Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog

January 25, 2010

Driver Arrested After Hit-and-Run on Cyclist

Police in North Portland have reportedly arrested a man they believe was responsible for an Oregon hit-and-run accident involving a cyclist, according to a report on television station KATU’s website.

The Portland cycling accident took place early Saturday evening, when a biker was struck by a moving vehicle at the intersection of Willamette Boulevard and Bryant Street. The alleged Oregon hit-and-run driver was arrested about two hours later. The cyclist was taken to an area hospital and treated for injuries “that police said are not life threatening,” KATU reported.

Portland has long had a reputation as one of the most bike-friendly cities in the nation, but, as this accident reminds us, that does not mean bikers should ever let down their guard when riding the city’s streets. Portland bicycle accidents can be a serious problem, leading to traumatic injuries and even death. If you have been involved in a Portland bicycle accident, particularly one involving a car, truck or other vehicle, it is important to seek the advice of an Oregon personal injury attorney as soon as possible.

January 24, 2010

Dangerous Tualatin Valley Intersection to get traffic light following accident

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Oregon’s Transportation Commission has decided to move up installation of a traffic signal at a dangerous Tualatin Valley Highway intersection in Aloha, following a serious Oregon traffic accident there last month.

An Oregon pedestrian accident on December 20 left three young people, including a 14 year old boy, injured after they were struck by a car while crossing the road at the intersection in the dark. According to a recent report on KATU.com, the accident has prompted the Oregon Transportation Commission to revise its plan to install a pedestrian-activated crossing signal at the location. Installation of the light will now take place next year, rather than in 2012.

Any traffic accident is tragic, but accidents leading to Oregon injuries to children are especially emotional. In the Tualatin incident the 14 year old boy sustained a broken arm, two broken teeth and will require facial reconstruction surgery. He remains in intensive care, according to KATU.

January 20, 2010

Oregon Gets High Rating From Highway Safety Group

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Oregon’s new distracted driving law helped earn the state the state a ‘Green Light’ – the highest rating – in the annual report card issued by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. For 2009 the group added a ban on texting while behind the wheel to its list of recommended state-level legal and safety measures. Oregon’s distracted driving law, which bans texting, was signed into law in 2009 and came into force this year.

Overall, Advocates judged states by the number and strength of 15 different legal areas associated with highway safety. Oregon was one of ten states (plus the District of Columbia) to earn the ‘Green Light’ designation.

Rising awareness of Oregon distracted driving and other highway safety issues was a key feature of the state’s politics last year. As the new law takes effect it raises separate questions about how it will be enforced by the state’s courts and what that may mean for drivers or pedestrians injured by an Oregon distracted driver.

January 16, 2010

Gresham Man Sues Over Allegedly Defective Product

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A Gresham, Oregon man this month became the second consumer to file a product liability lawsuit against the makers of the Amby Baby Motion hammock, according to a recent report published in Insurance Journal. The August death of the man’s five month old son was the second fatality linked to the product by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The CPSC issued a recall of the Amby Baby Motion following the death of the Gresham man’s son, urging “parents to stop using Amby hammocks immediately,” according to the article. The Journal reports that, according to the CPSC, about 24,000 units of the product had been sold in the United States prior to the recall.

Defective products are a worry in all aspects of our lives, but when they injure or kill children their impact is particularly severe. These situations are tragic, and they are times when the advice and assistance of an Oregon child injury lawyer familiar with product liability issues can be invaluable. An experienced Portland or Gresham product liability attorney can help you obtain the compensation to which you are entitled to offset medical bills or funeral expenses, lost wages or salary you may have incurred in caring for an injured child and pain and suffering stemming from the accident.

January 13, 2010

Consumer Reports Calls for Doctors to be More Open in Admitting Errors

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A fascinating column in the November issue of Consumer Reports magazine offered a frank call for more openness in medicine. Dr. John Santa, an internist who also directs the magazine’s Health Ratings Center, wrote: “Until our health care system gets its act together, patients and their families will have to be constructively assertive to get to the bottom of any mishaps.”

The reason for this, Dr. Santa writes, is that American medicine has developed a professional culture that is very reluctant to acknowledge error. Doctors and nurses fear professional consequences. Administrators, in turn, fear that publicizing mistakes will make medical professionals even more reluctant to report them. Ultimately, the real losers, he writes, are patients, who “deserve to know what happened and that the doctor or hospital is trying to rectify the situation.”

Dr. Santa also offers a series of helpful, common sense suggestions for patients, among them: “Enlist family members to keep track of your care” and “Know what medicine you’re taking and tell your doctor or nurse if you don’t recognize what you’re given.”

January 6, 2010

New Protections for Owners of Oregon Totaled Cars

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Few things can be as mysterious to the outsider as the methods insurance companies use to value damage to a vehicle, especially when the car or truck has been totaled. A new Oregon law attempts to make that process a bit clearer – and fairer – for consumers.

The new law, which went took effect January 1, requires insurers to provide consumers with a written explanation of how the value of their totaled vehicle was determined. If there is a dispute over the amount of the insurance payment the law also requires the insurance company to pay the portion of the claim that is not in dispute while the two sides continue to argue over the remainder. Insurance companies must also reimburse “reasonable appraisal costs” to customers when an independent appraisal results in a higher valuation than what the insurer had offered as a final settlement (provided that the policy contains an appraisal provision in the first place).

As with any new law these measures are likely to be subject to some degree of interpretation by courts, especially in the coming months. They do, however, provide you and your Portland auto accident lawyer with powerful new tools to hold insurance companies to account. Getting an insurance company to pay what you are owed is often a difficult and contentious process. With the help of these new laws, however, an Oregon traffic accident lawyer with expertise in totaled vehicles can fight to get you the settlement you deserve.

January 4, 2010

New law raises reimbursement levels for lost wages

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Cars and cellphones have been the media’s main focus when discussing Oregon’s new laws, but the distracted driving bill was not the only significant piece of legislation which came into force on January 1, 2010. Several new measures change state insurance regulations in ways that stand to benefit consumers in significant ways.

Among the most important is a new law raising the ceiling on income replacement benefits from $1250 to $3000 per month. These are benefits paid by your insurer if you are unable to return to work because of an injury. It goes without saying that for many people the old monthly rate of $1250 – essentially a minimum wage salary – fell far short of actually replacing lost income.

The same bill also increased the required level of motor vehicle liability insurance for damage to others from $10,000 to $20,000 (that increase, in turn, bumps up the minimum level of optional uninsured motorist coverage for property damage that companies must offer their customers. This level also goes from $10,000 to $20,000).

January 2, 2010

Oregon Distracted Driving Law Takes Effect

by Matthew D. Kaplan

With the stroke of midnight and the beginning of 2010 Oregon joined the growing list of states restricting the use of cellphones by people driving cars. In Oregon and around the country distracted driving has emerged over the last two or three years as a serious issue of public concern. The interesting question may, in fact, be why it took so long for this to happen. As the New York Times link below indicates, concern about the issue is not particularly new. AAA issued its first warning that drivers ought to pull over before picking up the phone in 1984 (yes, 1984).

Oregon’s new distracted driving law requires drivers to use a hands-free device, such as a Bluetooth headset, when making and receiving calls. Telephone use by drivers under the age of 18 is banned entirely. Also banned (for drivers of all ages) is texting while behind the wheel. More details about the new law can be found here.

While there have been a number of media reports during the last few weeks of brisk headset sales around Oregon, it will probably take some time before the real impact of the Oregon distracted driving law becomes clear. Anecdotal evidence from other states with distracted driving laws indicates that enforcement regimes vary widely (for example: New York, one of the first states to enact a distracted driving law, has a reputation for relatively relaxed enforcement while Washington DC is said to be unusually strict).

December 31, 2009

Oregon Patrolman Injured in Columbia River Gorge Crash

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Oregon state police are urging Drivers to slow down and exercise caution this holiday weekend after a state trooper was injured in an Oregon auto accident. The trooper’s patrol car was struck by an SUV that was driving too fast in bad weather near the Columbia River Gorge, according to a report in the Gresham Outlook.

The accident took place on I-84 near the town of Hood River. The paper reports that State Police Sergeant Pat Shortt was slowing down so that he could pull over to assist a disabled motorist when he was struck from behind by an SUV that, in addition to its driver, was carrying four children. Sgt. Shortt was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries and later released. The SUV’s driver was cited for reckless driving.

In the wake of the Hood River injury auto incident the state police are reminding drivers to use extra caution on snowy and icy roads during this winter driving season.

December 29, 2009

Oregon Distracted Driving Law’s Loopholes Raise Questions

by Matthew D. Kaplan

The new Oregon distracted driving law that comes into effect Friday has been getting a lot of attention over the last week. This weekend, however, the state’s leading newspaper raised serious questions about whether the law already contains a fatal flaw.

An editorial in the Portland newspaper The Oregonian points out that the Oregon distracted driving law requiring drivers to use a hands-free device if they are talking on the phone while behind the wheel contains an exception for people “operating a motor vehicle in the scope of a person’s employment if operation of the motor vehicle is necessary for the person’s job.” The paper says the language was inserted at the insistence of business lobbyists, but worries that “necessary for a person’s job” is not defined anywhere in the legislation.

The loophole, the paper notes, “may well be big enough for real estate agents, contractors, FedEx drivers and just about anyone who needs a car for work.” Interpretation of the provision will lie with Oregon’s courts, and it may take some time for legal judgments under the new law to offer Oregon distracted driving attorneys guidance on what “necessary for the person’s job” means in practice.