, Oregon State Route 47 offers many scenic views and interesting destinations, including numerous nearby volcanoes… and the World’s Tallest Barber Pole. The road also is home to many serious and fatal vehicle accidents. From drivers going too fast to commercial trucks operating unsafely, the reasons for serious and fatal crashes on this road are many but often involve negligent conduct by someone other than the person (people) who were severely injured or died. If your family has been touched by a catastrophic or fatal accident that occurred because someone else was not meeting their safety obligations under the law, your family may be able to obtain justice through a civil litigation action. An experienced Oregon auto accident lawyer can help guide you through this process which is often complex, intricate, and extensive.

A crash that occurred last weekend further underscores this reality. On Sunday night, emergency responders were called to an accident scene in Forest Grove. The collision was serious enough that one injured person was life-flighted to a nearby hospital and authorities closed the road to traffic.

Only two weeks earlier, the scene was Yamhill County. That crash, according to police, occurred after a southbound driver “missed a curve” and crashed into a pickup truck. The impact injured two children riding in the pickup truck. The drivers were less fortunate, with one enduring severe injury and the other suffering fatal harm.

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Any worker dying in a workplace accident is a tragedy. What makes many of these tragedies so profoundly frustrating is that after-the-fact investigations reveal that the worker’s death was entirely preventable. Many workers lose their lives on the job when, with better training, better supervision, and better safety protections, their accidents could have been avoided entirely. Sometimes, these cases involve failures not only by the employer but by third parties, as well. When that happens, the worker’s family may be entitled to seek justice using an industrial accident lawsuit. For answers to your questions about this type of civil action, you should speak to an Oregon industrial accident lawyer experienced in litigating these sorts of cases.

A recent worker death was the latest example of a preventable accident, according to a state agency investigation. In early March 2024, a 32-year-old employee working at a paper mill in Camas, Washington died when a machine crushed him. A police report filed after the man died revealed that the worker “was working alone on a machine that had reportedly been having issues earlier in the day when the incident occurred.”

Not only had the machine had problems earlier in the day, but it also experienced issues during the man’s shift. According to a news release from the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, the man “called four times in one hour to ask for help troubleshooting” the machine. Still, he was left alone with the machine. Other employees only checked the station after boxes began backing up on the conveyor belt. By then, the machine’s metal arms had already crushed the man to death.

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Parents and other caregivers strive daily to keep their children as safe as possible. Sometimes they fail to do so, not because of any mistake they made, but because a product they relied upon did not function as it should have. When that happens and a child suffers significant harm, the manufacturer should be held to account for putting an unsafe product on the market. If your child has been hurt by a defective product, a knowledgeable Oregon child injury lawyer can provide you with essential information, advice, and advocacy to guide you through the process of seeking justice through civil litigation.

One place where a child is most exposed to potential death or serious injury is riding in a car, truck, or SUV. Advances in car seat manufacturing have made kids safer than previous generations. Nevertheless, potential problems still arise that may place children at unreasonable risks when they ride down the road. Child car seats, like any product, are an item where the development of new technology sometimes comes with new flaws and new hazards. Evenflo recently developed a car seat that rotates on its base, allowing a caregiver the opportunity to place the child in the seat while the child faces outward, and then rotate the seat into the proper position for travel.

Currently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating that car seat after receiving nearly 20 complaints about it. The agency indicated in its investigation summary that the product “appears not to comply with a number of” requirements. The summary also said the agency was “aware of at least six crash incidents in the field during which the [seat’s] shell… reportedly separated from its detachable base.” In other words, the seat broke free from its base while it was still supposed to be locked.

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Construction workers face many hazards on the job. Some are inevitable, but too many dangers – and serious or fatal accidents – arise because someone (or some entity) failed to do what they were required to do. Because major construction projects typically involve a variety of entities, including general contractors, subcontractors, and more, the blame for your construction accident may fall on someone other than your employer. That means that, with the advice and counsel of an experienced Oregon industrial accident lawyer, you can potentially recover vital compensation through the civil justice system.

When it comes to construction dangers, four areas stand out: falls, electrocution, cave-ins during trenching or excavation, and “struck-by” accidents. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, roughly ¾ of “struck-by” injuries involve heavy equipment like trucks and cranes. OSHA’s data also shows that approximately 25% of fatal “struck by vehicle” accidents involve construction workers, more than any other profession.

A local accident from late May was yet another example of those dangers. On May 30, a forklift rolled on top of S.D., an ironworker working on the massive “modernization” project at a century-old high school in Northeast Portland, pinning and crushing her. The worker died two days later.

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50 SW Pine St 3rd Floor Portland, OR 97204 Telephone: (503) 226-3844 Fax: (503) 943-6670 Email: matthew@mdkaplanlaw.com
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