Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog

August 19, 2010

Celebrity Surgeon’s Fatal Crash Puts Spotlight on Distracted Driving

It was, perhaps, inevitable that distracted driving would one day be linked to the death of someone famous. Thus have celebrity watchers this week been obsessed with the Southern California car accident that claimed the life of Dr. Frank Ryan, a cosmetic surgeon well-known for operating on well-known people.

The initial reports of Ryan’s death were relatively straightforward: “The California Highway Patrol says Ryan’s 1995 Jeep Wrangler went off the side of Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu and landed on its roof Monday afternoon,” the Associated Press reported. It did not take long, however, for the nature of the story to change. Soon many media outlets were noting that California authorities are considering whether the car crash “was a result of distracted driving from texting and tweeting at the wheel,” according to a report by CBS News. According to CBS, Ryan “was sending pictures and updates to his twitter page” only “moments” before the fatal car accident.

As it is here in Oregon, texting while driving is illegal in California. Does it take the death of someone (moderately) famous to force home the message that texting while driving – even in places where it is legal (and, to repeat, that does not include either California or Oregon) is among the more insanely dangerous things one can do while also trying to operate a speeding car?

August 16, 2010

Logging Death Raises Defective Product Questions

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A logging accident in Chehalis, Washington late last week led to one worker’s death, according to a report by the Associated Press. According to the news agency, 47-year old Michael Messner of Longview, Washington died “while operating a logging processor.”

Quoting police sources, the agency says “Messner died Thursday when a chain broke and rammed through the windshield of the processor’s cab, striking him in the throat.” Washington state officials have begun an investigation. An official of the logging company for whom Messner was working says the company is also conducting its own investigation of the workplace accident.

All of this is noteworthy for Oregonians because of the reported circumstances surrounding Messner’s death. Had a similar accident taken place here in Oregon the victim’s family would be well-advised to consult with a Portland industrial accident attorney to see whether grounds exist for an Oregon wrongful death lawsuit.

August 13, 2010

Ice Rink Fall Leads to $40 million Wrongful Death Lawsuit

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A fatal fall at a temporary ice rink has put the city of Irvine, California on the receiving end of a $40 million wrongful death lawsuit. According to the Los Angeles Times, 49-year old Cherlynn Tang died last February from injuries sustained moments after she stepped off of the ice at a temporary rink built as a winter attraction by the city.

Last week the Orange County Register reported that Tang’s family is suing the city. “The lawsuit claims that the accident was the result of melted water that had been allowed to accumulate on the rink,” according to the Register. Media accounts say Tang slipped and tumbled backwards as she stepped off the ice, striking her head as she fell. The family also alleges that there were no medical personnel at the Great Park Ice Rink, resulting in a 20 minute delay in Tang receiving medical treatment, a time period that may have been crucial in determining whether she lived or died. Tang’s family is seeking $40 million in damages from the city.

This case is a tragic reminder of how important it is for cities and towns to take special care when setting up recreational activities that, while fun, are not necessarily in synch with their surroundings. Irvine’s temporary ice rink was located inside an unused airplane hanger which was open at both ends to the warm Southern California air. At the heart of the Tang family’s suit, according to the Register, is the allegation that the city did not take adequate precautions to protect users of an ice rink in an environment where ice was far from natural.

August 11, 2010

Oregon Dram Shop Law Hangs Over Head of Convicted Portland Drunk Driver

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.

August 8, 2010

New Massachusetts ATV Laws – A Model for Oregon?

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.

August 6, 2010

Oregon Fatal Car Crash Leads to Charges

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.

August 3, 2010

Astoria Car Crash Results in Multiple Injuries

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.”

July 31, 2010

Oregon Wrongful Death Lawsuit Targets Springfield Hospital

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.”

July 30, 2010

Oregon Fatal Car Accident May Have Been Street Racing

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.

July 28, 2010

Gresham Dog Attacks Two Year Old

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.”