Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

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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.

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Recent headlines have sounded an alarm about one type of injury accident trending upward in a big way: e-bike crashes. E-bike crashes may present some unique challenges when it comes to obtaining a recovery that adequately compensates you for the harm you endured. Whether you are dealing with an insurance company or the civil justice system, you can enhance your odds of achieving a fair outcome by retaining a skilled Oregon e-bike accident lawyer to represent you.
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the number of e-bike injuries in 2022 was 30 times higher than that recorded just five years earlier. The number of people who required hospital treatment for e-bike injuries in 2022 was 43 times the number recorded in 2017. The American College of Surgeons declared e-bikes an “emerging… public health hazard.”

This hazard recently touched one local community. In October, a high school sophomore in Tualatin died west of downtown after, police believe, he “may have lost control of the e-bike,” then hit a curb and ultimately a tree. The teen was wearing a helmet at the time.

The massive uptick in e-bike injuries has spurred the creation of new legislation. In Oahu, where e-bike injuries tripled in two years, the local council passed a bill in January intended to “clear safety guidelines.” The bill placed a power cap of 750 watts on e-bikes on public roads and mandated helmet use for all riders under 18.

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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.

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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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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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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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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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The laws of physics tell us, among other things, that the force an object exerts equals its mass times its acceleration. That equation reminds us that faster-moving vehicles (and large, heavy vehicles) exert the most force in collisions. Those crashes often are the most damaging. If you’ve lost a loved one in a highway crash, your family likely has many needs that potentially involve the justice system. As you seek to hold wrongdoers accountable and obtain vital compensation that your family needs, an experienced Oregon auto accident lawyer can provide crucial advice and representation as you seek to accomplish these essential objectives.

In the past two weeks, Interstate Highway 5 in Oregon has been the site of multiple fatal crashes. The more recent of the pair illustrates some important truths about highway crashes.

Last week, a stretch of I-5 located about 25 miles south of Portland was the site of a multi-vehicle collision. According to the state police, the driver of a Volkswagen compact sedan slammed into the rear of a Dodge pickup truck “at highway speeds.” The driver of a Nissan sedan then hit the truck, as well. This pair of high-speed crashes sent the northbound truck spinning into the southbound lanes, hitting a Ford pickup truck.

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Roughly halfway between Portland and Boise is the steepest highway grade in all of Oregon. The area is so challenging to travel that the Oregon Department of Transport published an advisory sheet specifically dedicated to educating semi truckers about safely handling the dangerous stretch of Interstate 84. Known as Emigrant Hill (but often better known as Cabbage Hill), it has been the site of countless serious and fatal accidents in recent years. Too many of these accidents occur because a driver (or drivers) did not navigate the road with the degree of care the law demands. When that is the case, those injured (or the families of those killed) may be entitled to seek justice through civil action. If you have endured serious harm (or lost a loved one) in a Cabbage Hill crash, you owe it to yourself to consult an experienced Oregon auto accident lawyer about your rights and your legal options.

In June, Cabbage Hill was the site of yet another fatal accident. The driver of a pickup truck collided with the rear end of a semi-truck on westbound I-84 as they descended the hill’s steep grade. According to the Eugene Daily News, the semi was traveling very slowly and had its hazard lights on when the pickup crashed into its back end. The rear driver, a woman from Irrigon, died in the collision.

The facts that the news reported seem to point towards errant driving by the deceased woman, but the facts in this news report inevitably are not the only ones. For example, evidence that a big rig’s hazard lights were not functioning properly could alter the analysis of responsibility for the crash.

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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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