Drunk Driving

March 31, 2013

Mayor, Headlines Turn Spotlight on DUII

A New York Times report this weekend about a terrible multi-vehicle crash in Nevada is a reminder of the importance of issues Portland’s own mayor has spent the last few weeks spotlighting.

A Reuters news agency dispatch, republished by the Times, cites local law enforcement, reporting that “five members of a California family were killed in Nevada when their van was struck from behind by a teenage driver who was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.” The 18-year-old driver suffered minor injuries in the crash which reportedly happened when he rear-ended the van. In addition to the five people who died two other members of the same family were also riding in the van and were treated in area hospitals following the DUII accident. The crash took place on Interstate-15 about 80 miles north of Las Vegas.

The accident comes as Portland mayor Charlie Hales has worked to spotlight an increase in DUII incidents in our city. As a recent report in The Oregonian noted, “five of the 11 people killed in Portland traffic crashes since Jan. 1 involved people driving under the influence.” Hales has sought to use the media to publicize a situation he views with “alarm” and to remind Oregonians: “Drive sober to save lives. Doing otherwise is illegal and reckless,” the paper notes, adding that the current pace of DUII-related fatalities in Portland is well ahead of last year’s.

January 21, 2013

Oregon Car Crash Kills One

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A three-vehicle Polk County, Oregon car accident over the weekend left one man dead and five people hospitalized, according to a report in The Oregonian.

The Oregon auto accident took place in the town of Dallas, about 60 miles southwest of Portland. The newspaper, quoting the Oregon State Police, reports that the sequence of events began Saturday evening when a van driven by a man from Woodburn “was heading west when it traveled across the center line and collided” with a vehicle headed in the opposite direction on State Route 22.

The driver of the eastbound vehicle was a 69-year-old Silverton man. He was pronounced dead by paramedics responding to the accident. Two other people in the car were taken to a Salem hospital with what The Oregonian describes as “critical” injuries. The driver of the van was not seriously injured in the initial crash, but was struck by a third vehicle, a westbound pickup truck, when he stopped to assess the initial accident. He was taken to the same Salem hospital as the victims in the car and is reported to be suffering from “serious injuries.” The two people in the third vehicle were treated in McMinnville for minor injuries.

December 8, 2012

Suspected Oregon Drunk Driving Accident is a Holiday Reminder

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A single car accident in the early hours of Friday morning is calling attention to the problem of Portland drunk driving and the damage it can cause.

According to a report in The Oregonian, in the early hours of Friday “a gold four-door 1998 Toyota Corolla crashed into the overpass abutment at Northeast 33rd Avenue and Columbia Boulevard, ejecting the 34-year-old driver from the vehicle.” The paper notes that the woman wound up trapped underneath the car. After being rescued she was taken to an area hospital with what were described as “life-threatening injuries.” The newspaper quotes police sources saying that an investigation is still in progress, but that the crash appears to be alcohol-related.

While we can take some small consolation from the fact that this terrible accident involved only a single car, it also serves as a powerful reminder of the damage drunk driving can do – a reminder that is especially timely as we enter the heart of the Holiday Season. The period between Thanksgiving and the New Year is always filled with parties, visits to and from relatives and many, many opportunities to overindulge.

July 18, 2012

Fatal Canby Accident Points Toward Drunk Driving

by Matthew D. Kaplan

The death of a highway worker in Canby last week turns a spotlight both on the dangers roadside workers ensure and, once again, on the problem of Oregon drunk driving.

According to The Oregonian, a 48-year-old man who was “placing warning signs about road construction near South New Era Road near South Haines Road” died last week after he was hit by a car believed to have been driven by a drunk driver. The paper reports that the driver was taken into police custody and an investigation is under way.

This incident is a sad reminder of the importance of exercising caution around highway workers. All too often, too many drivers fail to heed warnings to slow down in construction zones or other places where road workers are present. Many drivers also fail to give roadside workers a sufficiently wide berth when passing them.

June 13, 2012

Oregon Drunk Driver Sentenced in Cyclist’s Death

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Last week a graduating University of Oregon senior was sentenced to three years in prison for the Eugene drunk driving death of a fellow student, according to the Eugene Register-Guard.

The victim, a Scot who was also attending UO, was riding his bike in a marked bike lane when he was struck from behind. The newspaper reports that in the immediate aftermath of the Oregon bike and car accident the 22-year-old driver stayed with the victim “and took responsibility for his conduct.” The driver “had a blood alcohol level about twice that in which a driver is presumed intoxicated under Oregon law,” the paper notes.

The fact that the driver did not leave the scene of the accident and had no prior drunk driving history prompted prosecutors to agree to the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, rather than seeking a conviction for second-degree manslaughter (which would have carried a heavier mandatory sentence). The driver pled guilty as part of the agreement with the prosecutor’s office. He will also lose driving privileges for the remainder of his life.

April 20, 2012

Oregon Pedestrian and Car Accidents Can Be Avoided With Increased Awareness

by Matthew D. Kaplan

The latest newsletter from Oregon’s Department of Transportation offers a timely reminder now that spring is here: “Warmer weather and longer days naturally bring out more walkers,” it notes. “It is each individual’s responsibility to be safe – on foot or behind the wheel.”

The agency offers a dual reminder. Drivers should be aware that more people will be walking (and, though the release does not mention it, biking) with the arrival of spring and summer. That fact requires special vigilance on the part of drivers. Pedestrians, however, also need to be reminded responsibility is, so to speak, a two-way street. Situational awareness can save your life.

According to the ODOT “as of April 11, 20 pedestrians have died in vehicle related crashes” across Oregon. That number represents a 25% increase in Oregon pedestrian car crashes compared to the same time period last year. The statistic is particularly striking since, as the newsletter notes, “overall Oregon is down slightly in vehicle-related fatalities for 2012 (74 deaths so far compared to 76 at this time in 2011).”

January 7, 2012

Oregon and Washington Drunk Driving Arrests and Deaths From the 2011 Holiday Season

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.

October 13, 2011

Oregon Drunk Driving Perils Highlighted by Grieving Father’s Donation

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.”

September 26, 2011

Oregon City Drunk Driving Accident Kills Woman

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.”

September 12, 2011

Oregon Highway Fatalities Down, DUI’s Up, Over Labor Day Weekend

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.