Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

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Even as legislative bodies strengthen laws and police ramp up enforcement, people behind the wheel dividing their attention between driving and text messages, phone calls, email, social media, and so forth remain a very real problem in Oregon and across the country. Too often, the results are serious injuries or deaths. When you or your family is harmed by someone driving while insufficiently attentive, you owe it to yourself to contact an experienced Oregon distracted driving lawyer to discuss your circumstances.

Sometimes, no one is hurt as a result of drivers’ inattention and the stories can seem a bit ridiculous — like the Washington County driver who was sufficiently distracted by a cell phone last fall that they left the road, crashed their pickup truck into a silo, and pushed that silo into a nearby barn, or the driver spotted by the Oregon State Police on Interstate 84 with not one but two hands on their cell phone while they drove.

Too many times, though, the outcome is tragic rather than absurd. Distracted driving crashes resulted in 3,500+ deaths nationwide in 2021. Here in Oregon, the state logged more than 15,500 crashes with more than 24,000 injuries from 2016-2020, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation.

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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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As the number of pedestrians killed on Portland’s streets continues to mount, we’re reminded that fatal pedestrian accidents can occur for many reasons. Sometimes a pedestrian makes an unwise and unsafe decision to cross a street. A lot of times, though, these tragedies are the result of negligence on the part of others. If you’ve lost a loved one because of unsafe road conditions or a vehicle driver’s unsafe driving, then your family needs the aid of a Portland pedestrian accident lawyer who can help to hold those responsible accountable for their actions (or inaction) and get you the recovery you need.

In just a two-day span last week, Southeast Portland saw a pair of fatal accidents involving pedestrians. The more recent one occurred around 10:15 pm on January 24 when a 2007 Mitsubishi SUV collided with a 59-year-old man. The accident took place on Southeast Powell Boulevard at Foster Road.

Powell Boulevard is notoriously dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists, with multiple fatal accidents occurring along the road, as this blog has covered on numerous occasions.

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Each January, Americans pause to reflect upon the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On multiple occasions, Dr. King counseled new college graduates and other audiences that “the time is always right to do what is right.” At Kaplan Law LLC we strive to do exactly that as we pursue justice on behalf of our clients.

And, as of this month, we’ve been doing it for 20 years.

During those two decades, we have represented a lot of victims and their families in catastrophic injury (and death) cases, including high-profile ones like Jed Hawk Myers. Myers died in the Yamhill County Jail after his pleas for medical attention — 19 times across five hours, to be exact — were ignored.

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In what can only be considered a bit of depressing irony, OregonLive recently reported on a bicyclist struck and injured… while on his way to a rally “to demand safer streets” for bicyclists and pedestrians. This bicyclist’s injuries were, thankfully, not severe. They nevertheless highlight that much work needs to be done to ensure that everyone using Portland’s streets and roads can do so safely. Part of that process often involves holding accountable those responsible for unsafe conditions. That is also where an experienced Portland bicycle accident lawyer can provide you with invaluable assistance.

According to the OregonLive report, a van driver ran a red light and slammed into the bicyclist as the bicyclist crossed the street inside a marked crosswalk.

As this accident reflects, some crashes involve significant driver negligence or recklessness, and safety improvements can only do so much to protect bicyclists and pedestrians from those drivers. For those injured bicyclists and pedestrians, the law allows them to recoup economic and non-economic damages from the at-fault driver. If the driver was driving recklessly, the injured bicyclist or pedestrian may also be entitled to recover punitive damages.

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Oregon is home to some of the finest opportunities to enjoy the outdoors on a bicycle. What that also means, though, is that Oregon is also a place where bicyclists who live far from here run the risk of suffering injuries in a crash. When that happens, it’s reasonable not to know where to turn. You should start by getting in touch with an experienced Oregon bicycle accident lawyer who can help you with the correct next steps.

When you suffer injuries in an accident close to home, it may seem easy to know what to do — call your regular local attorney and seek advice. When you’re far from home, that same attorney may be unable to represent you. Knowing what to do and doing it in a timely fashion is very important because you only have a limited time before the statute of limitations runs out.

Fortunately for a Canadian couple who were injured while bicycling in Oregon, they recognized what to do and did so within the deadline period.

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A locally renowned chef lost her life recently in a gruesome bicycle accident in a notoriously dangerous intersection southeast of downtown Portland. The chef’s death has sparked protests and a call from one city commissioner to transfer control of the area from the state to the City of Portland, according to Oregonlive.com. As Oregon accident lawyers representing bicyclists and others harmed or killed in dangerous intersection crashes, we heartily endorse options that will that create or expedite the changes necessary to make Portland’s roads safer for all users.

The fatal collision, which occurred at the intersection of Southeast Powell Boulevard and Southeast 26th Avenue saw a semi-truck hit a bicycle. The bicyclist, 50-year-old Sarah Pliner, died at the scene. According to BikePortland, the collision occurred as the driver of the 53-foot semi-truck attempted a right-hand turn from northbound 26th Avenue to eastbound Powell Boulevard.

The accident that claimed the chef’s life was far from the first for this dangerous intersection. A 2014 Powell Boulevard safety audit that the Oregon Department of Transportation commissioned listed “heavy north/south bike traffic” as one of the primary safety issues at the intersection of Powell and 26th.

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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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When parents with young children purchase a new vehicle, they may pore over data regarding the vehicle’s safety ratings, including its safety in side-impact collisions. Unlike that new car, van, or SUV, the car seat carrying those same parents’ young child may not have undergone similarly rigorous side-impact crash testing. When a car seat fails to perform as it should in a crash and a child is injured, the law allows those families to seek compensation, and they should contact a knowledgeable Oregon child injury lawyer right away.

Late last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a new rule that modified the existing “Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213,” which is the rule covering child car seats. For decades, federal regulations required manufacturers to put their car seats through crash simulation testing that replicated a “30-mph frontal impact.” The new amendment “establishes a side impact test that replicates a 30-mph side collision, commonly known as a T-bone crash. ”

This amendment to the rule is a welcome addition, but it was a long time in coming. Congress initially called for the addition of side-impact standards to the rule more than 20 years ago, in 2000.

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