Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog
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.”
Despite the ODOT truck’s amber signal telling drivers to move over, a driver from Vancouver, Washington, hit the rear of the ODOT truck, lost control, and hit both the stranded driver and the ODOT worker.
The ODOT worker suffered serious injuries. The stranded driver died at the scene.
Terrible accidents like this one teach many lessons. Certainly, one of the chief ones is to be alert when you encounter disabled vehicles and work crews. As an ODOT district manager said in a statement, “There is no excuse for not slowing down and paying attention when people are along the highway. What happened Tuesday is devastating, and lives have been forever changed. … Our crews … are out there every day working to keep the public safe, and they need drivers to do their part in return. Slow down and pay attention. If you can’t do that, don’t drive.”
Alert driving is crucial at all times. The vast majority of rear-end accidents involve a rear driver who was not paying close enough attention to the road. While some rear-end accidents may result only in minor whiplash injuries, others (like this one) inflict major harm like traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, and death.
Serious Accident and Auto Insurance in Oregon
If you are someone who has endured this kind of serious or catastrophic harm (or you have lost a loved one), you need to understand how insurance coverage works in Oregon. This state requires that you have insurance coverage that includes bodily injury liability of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per crash. Oregon law also requires that you maintain personal injury protection (PIP) of $15,000 per person.
One of the most vital things your Oregon auto accident lawyer can do for you is to help you identify what insurance coverages apply to your circumstances and help you pursue claims against the relevant policies.
Additionally, your attorney can guide you when the at-fault driver’s insurance coverage is not enough. In cases involving major or catastrophic damage, it is easy for the total harm to exceed the coverage limits of the at-fault driver’s policy. Oregon law has an anti-stacking prohibition, which means that, when the at-fault driver’s insurance is not enough, you may pursue a claim with your own insurer (based on your uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage) in addition to pursuing a claim with the at-fault driver’s insurer.
The Oregon Tort Claim Act
Finally, in this accident, the reports and statements published in news coverage seem to show that the ODOT worker took all the proper actions before the accident. Sometimes, though, that is not the case. If your accident involves an ODOT truck, TriMet bus, or some other government vehicle, and liability on the part of that government worker, your case is different than a case against a private individual. You must follow the requirements of the Oregon Tort Claims Act.
One critical example of this is the law’s notice deadline. If your case involves a fatality, then you have 1 year to provide notice or else you cannot pursue your claim. If your case involves non-fatal harm, the deadline is only 180 days.
After your serious motor vehicle accident, you have many essential things to focus on, mostly related to your recovery. You need a skilled advocate to handle legal matters. Count on the experienced Oregon auto accident lawyers at Kaplan Law LLC to provide you with knowledgeable, effective, and personalized legal solutions and advocacy. Call (503) 226-3844 today or contact us online to schedule your free consultation.
