Articles Posted in Truck Accidents

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A 23-year-old St. Helen’s woman died Thursday as the result of an Oregon Truck Accident near Warren, according to local media reports. The woman’s husband was also injured in the accident and was transported to Legacy Emanuel Hospital “with injuries that did not appear to be life threatening,” according to a report from Portland TV station KGW.

The Oregon car and truck accident took place at the intersection of Highway 30 and Old Portland Road, north of Warren. According to the South County Spotlight newspaper, the Oregon car accident victim’s car, a Honda Civic, was struck by a dump truck as the driver pulled out into Old Portland Road in the early morning hours. The driver of the dump truck was taken to a local hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries.

The Spotlight reports that police closed off the road to investigate the accident for more than six hours Thursday morning. Media reports say that all three people involved in the accident were wearing safety belts.

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An Oregon car crash this weekend involving a motorist from Washington and a tractor-trailer left the out-of-state driver dead, according to both the Associated Press and The Oregonian. The crash occurred in St. Helens, west of Columbia City and northwest of Portland.

Investigators told The Oregonian they believe the victim, a 44 year old woman from the Seattle area, crossed the center line of US 30 as she was heading north around midday Friday. She collided with an oncoming commercial truck hauling two empty trailers and headed south on the same road. Though airlifted to a Portland area hospital following the Oregon car-truck accident the woman later died.

Oregon truck crashes can be among the most serious of Portland auto accidents. The relative sizes of ordinary cars and large trucks leaves drivers especially vulnerable in the event of an Oregon car and truck accident. In the St. Helens crash, for example, the driver of the truck was uninjured, according to The Oregonian.

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One of the stranger stories of the week comes from Minnesota where a fatal crash involving two cars and two semi-trucks Monday not only killed two people, but also released a swarm of millions of bees.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, rescuers responding to the fatal car-truck crash had to fight their way through dark clouds of bees released from one of the trucks, both of which were hauling bees that had spent the winter in Mississippi to North Dakota for the summer. The cars were reportedly crushed between the two trucks. Police are still investigating the cause of the fatal car-truck crash, according to the Star-Tribune.

The bee-laden semi-trailers collided with two cars on Interstate 35 closing what the Star-Tribune described as a five-mile stretch of the interstate for several hours. The paper quoted a fireman who was one of the first rescuers on the scene saying; “I saw this big black cloud… I opened up my door and got stung in the face by a couple of bees.”

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Four members of a Canadian family were injured in a serious Oregon truck accident last week when what police describe as a “large truck” crossed the median on I-5 near Eugene and collided with an oncoming car, according to a report by local TV station KMTR.

According to the Eugene Register-Guard, the truck, which police describe as “rental style”, was headed south on I-5 at the time of the accident. The truck’s 73-year old driver reportedly strayed across the interstate’s grassy median before colliding with the Canadian family’s northbound pick-up truck. All four family members were taken to area hospitals. None of their injuries are thought to be life-threatening. The southbound truck’s driver was more seriously injured. According to the Register-Guard she was airlifted to hospital, after being pulled from her vehicle by fire department personnel.

Eugene injury accidents such as this can be difficult and costly affairs for the victims and their extended families. Bills for medical treatment, rehabilitative services and even counseling can flood in at a time when accident victims, or loved ones forced to leave work to care for them, are further burdened with emotional distress and the possible loss of wages or salaries.

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Junction City, midway between Eugene and Salem, was the site of a serious Oregon truck crash last week, one that left a 20 year old father and his infant son both critically injured. According to the Eugene Register-Guard, Cory Jackson and his 9 month old son Eli were driving in the family’s Volkswagen Jetta when their car was struck by a truck. Both father and son were transported to area hospitals.

Police told the Register-Guard that Jackson “drove into the path of the truck.” In the immediate aftermath of the accident, however, they were unable to provide many further details. The accident took place at the intersection of Highway 99 and Milliron Road in Junction City. A portion of Highway 99 was closed for about four hours as police investigators and an accident reconstruction team worked on the accident site, according to TV station KMTR.

Oregon truck accidents can take an horrific toll on ordinary passenger cars. When the crash leads to a Eugene child injury accident the results are especially tragic. In such instances, contacting an Oregon car crash attorney as quickly as possible following the accident can be one of the most important moves you or your loved ones make.

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In what is, perhaps, one of the strangest and most senseless Oregon traffic accident deaths in recent memory, a two year old boy was killed this week after the jogging stroller in which he was riding was struck by a truck near Corvallis.

According to local media reports the Oregon fatal accident took place at the intersection of Highway 99 and Highway 34 just east of Corvallis. The truck reportedly hit the stroller as it was making a turn onto Highway 99 after stopping at a red light. Television station KPIC, quoting state police officials, reports that the toddler’s mother “may have received some minor injuries to her hands and arms” during the accident. Exactly how the stroller came to be in the intersection at the moment the commercial semi-trailer truck was turning is still under investigation.

This unusually tragic Oregon fatal truck accident raises a number of potential legal questions relating to Oregon child injuries, including a potential Corvallis wrongful death claim. Beyond any criminal issues that law enforcement officials may pursue, situations such as this can also give rise to civil claims. Anyone involved in an accident of this type should consult a Corvallis child injury and wrongful death attorney at the earliest possible time following the tragedy.

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The Oregon truck death of a driver who had stopped to put on chains is a timely, if tragic, reminder of the need to use extra caution in the coming months as winter settles in throughout the Northwest.

According to local media reports, truck driver Milton Melton of Colville, Washington was killed and a fellow driver injured last week when they were hit by another truck as they worked to ‘chain up’ on I-84 near Ontario, on the Oregon-Idaho border. The Idaho Press-Tribune quotes local law enforcement officials saying they believe a semi-trailer struck both men. Melton’s colleague was taken to hospital with what were described as “non-life threatening injuries”.

As anyone who has had to do it can tell you, chaining up along the roadside can be a nerve-wracking experience, even in daylight hours. The Ontario, Oregon fatal truck accident reportedly took place around 8am at a time when heavy snowfall had significantly reduced visibility. The Press-Tribune reports that the driver of the truck that caused the Oregon truck collision left the scene, but was later taken into custody at a nearby truck stop.

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One driver is hospitalized in Portland with serious injuries after an Oregon truck crash involving two fully-loaded log trucks, according to local media reports.

The accident took place late Wednesday morning on Highway 226 between Lyons and Scio, southeast of Salem. An eastbound log truck tipped over as it tried to make a right-hand turn, according to The Oregonian. As it turned over, the eastbound truck crashed into another log truck heading west on the same road. The driver of the eastbound truck was flown by helicopter to a Portland hospital, where he is listed in serious condition.

The accident reportedly closed the highway for several hours while police investigated.

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Construction site flagger John Sparks, 51, of Salem died Saturday after being run over by a dump truck. The Beaverton accidental death took place on 173rd Avenue, near Walker Road in Washington County where construction crews have been at work since July.

Witnesses said Sparks was doing his job as a traffic flagger when the dump truck backed over him. Police investigating the Oregon truck accident say it is likely Sparks was standing in the truck’s blind spot when he was hit. The driver of the truck was checked for drug or alcohol use, but a Beaverton police detective told reporters at the scene the tragic death “just looks like a freak accident.”

Sparks, an employee of Mama Jo’s Flagging, died at the scene. Residents near the work site lit candles in Sparks’ memory, and have also constructed a makeshift memorial.

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This week, the US Department of Transportation is hosting the Distracted Driving Summit. During the two-day meeting, attended by senior transportation officials, safety advocates, government officials, academics, and law enforcement representatives, attendees are expected to discuss the dangers that can arise when a motorist is texting while driving or engaged in another distracted driving habit.

Our Portland, Oregon car accident lawyers welcome the good news that lawmakers and safety officials are taking a closer look at distracted driving. About 8,000 auto accidents occur each year due to distracted driving. Distracted driving is any activity that compels a motorist to take his or her eyes off the road, the hands off the wheel, and/or focuses the mind on anything other than driving. Talking on the phone, reading, painting one’s nails, putting on makeup, text messaging, surfing the Web, and Twittering are just some examples.

Each of these harmless activities become dangerous when done while driving. The injuries that result during an Oregon motor vehicle accident can be fatal. Meantime, surviving loved ones are left to cope with the inconsolable loss of a loved one who died because someone was distracted while driving.

To get motorists to stop engaging in distracted driving, AAA and AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety are calling on drivers to put away any distractions for just one week. Heads Up Driving Week will take place from October 5 – 11. The recommendation is “Try it for a week – do it for life.”

More Facts about Distracted Driving:
• Driver inattention is a factor in over 1 million North American auto accidents each year.
• Most drivers spend more than half of their driving time engaging in a secondary task.
• Using a cell phone while driving increases a driver’s crash risk by up to 4 times.
• Even though the AAA Foundation’s 2009 Traffic Safety Culture Index found that 95% of motorists now know that texting while driving is not acceptable, 18% still text or email while driving.

Throughout the state, Portland, Oregon injury attorney Matt Kaplan represents clients who were injured in car accidents, truck crashes, bicycle collisions, pedestrian accidents, and motorcycle crashes involving negligent drivers.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Announces Agenda for Distracted Driving Summit, Department of Transportation, September 16, 2009
The Facts about Distracted Driving – Know the Dangers/Avoid the Risks, AAA Foundation.org
Related Web Resources:
Hands Free, Text Messaging, and Cell Phone Driving Laws

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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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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