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A Multnomah County man convicted in a drunk driving incident that seriously injured two pedestrians has already been sentenced to nearly six years in prison, but faces additional time behind bars if he refuses to cooperate with a related Oregon dram shop law case pending in civil court, according to The Oregonian.

The newspaper reports that Dallas Lawrence, now 25, struck two women after he left a bar while clearly drunk last February. His Oregon drunk driving conviction in the criminal case growing out of the incident is separate from the potential Portland dram shop law case focused on the bar that allegedly continued to serve Lawrence. That case turns on the allegation that the bar allowed Lawrence to get into his car and drive off into the night despite being so drunk that, according to The Oregonian, he “fell off his bar stool” before heading out to the parking lot.

The paper reports that Lawrence’s two victims have not yet filed suit against the bar where he spent the evening drinking. Lawrence faces an additional 2-1/2 years in prison if he does not cooperate, should a suit go forward.

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A new measure signed into law in Massachusetts this week raises questions about whether Oregon has sufficiently strong laws regarding young riders and ATVs. As outlined by Boston TV station WCVB, the measure, known as “Sean’s Law,” raises the minimum age for ATV operation in Massachusetts from 10 to 14. The law is named after a 8 year old boy who died in an ATV accident in 2006.

New laws such as this are necessary because of the disturbing ways in which some ATV manufacturers market their products. Advertising materials show families using ATVs – in some cases portraying children who in many states would be breaking the law by being on one. Manufacturers downplay the tendency of ATVs to flip over and the serious consequences that can come from being pinned under one. ATVs are neither small nor light.

Here in Oregon there is no minimum age for operating an ATV, though operators below the age of 30 are required to complete a safety education course (by 2014 that requirement will apply to all Oregon ATV riders regardless of age). The course can be taken either in person or online, though beginning in 2012 the “hands-on” version will be required for Oregonians 15 and younger.

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The Associated Press is reporting that a 24 year old Portland man involved in an Oregon fatal car crash late last year has been charged with manslaughter. According to the news agency the suspect “was arraigned Tuesday in Marion County Circuit Court in Salem.” In addition to manslaughter he has also been charged with “assault and possession of a controlled substance.”

According to the dispatch, which was published on The Oregonian’s website, the Oregon SUV driver allegedly crossed the centerline of Highway 22 near Idanha, east of Salem, on December 19 and hit an oncoming car. The Salem car accident killed a 69 year old man in the oncoming car and sent three other people in that vehicle to the hospital. The driver of the SUV was also hospitalized with what AP describes as serious injuries.

Accidents like this one are a reminder of the important distinction between criminal and civil proceedings. Just because the state has chosen to move ahead with manslaughter and other charges does not mean the alleged SUV driver cannot also be held to account in civil court for the damage he has done to the victims and their families.

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An Oregon car crash near Astoria involving two vehicles sent a number of people to the hospital late last week, and has led to an Oregon reckless driving citation and six counts of reckless endangerment for the 16-year-old driver of one of the cars involved, according to the Daily Astorian newspaper.

The paper, quoting the Oregon State Police, reports that the accident took place on US-30, west of Wauna Mill. The car driven by the teenager “began fishtailing” after passing another vehicle, and then crossed the centerline into oncoming traffic where it collided with a pick-up truck. Oddly, the car’s impact mark was on the front passenger’s side – indicating that the Oregon teenage driver may have been trying to turn around at the moment of the Astoria injury car accident.

The teen driver and two of his passengers were injured in the Oregon car crash, seriously in the case of one of the passengers. The driver and all three passengers in the truck were also treated at area hospitals for injuries the paper describes as “non-life threatening.”

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The 2008 death of a 25-year-old woman who was kept waiting at an Oregon hospital for more than six hours has prompted an Oregon wrongful death lawsuit directed against Springfield’s Sacred Heart Medical Center, according to the Associated Press.

The suit was filed by the woman’s parents, a couple from Eugene, who contend that the hospital’s failure to see and treat their daughter in a timely manner contributed to her death two days before Christmas 2008.

According to the AP, the woman, Martha Barr, arrived at the hospital around midday and was initially assessed by hospital staff as suffering from “shortness of breath, anxiety, fatigue, abnormally fast heart and respiration rates and low oxygen saturation.” It was, however, more than six hours before a doctor actually examined her. The doctor reportedly ordered a series of tests, but Barr went into “respiratory and cardiac arrest” before they could be performed and died just over two hours later. AP reports that in the Springfield wrongful death court papers the Eugene parents “contend that a long wait to see an emergency room doctor proved fatal for their daughter.”

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Witnesses told local media outlets that a recent two-car Oregon car crash near Newberg appeared to be the result of teenagers street racing, according to KATU. The Oregon car accident reportedly closed Route 99W in Newberg “for hours” as police first struggled to save the victims and, later, worked to reconstruct the circumstances surrounding the fatal crash.

Police would not confirm to either KATU or The Oregonian that street racing led to the accident, but the television station reported that witnesses said they believed that was what the drivers were doing in the moments before the crash. The victims were the 18-year-old driver of one vehicle, who died at the scene, and a 15-year-old passenger in the same car, who succumbed a short time after being taken to an area hospital by helicopter.

A police statement said the 18-year-old was driving his car “too fast” (at least 50 mph in a 25 mph zone) as he headed south on 99W when he lost control of the vehicle while attempting to negotiate a right curve. The teen’s car crossed the median and hit a minivan driven by an elderly couple, both of whom were later taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

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TV station KGW reports that a Gresham man is asking tough questions of the Oregon Humane Society after a dog he adopted attacked and injured his two-year-old daughter. Gerald Borton told the station that the Oregon dog bite to his child required 13 stitches in her scalp. The animal, a mixed golden retriever-labrador, attacked her Monday. Borton had brought the dog home only a few days earlier.

KGW says he told their reporter: “I don’t want to see another family have a two-year-old girl with 13 staples in her head.”

The station says the Humane Society plans to “re-evaluate” the dog “before deciding whether to adopt the dog out again,” though it also quotes OHS officials pointing out that any animal can bite given the right circumstances. This particular dog reportedly was evaluated by the Society prior to being put up for adoption and had undergone “some obedience training.”

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A report this weekend in The New York Times raised new, and troubling, issues regarding football helmets and their ability to protect younger players from traumatic brain injuries.

The newspaper reported that the NFL, last Friday, released data sets related to helmet testing, despite criticism that the information is potentially misleading. The league, its committee on head injuries and the player’s union all concurred in the action, the paper reported. According to the Times, the release took place despite criticism from Congress that the data involved is “infected”, rendering the results potentially misleading. Two months ago the league promised New York Congressman Anthony Weiner that the testing program that yielded the data would be abandoned.

Particularly at issue was the nature of the testing undergone by several leading brands of football helmet used in NFL games. According to the Times, the data compiled by the league and later confirmed by independent analysts sought to recreate the kind of hits the equipment would experience in an NFL game. The goal was to determine which brands of helmet offer the best protection against skull fractures – a serious concern for players at the NFL level. Aside from criticism of the tests’ methodologies, Congress and other critics took issue with the results issuing from these tests, in which certain brands were labeled “top performing” for professional use – a designation that makes a compelling selling point for manufacturers.

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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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Contracts between the Pentagon and defense contractor Kellogg, Brown & Root grant the company complete immunity in Iraq for harm its employees may cause to either Iraqi civilians or American and other coalition soldiers.

That immunity – cited by KBR in defending itself against an Oregon workplace injury lawsuit – has prompted Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat who represents much of the Portland area, to demand an explanation from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, according to The Oregonian. In his letter to Gates, Blumenauer called the blanket liability exemption “mind-numbing”.

The newspaper reports that the exemption came to light as part of a lawsuit filed by 26 Oregon National Guardsmen who served in Iraq in 2003. The troops were assigned to guard KBR employees undertaking reconstruction work. The guardsmen claim that “the contractor knowingly or negligently exposed them to a cancer-causing chemical” the newspaper reports. A similar suit is also being considered by courts in Indiana.

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