Articles Posted in Motorcycle Accidents

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The beautiful scenery across Oregon can be enjoyed in many ways, and viewing it aboard a motorcycle can be among the most satisfying methods. Unfortunately, motorcyclists and their passengers are among the most vulnerable on the road. When a car, truck, or SUV driver makes a mistake, the collision that results from that error has an elevated chance of causing the motorcyclist involved to suffer catastrophic or fatal injuries. If you have encountered that situation — or you’ve lost a loved one as a result of this type of crash — you inevitably have much on your mind, not the least of which is addressing the steeper financial obligations you now face. When it comes time to seek compensation from insurers or through the legal system, be sure you have a knowledgeable Oregon motorcycle accident lawyer advocating for you.

One of the most common types of major motorcycle accidents, which this blog covered recently, involves motor vehicle drivers who make left turns in front of oncoming motorcyclists.

While that is a common scenario, it isn’t the only threat to motorcyclists that can have deadly consequences, as a late 2023 motorcycle crash in Jackson County illustrates. The motorcyclist, a 66-year-old Portland man, was driving his Harley Davidson motorcycle on Highway 230 near Crater Lake when a Toyota Corolla crossed the centerline of the highway and slammed head-on into his motorcycle.

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Thousands of motorcyclists die each year on American roads and highways. Many times, these crashes are the result of a car, truck, or SUV driver who failed to maintain a proper lookout and executed a left turn that directly led to the fatal crash. When that happens and you lose a loved one as a result, the law allows you to seek justice for your loss. Retaining an experienced Oregon motorcycle accident lawyer can provide your family crucial advantages as you undertake that legal process.

A recent fatal motorcycle accident in Lincoln County follows a factual pattern that tragically is all too familiar. A 27-year-old man from Toledo was traveling northbound on Highway 101 about 15 miles south of Newport.

According to the Oregon State Police’s preliminary investigation, as the motorcyclist passed through the intersection of Highway 101 and North Bayview Road, the driver of a Dodge Ram pickup truck turned left onto northbound 101 from Bayview Road. The motorcyclist was unable to avoid an impact and crashed into the truck. The motorcycle caught fire and the motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Auto insurance coverage can be a huge benefit when your insurer performs as it should. Unfortunately, court dockets and opinions are full of instances where insurance companies refused to do what they should, either in violation of the contract they signed or in violation of the law. When you have suffered severe or catastrophic harm in a motorcycle accident, getting the full benefit of your insurance coverage can be crucial. When your insurance company isn’t performing as it should, an experienced Oregon motorcycle accident lawyer can provide invaluable aid.

Auto insurers can violate the law in several ways. Two common ones involve refusing to pay a claim that the policy required them to cover and writing a policy that violates state law. A recent motorcycle accident case from our local area is an example of the latter, and how the legal system was able to help.

S.C. was a Portland man who had just acquired a motorcycle. Eight days after making that purchase, S.C. fell victim to a circumstance that occurs to many motorcyclists: a vehicle driver negligently making a left turn into his path. The accident left the motorcyclist with severe injuries. As is often the case in serious motorcycle accidents, the totality of the harm S.C. suffered was greater than the liability limits of the other driver’s auto insurance policy.

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A motorcycle ride offers many benefits, including the release of endorphins (a/k/a “happy” hormones.) Unfortunately, riding a motorcycle carries some drawbacks, including a substantially higher risk of severe injury or death if you’re involved in a crash. That means that the harm your crash inflicts may permanently alter the trajectory of your life and/or those of your loved ones. If you have been seriously hurt (or a loved one killed) while aboard a motorcycle, you need the services of a knowledgeable Oregon motorcycle accident lawyer to ensure you receive restorative justice.

Less than a week into 2023, a motorcyclist in neighboring Clark County, Washington, lost their life. According to a KOIN report, investigators believed that the driver of a sedan in Vancouver “was turning southbound… from a parking lot when it collided with the motorcycle.”

A few weeks later, another motorcyclist died near Portland. This time, the site was Washington County. The crash involved a motorcycle and one other vehicle on an overpass to Highway 26 in Beaverton.

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Summertime in Oregon is an excellent time to take in the scenery aboard a motorcycle. As motorcyclists know, whenever they hit the road, they are among the most vulnerable to serious or fatal injuries if a collision occurs. Often, much or all of the blame for these catastrophic crashes rests upon a car, truck, or SUV driver who failed to maintain a properly diligent lookout. When that happens and a severe or fatal injury impacts your family, a knowledgeable Portland motorcycle accident lawyer can provide you with invaluable aid as you navigate the legal system.

Sadly, the last several weeks have been extremely deadly for motorcyclists across Oregon. In late June and early July alone, two crashes in Central Oregon left two motorcyclists dead.

In the June crash, the driver of a Ford Thunderbird collided with a motorcyclist and his passenger at an intersection along Highway 97. Oregon State Police indicated that the driver of the car “failed to stop at the intersection,” colliding with the couple’s motorcycle. The driver of the motorcycle, a 65-year-old man from Washington, died at the scene. The passenger, the deceased’s 62-year-old wife, suffered critical injuries, according to a Central Oregon Daily report.

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The horrific death of a cyclist in New York City earlier this month – a moment captured on video – has brought attention to the way police there and in many other parts of the country treat fatalities brought about by reckless driving.

The New York Times reports that an 18-year-old man has been arrested and charged with manslaughter in the death of a 52-year-old cyclist in Brooklyn earlier this month. Barreling through a red light at high speed, the driver slammed into an SUV that was passing legally through the intersection. The force of the impact flung the SUV caddy-corner across the intersection directly into a cyclist who was patiently waiting for the red light to change on the opposite corner. The entire incident was captured on a dashcam video by another car waiting at the corner where the bike rider died. (Note: the first paragraph of The New York Times story below includes a link to the video. Be warned that it is extremely graphic and unsettling)

The newspaper reports that “bicycle advocates want stronger laws, as well as a cultural change similar to the one around drunken driving.” The question, at its root, is when reckless or negligent behavior crosses the line into criminality. The paper notes that “drivers who cause fatalities are almost never criminally charged, unless there are aggravating circumstances… running a red light is almost never considered reckless driving” even in a case like this where doing so leads to someone’s death.

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Late last week The Oregonian, citing the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, reported that “a Portland man died and two others were injured when a motorcycle and car collided… in Fairview.” The accident took place late at night on Northeast Halsey Street. According to the paper, a westbound motorcycle carrying both an adult and a child “collided with an eastbound car at Halsey and Seventh streets.”

The motorcycle’s driver was pronounced dead at the scene. His passenger (whose age was not announced) was taken “to a local hospital with serious injuries. The car driver had minor injuries and was also taken to a hospital.”

Many of the details of this incident remain unclear. Notably, the media reports do not say in which lane (eastbound or westbound) took place, making it difficult at this point to speculate about who may have been at fault. Two things, however, are clear. First, the accident serves as a reminder of the special responsibilities adults have when they have children as passengers in motor vehicles, or are responsible for an accident in which a child is killed or injured. Second, this incident highlights some disturbing loopholes in Oregon’s child safety laws when it comes to motorcycles.

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One of the deadliest stretches of road in our city will see radical changes beginning today. According to The Oregonian automated speed cameras “will be activated along the 3/4 –mile stretch of Southeast Division Street between 148th and 162nd avenues.” This comes just four days after the city council voted to lower the speed limit along a broader stretch of the road, running from Southeast 87th Avenue to 154th Avenue.

While the speed limit cameras have been in the works for some time (a state law approving their use was passed in 2015) the choice of Southeast Division as the site for one of the first sets installed is evidence of how much of a problem this stretch of road has become. Last week The Oregonian quoted Dan Saltzman, the City Commissioner who oversees the Portland Transportation Bureau, referring to Southeast Division as “a death corridor.” The newspaper noted that of Portland’s 44 traffic fatalities last year five took place on this one stretch of road. The 2016 tally of fatal Portland auto accidents was the highest since 2003, and the concentration of so many deaths in such a small area made a strong case for action.

According to KGW the city transportation division “used a little-known state law to enable the Portland City Commission to quickly lower the speed limit. Commissioners used their emergency safety authority to reduce the speed limit with Thursday’s vote.” Normally it is state officials who control the setting and changing of speed limits. The move drops the speed limit in the area from 35 mph to 30 mph, but it is only effective for 120 days. Saltzman and other city officials said the statistics along Southeast Division cried out for immediate action. The city government hopes state officials will move to make the new lower limit permanent before the four-month measure expires and are preparing to file required paperwork requesting the change.

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An Oregon motorcycle crash that also involved a pickup truck left a Monmouth man dead over the weekend, according to a report in this morning’s Oregonian. The newspaper reports that the man “died Sunday morning in a collision between a pickup truck and a motorcycle on Oregon 51 north of Independence.”

The victim, age 22 according to the newspaper, “struck the right front side of the truck and crashed through (its) windshield” when the driver of the truck, a 77-year-old man, “attempted to turn his truck left into a driveway.” The paper also reports that witnesses say neither the motorcycle nor the truck appeared to be speeding at the time of the Oregon motorcycle accident. Although an investigation of the fatal crash is still underway, the newspaper cites police sources saying they believe alcohol was not involved in the Sunday morning accident. Both men were airlifted to Salem Memorial Hospital, according to The Oregonian, where the motorcycle rider was pronounced dead and the driver of the truck remains in critical condition.

Based on these details, what we appear to see here is a straightforward case of poor driving, the sort of accident that happens every day in every American city, and which is all the more tragic because it is so easily avoidable.

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A recent article in The Oregonian offered the following somewhat surprising revelation: despite deaths from motorcycle crashes having “more than doubled since the mid-1990s” several major motorcycle-focused lobbying groups are advocating for fewer regulations and less enforcement concerning helmets.

The paper writes that lobbyists and their congressional allies want the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to be “blocked from providing any more grants to states to conduct highway stops of motorcyclists to check for safety violations such as the wearing of helmets that don’t meet federal standards.”

Even more shockingly, “the rider groups are seeking to preserve what essentially is a gag rule that since 1998 has prevented the agency from advocating safety measures at the state and local levels, including helmet laws.” The article notes that the gag rule is supported both by grassroots-based riders groups and by lobbyists working for motorcycle makers. It is surprising to learn that just 19 states require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets – though also a relief to find that Oregon is one of them. Even more surprising, however, is the revelation that state legislatures have been rolling back helmet laws for years. The article notes that in the late 70s all but three states required everyone on a motorcycle to be wearing a helmet.

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