Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog

August 12, 2011

Oregon Auto Accident Near Seaside Hospitalizes Six

A near head-on Oregon car accident involving a van and a ambulance led to the hospitalization of six people – one of whom was a patient being transported in the ambulance at the time of the crash, according to The Oregonian.

The newspaper reports that the crash took place near the town of Seaside, Oregon on US-101. The ambulance was headed south in the early hours of the morning “when an oncoming van crossed the centerline.” All six people involved in the Oregon van accident wound up being treated in area hospitals: the driver of the ambulance, the patient in the back and a paramedic who was tending to her, as well as the driver of the van, an adult passenger in the front seat and a five-year-old who was riding in a child seat in the back.

Injuries to the most vulnerable victims – the child and the elderly ambulance patient – were not severe, the paper reports. The van driver and her passenger were the most seriously injured, though their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, according to the newspaper’s account.

August 8, 2011

Portland Bike Accident Lands Joey Harrington in Intensive Care

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A Portland bike and car crash that could have been a lot worse landed Joey Harrington, the former University of Oregon and NFL quarterback, in the hospital last week with serious, though not life-threatening, injuries. Harrington spent a day in intensive care following the Oregon bike accident according to Fox News.

The Oregonian, citing the Portland police, reports that in the early evening Harrington was biking “westbound on Foster Street when a motorist heading westbound struck Harrington’s rear bicycle wheel.” Harington was wearing a helmet – a fact that his father, speaking to Fox, said probably spared him far more significant injuries. According to The Oregonian the driver of the SUV that struck Harrington remained at the scene of the accident and was later cited by police for “following too close.”

When cars – particularly SUV’s – come into contact with a bicycle on the road the results are almost never good for the cyclist. This is especially important to remember because drivers of larger cars can lose track of just how close they are tracking a cyclist if they do not pay close attention.

August 6, 2011

Salem Wrongful Death Suit Targets City, Fire Department

by Matthew D. Kaplan

The family of a Salem firefighter who killed himself after being offered the choice of resignation or being fired from the department have filed an Oregon wrongful death suit against the city, according to a recent report in the Salem Statesman-Journal. The paper says that his family believes Craig Warren, a 20-year veteran of the city fire department, was neither properly treated by the department’s medical personnel when he began manifesting signs of mental illness, nor was he humanely treated by the department when it decided to discipline and, later, fire him.

“It’s our opinion that the way the city conducted the investigation of Mr. Warren, especially when they became aware that he was having some emotional difficulties, was very cruel,” the paper quotes the family’s attorney as saying. It also quotes city officials declining comment on the grounds that they were still examining the particulars of the Oregon wrongful death lawsuit.

According to the Statesman-Journal, the path to this Salem wrongful death case began when Warren was interviewed three times in 2009 by his departmental commanders and ordered to utilize the department’s employee assistance program, after they noticed that “he was disturbed,” had begun making “inappropriate comments” to colleagues and exhibited a high level of anxiety. At about the same time, the department underwent “a switch in psychiatrists (which) resulted in a medication mistake and Warren was not fully treated,” the paper reports.

July 31, 2011

Child Injured by Alligator at Amusement Park

by Matthew D. Kaplan

In the annals of serious and potentially serious injuries to children this one is as strange as it is frightening. According to the Associated Press, as reprinted in the Chicago Tribune, an 11-year old boy was recently injured at an Indiana amusement park when he “was bitten on the hand by an alligator.”

But wait: it gets stranger. The alligator bit the boy after another guest at the park, using a noose, lifted it out of its pen “and told children they could pet it.” When the animal began biting the man dropped it and ran away, reportedly hopping into a pickup truck along with a woman and four kids, even as he left other children alone with the now-loose animal.

From the standpoint of an Oregon personal injury lawyer with a special interest in injuries to children, where does one begin? Even allowing that the man was breaking the rules by picking up the alligator (not mentioned in the article, but it seems like a fairly safe assumption), what sort of zoo or animal park places potentially dangerous animals – like alligators – in a position where patrons can pick them up in the first place? Granted that someone was able to pick up a gator, one must then ask some tough questions about park security.

July 30, 2011

Oregon Child Injured in Motorcycle Accident

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A young child (his exact age was not released by police) was injured in a Salem motorcycle accident involving a pick-up truck earlier this month, according to Salem-News.com.

I have highlighted the dangers of injuries to Oregon children from ATV accidents in previous blogs. The details of this incident – which involved a dirt bike, rather than an ATV, are, however, a reminder that children far too young to drive can be found operating motorized vehicles and that without the exercise of extreme caution tragedy can result in an instant.

According to the newspaper, the accident began with the boy “riding on dirt trails on his grandparents’ property.” The trail in question was apparently next to the road. Though accompanied by his mother, the child “suddenly drove into the roadway in front of the truck.” The Oregon motorcycle accident took place when the child’s dirt bike was struck by a pick-up truck traveling east on Lakeside Drive in Salem. The paper quotes both witnesses to the Oregon child accident and the driver of the truck telling police that “there was no way for the driver to avoid hitting the child.” The paper reports that there is no indication that the driver was “impaired.”

July 26, 2011

Multi-Car Crash West of Portland Kills One, Seriously Injures Two

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A fatal three-vehicle Oregon car crash near Banks and Glenwood, to the west of Portland, left one person dead and sent two to the hospital with serious injuries, according to an account in The Oregonian.

The fatal Oregon auto crash occurred when “a pickup was headed east on Oregon 6 and near milepost 42, it crossed the center line and collided head-on with” a west-bound car. A short time afterwards another car happened upon the accident, was unable to stop in time to avoid it, and rear-ended the pickup.

The driver of the car involved in the first phase of the accident, a 68-year-old Cloverdale man, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, according to the newspaper. The driver and a teenage boy riding with him in the pickup truck were taken to an area hospital with injuries that the paper describes as serious, but not life-threatening. None of the four people – including a child – in the third car were injured.

July 23, 2011

Oregon Boating Accident is a Reminder to Put Safety First

by Matthew D. Kaplan

There are some obvious elements to boating safety – ones we are all aware of: wearing life jackets, for example. But a recent Oregon boating accident at Triangle Lake, which left one child severely injured enough to require evacuation by helicopter, is a reminder that there is much more to a safe summer by the water than life vests.

According to television station KVAL a girl was injured last week when she and “a group of kids on a church outing from the Salem area were being towed behind a 20-foot boat.” The girl “fell off the toy they were being towed on” and later complained of “back and leg pain.” Once at the hospital it was reported that the girl’s injuries are not life-threatening.

It is noteworthy that, according to KVAL, all of the children involved were wearing life jackets. The fact, however, that this precaution still left at least one child open to a potentially serious injury is a sad reminder of the extra precautions we must all take involving boating safety in general and children in particular.

July 21, 2011

Portland Children’s Injuries Highlight Need for Window Safety

by Matthew D. Kaplan

According to The Oregonian a shocking number of Portland-area children have been injured in falls from windows since the beginning of the summer. The newspaper recently reported that there have been eight such accidents in recent weeks, the latest one involving a toddler who fell “from the second-floor window of his family’s Southeast Portland home.”

The paper, quoting Portland fire officials, says the injured Oregon child suffered “a skull fracture and broken teeth.” Thankfully, the child is reported to have suffered no Oregon traumatic brain injury as a result of the accident. Such injuries are a particular concern when children fall from windows, as I noted in an earlier post.

In a related article the newspaper reports that there are roughly 4000 such injuries to children nationwide each year, with Oregon averaging “40 to 50.”

July 16, 2011

Washington County Moves Forward With Ambitious Bike Plans

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A recent article in The Oregonian details significant efforts in Washington County to improve the environment for cyclists, a plan that, if implemented, may help curb Oregon bicycle and car accidents as well as improving the overall quality of life in our region.

As the newspaper details, county officials are examining “projects aimed at improving transportation corridors and connecting key county roads and trails.” Bicycle commuters, the article reports, are of particular interest to planners with conscious attempts being made to design and build routes that “link to Tri-Met bus and light rail lines” with the goal of making long-distance travel easier both on bikes alone and using a combination of cycling and public transportation. The paper reports that Washington County’s efforts are being funded by a variety of sources at all levels of government and will take shape over a period of years.

Greater Portland, of course, has long prided itself on a bike-friendly reputation. But even in a city known to be welcoming to cyclists there is always room for improvement.

July 11, 2011

Dog Attack Leads to Amputation

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A recent horrific dog attack in Southern California should serve as a warning for Oregonians, and a reminder of the importance of keeping pets under control.

According to the Associated Press, police “have arrested the owners of two pit bulls that mauled a 75-year-old woman in a San Diego backyard, forcing the amputation of her leg below the knee.” The agency reports that the animals were later destroyed while the owners, a father and daughter, “could face felony charges of owning dogs that caused serious bodily injury.”

We have all heard stories about pit bulls over the years – the breed has an especially savage reputation – but even by the standards of dog attacks that have taken place here in Oregon and elsewhere around the country the savagery of this one stands out. The case is particularly tragic because, as the AP reports, this is not the first time these two particular dogs got loose and attacked nearby residents. The animals attacked a neighbor last Christmas.