Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog

June 18, 2010

Florence Distracted Driving Crackdown

As I have noted in a number of previous posts, the new Oregon distracted driving law which came into effect this year allows for “primary enforcement”. That means Oregon police officers can pull drivers over for talking on a handheld cellphone. In some other states, where primary enforcement is not the rule, police must first have noted another offense (speeding, for example, or reckless driving) and may then ticket cellphone use or texting as a secondary, or additional, charge after making the initial traffic stop.

While there is relatively little Oregon distracted driving data available so far (the law has not yet been in force for six months), anecdotal evidence suggests that few of the state’s police departments have made a strong primary enforcement push regarding the distracted driving law.

That, however, may be beginning to change. As the Siuslaw News reports, Florence officials have come to believe that the cellphone ban is not being taken sufficiently seriously. City police issued more than 55 warnings for violations of the Oregon distracted driving law last month alone. The paper quotes the police chief: “That’s way too many for a town our size,” and indicates that officers intend to begin cracking down.

June 17, 2010

Oregon Shooting Raises Wrongful Death Issues

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A Portland fatal shooting late last week led to an Oregon death that police describe as accidental, according to The Oregonian. Despite that description, the paper also reports that one person was taken into custody at the scene of the shooting, in Northwest Portland, raising the possibility that an Oregon wrongful death may have occurred.

The newspaper, quoting police sources, reports that police received a 911 call on June 10 indicating that a man had been shot. Arriving at the scene they found the man to be wounded in the chest, but still breathing. He was transported to an area hospital, where he later died. A neighbor told the paper that “she saw the police remove two or three guns” from the house where the shooting took place. The paper reported that homicide detectives has closed off the scene of the shooting and were investigating the precise circumstances of the incident.

One man was reportedly detained at the scene of the incident.

June 14, 2010

Portland Traumatic Brain Injury Study Raises Questions

by Matthew D. Kaplan

If you arrive in a hospital emergency room unconscious and suffering from an Oregon traumatic brain injury can the doctors use you for a medical experiment without your consent? You might have thought the answer to that question was pretty obvious: absolutely not. According to a recent article in the Portland Tribune, however, you would be wrong.

The Tribune reports that researchers at Oregon Health & Science University, beginning this week, are using a loophole in federal regulations governing medical studies on humans to move ahead with an Oregon brain injury study. Under the so-called “community-wide study exception” the hospital has staged about 20 community meetings to explain its proposed brain injury study and may now presume that any unconscious person brought into the emergency room with an Oregon traumatic brain injury has consented to involvement in the study unless they are wearing a bracelet that declares otherwise, or family members arrive at the ER within one hour of the patient’s admission and refuse to consent to the injured person’s enrollment in the program.

The study in question involves use of progesterone, a hormone that may help severely injured patients recover from brain injuries. It raises, however, a broader question of what ‘informed consent’ ought to mean in the real world. Can an entire community legitimately be said to have agreed to be involved in a study on the basis of a series of public meetings, some of which, according to the paper, were attended by only a handful of people? What about people from elsewhere in Oregon or from out of state who are unlucky enough to be involved in a Portland auto accident and just happen to be taken to OHSU?

June 9, 2010

Oregon Dog Attack Leads to Police Shooting

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A misunderstanding in Aurora led to an Oregon dog attack and, eventually, a police shooting last week according to an article in The Oregonian.

Citing police spokesmen, the paper reports that officers investigating a report of teens breaking into a house were charged by what they described as an aggressive dog, which one officer eventually shot in the leg. The police say the officer was acting in self-defense, and a spokesman later described the Aurora dog attack shooting as justified.

The call itself, however, was the result of a misunderstanding. According to the paper the neighbor who phoned the police in the first place was unaware that the teens were taking care of pets in the home – not breaking in.

June 6, 2010

Oregon Car Crash Death Toll Highlights Need for Vigilant Drivers

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Preliminary statistics covering Memorial Day weekend indicate that the highway death toll from Oregon car crashes dropped slightly this year. They also, however, still serve as a reminder of the importance of safe driving and the need for experienced representation if you are unfortunate enough to be involved in a Portland auto accident.

According to KPTV, 2010’s preliminary total of four Oregon fatal crashes over the holiday weekend is down one from last year, though it is still double the 2008 figure of two. Oregon State Police also made 73 drunk driving arrests over Memorial Day weekend, the TV station reports. According to The Oregonian that represents a drop from both 2008 and 2009.

Holiday weekends are almost invariably marked by an increase in the number of traffic fatalities nationwide, with Memorial Day weekend often being the worst holiday weekend of the year where Oregon car crashes and other Oregon holiday traffic deaths are concerned.

May 31, 2010

Astoria fatal crash raises multiple legal issues

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Alcohol-related Oregon fatal car accidents and holiday weekends seem to have a grim connection. As the Daily Astorian notes, Memorial Day has long been the holiday weekend in Oregon most closely associated with alcohol-related fatalities. This year is no exception. According to the newspaper an Oregon drunk driver strayed over the center line of Highway 30 just east of Astoria Sunday night, striking a motorcyclist nearly head-on.

The motorcycle rider, who was wearing a helmet, was thrown from his bike and killed. Both the alleged drunk driver and his 13-year old daughter who was riding in the truck with him were uninjured. The Oregonian, quoting Oregon State Police, reported that the truck driver was arrested and charged with drunk driving, reckless driving, manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person (this is presumably a reference to the child in the truck).

Unmentioned by the media, but also worth considering as we think through the legal implications of this tragic Oregon fatal motorcycle accident, is where the alleged driver obtained his alcohol. If a bartender continued to serve the suspect or a store clerk sold him alcohol after he was obviously drunk that person too could be subject to legal action.

May 28, 2010

Oregon Wrongful Death Charges Possible in Wake of Paper’s Investigation

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A recent investigative report in The Oregonian has raised new questions about the murder-suicide rampage of an off-duty Clackamas County sheriff’s deputy earlier this year. According to the paper, its revelations may expose the county to an Oregon wrongful death lawsuit.

The paper looked into the circumstances leading up to the deadly evening last February when Jeffrey Grahn stormed into a Portland nightclub where he killed his wife and shot two of her friends before turning the gun on himself. The potential of a Portland wrongful death claim now arises because of memos obtained by the paper using a public records request.

According to the paper, these show that the Clackamas County sheriff’s office departed from its normal protocol in urging the Portland police to ““hold off” on contacting the district attorney’s office” last year after an investigation raised troubling questions about Grahn and his behavior. When allegations of domestic violence and other troubling behavior by Grahn first emerged in 2009, the paper reports, the Sheriff’s office brought in the Portland police – a standard procedure when the law enforcement agency needs to investigate one of its own. According to the paper, however, the newly released memos show that the Sheriff’s office later intervened to stop the Portland police from taking their concerns about Grahn to prosecutors.

May 27, 2010

Truck crash releases ‘millions of bees’

by Matthew D. Kaplan

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.”

May 25, 2010

Portland Driver Who Targeted Cyclist Guilty of Assault

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A Portland driver accused of intentionally running over a cyclist last year was found guilty of assault by a Multnomah County judge Monday, according to media reports. Sentencing is scheduled for June 8, according to The Oregonian.

The Multnomah County judge cleared Wayne Thompson of first and second degree assault charges but found him guilty of the lesser crime of Third Degree Assault. The Portland auto and bike collision took place last August. According to The Oregonian Thompson and cyclist Michael Luther argued in a parking lot near the intersection of Northeast 122nd Avenue and Glisan Street before “Thompson put his car into reverse and backed into Luther at an estimated 40 mph, police said.” Witnesses said that at the time of the accident Thompson “was looking over his left shoulder, in the direction of travel, and appeared agitated when he struck Luther.”

Though he was wearing a helmet at the time of the incident, Luther suffered an Oregon traumatic brain injury and has been unable to return to work.

May 23, 2010

Oregon Car Crash Lessons to be Learned from Maine Incident

by Matthew D. Kaplan

From Maine this weekend comes a strange and tragic story that should be a reminder for all Oregonians of the importance of safe driving. Police in Wells, a town in southern Maine, say a man died Saturday as a result of an unusual multi-car auto accident. What makes this tragedy stand out is the fact that the victim of this multi-car fatal accident was not in either of the vehicles involved in the crash: he died while standing on his lawn presiding over a yard sale – and the yard sale itself was what touched off the events leading to his death.

For Oregonians this tragic story offers several reminders: the importance of safe driving, of course; but also the fact that a Portland fatal car crash can happen anytime, anywhere and that those most severely impacted by an Oregon car crash need not be drivers or passengers in cars and trucks involved in a Portland, Medford, Eugene or Salem auto accident.

According to television station WCSH, the tragedy began early Saturday morning when a driver traveling along a road in Maine spotted a yard sale and decided to make a U-turn so that he could get a closer look. As he did so, “another truck hauling a 30-foot camper-trailer” struck his vehicle. The Truck-camper combo jackknifed onto the lawn where the yard sale was going on, killing the home’s owner and injuring his mother-in-law. The driver of the pick-up that caused the accident was also hospitalized with serious injuries, while the four people in the truck-camper suffered only minor injuries, the station reports.