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Matthew D. Kaplan

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If you have endured serious or catastrophic injuries in an auto accident, you are (rightly) focused on your recovery. At the same time, though, there are other things that you cannot lose sight of; namely, getting the financial recovery you need and holding accountable those who were liable for your accident. This could involve insurance claims, civil lawsuits, or both. An experienced Oregon auto accident lawyer can help you analyze your situation and decide on your next steps.

A few days ago, Gilliam County was the scene of a three-vehicle crash that claimed one life and left another man seriously hurt.

The accident occurred after a driver from Western Washington developed a flat tire on Interstate 84 westbound about 40 miles east of The Dalles. After the driver pulled to the shoulder, an Oregon Department of Transportation worker stopped to help. According to the Oregon State Police, the ODOT worker “was parked behind the disabled vehicle blocking the right lane of travel with a large electronic reader board alerting oncoming traffic to move over.”

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This past March, AAA issued a press release about its latest research into hit-and-run accidents. According to AAA, “15% of all police-reported crashes in 2023 involved a driver who fled the scene.” (2023 was the most recent year for which data was available.) AAA data tells us that hundreds of thousands of hit-and-run accidents occur each year, resulting in thousands of deaths. Many of those victims are pedestrians. Suffering a catastrophic injury (or losing a loved one) at the hands of a hit-and-run driver can present some serious challenges for you. A knowledgeable Oregon pedestrian accident lawyer can provide invaluable aid in pursuing the best avenues to help you get the recovery you need.

One of these hit-and-run incidents occurred here in Portland this week. Early Tuesday morning, police arrived at the eastbound side of Highway 26 near the Oregon Zoo, according to KATU. At the scene, the officers found a dead pedestrian. They found no driver. That person had already fled the scene.

So far, the police have made no arrests.

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Drivers navigate potential dangers every day, often without realizing it. For example, statistics show that more than 12,000 fatal crashes occur at intersections. More than 1 in 5 (22%) involve a driver turning left. According to Nationwide Mutual Insurance, left-turn accidents represent the #2 “most frequent high-severity type of auto claim,” behind only rear-end collisions. While drivers making left turns are often at fault in their crashes, that is not a universal truth. Determining who was at fault in any collision, including a left-turn crash, involves careful investigation and analysis by a seasoned professional, which is why securing the services of an experienced Oregon motor vehicle accident lawyer is so important.

A fatal crash in Klamath County is just one of the latest examples of how dangerous intersections can be. In the Klamath County incident, L.K., a 71-year-old woman behind the wheel of a Chrysler PT Cruiser, was executing a left turn from eastbound Highway 140 to northbound Highway 39. According to the Oregon State Police’s preliminary investigation, the woman stopped at the intersection’s stop sign but then pulled out onto Highway 39 without yielding the right of way to oncoming traffic. A southbound Kia Sedona van crashed into the Chrysler. The van’s occupants suffered minor injuries, but L.K. died at the scene.

In most situations, left-hand turn crashes are the fault of the driver making the left turn. That is true because the law requires drivers making left turns to yield the right of way to oncoming traffic.

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When a Drunk Driver Changes Everything: Understanding Your Legal Rights as a Victim

Early Sunday morning, a single-vehicle crash on Interstate-82 near milepost 2 in Umatilla County left one man dead and three others injured. According to Oregon State Police, a black Dodge Ram traveling west failed to maintain its lane, left the roadway, and rolled several times. Martin Diaz, 42, of Kennewick, Washington, was a passenger in the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver and one other passenger suffered serious injuries, while a fourth occupant sustained minor injuries. Investigators say speed and impairment are believed to be contributing factors.

This crash is a painful reminder of something we see far too often in our practice: a single decision to get behind the wheel while impaired can permanently alter, or even end, the lives of everyone else in the vehicle and on the road. For the passengers who were hurt, and for the family grieving Mr. Diaz’s death, the legal aftermath of a crash like this is rarely simple. There isn’t just one “case.” There are often several overlapping avenues of recovery, and knowing how they interact can make a significant difference in how a family is compensated.

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Data from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety shows that more than 1,000 bicyclists die each year in crashes with motor vehicles. Many times, serious or fatal bicycle accidents happen through no fault of the bicyclist. The motor vehicle driver may have been inattentive, distracted, speeding, or otherwise driving unsafely. Additionally, the roadway itself may have been unreasonably dangerous. This information shows that a bicycle case almost always involves many nuances and variables. If you have been hurt on your bicycle because of a collision with a motor vehicle, obtaining legal representation from a skilled Oregon bicycle lawyer is a vital step on the path to getting justice.

Earlier this year, a Ph.D. student at the University of Oregon died while attempting to bicycle across a street in Eugene. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that some public records offer clues as to what may have happened in this accident. According to a search warrant filed in Lane County Circuit Court, the driver who struck and killed the bicyclist was speeding at the time of the crash, OPB reported.

People who live near the accident site told OPB that negligent driving (like speeding) is a problem in the area. Nearby residents claimed that “it’s too easy for cars to speed” on that stretch of Patterson Street. Residents called upon the city to make changes to that section of Patterson. The executive director of a local nonprofit, Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation, said that the road’s “design invites people to drive faster,” according to the report.

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According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, driving under the influence is “the cause of 70% of all traffic deaths in Oregon.” Nationwide, roughly 32 people die in drunk-driving crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 2024, that amounted to 11,904 deaths. As NHTSA highlighted, all 11,904 of these were preventable. Sometimes, the blame for a drunk-driving death falls solely on the impaired driver. Other times, however, blame extends beyond just the impaired driver. If a bar, restaurant, liquor store, or other business provided alcohol to that person even though they were visibly intoxicated, then the business may also be liable. If you have been hurt (or have lost a loved one) in one of these accidents, a knowledgeable Oregon drunk driving accident lawyer can provide you with essential advice about your options in the civil justice system.

An incident from Linn County is just the latest alleged example of impaired driving leading to a deadly outcome. According to the Oregon State Police, a man was driving while impaired when he crashed his pickup truck into a motorcyclist at an intersection north of Albany.

The driver of the pickup truck was uninjured. The motorcyclist died at the scene. Police arrested the driver of the pickup truck and booked him into the Linn County Jail on charges of DUII, reckless driving, driving while suspended, and second-degree manslaughter, KPTV reported.

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U.S. Highway 26 in Washington County (Sunset Highway) is one of the more dangerous roads in Oregon. Crash data placed it as the 14th-deadliest road in the state. Highway 26 is also heavily traveled. These realities increase the odds that, if you are involved in a Sunset Highway accident, the collision may involve more than two vehicles. When you suffer serious harm in an accident like that, you need an experienced Oregon auto accident lawyer who knows how to do a proper (and thorough) investigation of your accident and then use the evidence amassed from that investigation to help you in pursuing all necessary legal and insurance claims.

Beaverton was the site of one of these chain reaction accidents last month, according to a KATU report. The report indicated that the crash occurred between 12:00 and 1:00 am along the Highway 217 ramp to westbound Highway 26. According to the Beaverton Police public information officer, the initial accident involved two vehicles, both of which stopped after the collision. Subsequently, the “at-fault vehicle in that crash was then struck again by another vehicle traveling on Highway 26 in a second crash.”

The “driver who caused the first crash was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries,” according to police.

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When the Vat Implodes: Workers’ Rights, WISHA Obligations, and Why This Isn’t Just a Workers’ Comp Case

By Matthew D. Kaplan| May 26, 2026

What began as a mass casualty incident has now been confirmed as a mass casualty fatality event. As of approximately 11:20 a.m. Tuesday, fire officials confirmed that multiple people have died in the chemical vat implosion at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company in Longview, Washington. Additional victims remain in critical condition. The identities of those killed will not be released until families have been notified. What follows is not just a discussion of workers’ rights — it is now a discussion of wrongful death, criminal liability, and the legal reckoning that must follow.

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According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving accidents led to more than 3,200 deaths in 2024. As with many types of unsafe driving practices, distracted driving represents a particularly great danger to those who are the most vulnerable on the road, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists. For those who have been injured by a distracted driver (or who have lost a loved one to a fatal distracted driving accident), securing legal counsel from an experienced Oregon auto accident lawyer is an important first step in the process of getting justice for the harm you have suffered.

According to a KTMR report, police believe that distracted driving was a central factor in a recent Lane County accident that claimed the life of a 35-year-old Junction City man.

The man, who was walking along the shoulder of Highway 99W, died after a Hyundai Elantra struck him on the afternoon of May 5. According to police, the Hyundai’s driver, a 16-year-old female, was headed southbound on Highway 99W when she became distracted, left the travel lane, and struck the pedestrian.

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A Contractor Is Dead at River Mill Dam. Oregon OSHA Will Investigate — and a Civil Lawsuit May Follow.

A worker went to the River Mill Dam in Clackamas County on Thursday afternoon to do a job. He never made it home.

The accident occurred just before 4:30 p.m. on May 14, 2026, during equipment testing operations at the dam, located at 30800 SE Kilowatt Lane in unincorporated Clackamas County. Despite lifesaving efforts, the contractor was pronounced dead at the scene. One Portland General Electric employee was also injured and transported by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment.

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