Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog
Mid-February 2025 has brought another highway death in Yamhill County. The incident occurred along a part of Highway 99W in Yamhill County that has been the home of numerous serious and fatal crashes in the past. When stretches of highway become notorious for their dangerousness, that reputation frequently springs from various factors. Often, it includes driver negligence. Sometimes, it also includes negligence in the road’s design, maintenance, or repair. When you have been catastrophically injured (or have lost a loved one) in an accident along a notorious highway, you need a skilled Oregon auto accident lawyer representing you to get to the bottom of what happened and why. Only then can you be properly equipped to begin holding accountable the people and entities who were genuinely responsible.
In the February 19th collision, a Washington State man behind the wheel of a Chevrolet pickup truck attempted to turn onto Highway 18 from southbound Highway 99W when he “entered the path of a northbound Toyota Yaris… causing a side impact collision.” The driver of the truck suffered minor injuries. The crash killed the driver of the Toyota, a 31-year-old woman from McMinnville.
The mid-February accident was far from unusual. The “Y” intersection where Highways 99W and 18 meet near Dayton has been the site of many prominent (and deadly) collisions. In early December, a 45-year-old Newburg man lost his life after a crash at the same intersection. The man’s Mercury Grand Marquis collided with a motorhome, and he died a short time later at Willamette Valley Medical Center.
Less than three months before that, another major collision at the intersection made local headlines. On Sept. 24, a crash snarled traffic for hours, creating a backup of more than five miles on westbound 99W.
A Known Problem in Yamhill County
The treacherous nature of the intersection is well-known within Yamhill County. In late March 2024, the News-Register published an editorial entitled “Time to get going on McDougall Junction.” The editorial opined that constructing new bypasses at other problem spots has “served to shine a glaring and unflattering light on McDougall Junction, highlighting its deficiencies.”
The author cited the riskiness of turning from southbound 99W onto 18, which requires drivers to “wait for the chance to make a left across two lanes” of northbound 99W traffic to “ease into 18’s southwesterly flow.” After finishing its fact-finding, ODOT determined in the fall of 2018 that its preferred solution to the problem area would be a roundabout. According to an ODOT web page last updated on Feb. 13, 2025, the roundabout project is in the planning phase. Construction of the $8.4 million roundabout is set to begin next year and conclude in 2027.
Some crashes are predominantly, if not completely, the result of driver error. A Facebook user named “Polk Co Scanner” posted video footage of a 99W-18 crash that appeared to depict a pickup driver blowing through a red light and clipping a compact sedan. The video seems to show the truck entering the intersection several seconds after the sedan’s light had already turned green.
The Oregon Tort Claims Act
Other times, however, part or all of the blame may fall on a road that may have been designed, maintained, or repaired negligently. Be advised that if your accident involves an unreasonably hazardous state highway and your facts indicate a need to sue the State of Oregon, you must go through special procedures listed in the Oregon Tort Claims Act.
These include filing a “Notice of Claim” with the state government. The filing deadline for an OTCA notice of claim is often shorter than the timeframe for filing a lawsuit against a private entity in civil court. Generally, the deadline is 180 days from the date of the injury. Claims involving death have a one-year filing window. These deadlines are not hard-and-fast, however. Something called the “discovery rule” or situations involving an injured (or dead) child may lengthen these timeframes.
This “deep dive” into the procedural details of OTCA cases should tell you that a claim against the state for an unsafely designed, maintained, or repaired roadway is an exceptionally complex matter and not something to embark upon without proper legal representation.
Whether your case requires seeking accountability from the state, private entities/individuals, or insurance companies, the knowledgeable Oregon auto accident attorneys at Kaplan Law LLC are here to help. Our team has experience handling all of these types of matters and has the knowledge necessary to aid you effectively in your pursuit of justice. To learn more, call (503) 226-3844 today or contact us online to schedule your free consultation.
