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The month of May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness month. Throughout the US, federal, state, and local law enforcement and safety officials are banning together to remind the drivers of cars, trucks, and buses that they share the road with motorcyclists so that they can take precautions to prevent motorcycle accidents from happening.

Staying aware that there are motorcycles on the road is especially important during this time of year. As spring turns to summer and the weather gets warmer, more riders will be donning their helmets as they get on roads and highways in Portland, the rest of Oregon, and elsewhere in the United States. 51 motorcycle riders died in Oregon in 2007, which is a definite increase from the 44 Oregon motorcycle deaths in 2006 and the state’s 48 motorcycle fatalities in 2005.

There’s no getting around the fact that not having a vehicle around their bodies to protect them when they are on the road places motorcycle riders at high risk of sustaining catastrophic injuries any time they are in an Oregon traffic crash.

Late last month, a motorcycle rider’s leg was severed in an Oregon traffic accident with a motor vehicle that occurred near Fair Oaks. The driver of the Toyota involved in the auto crash was later arrested and charged with hit and run, driving while suspended, and reckless driving.

To mark Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, the Oregon Department of Transportation and Governor Ted Kulongoski are offering motorists a number of suggestions for how they can help keep motorcyclists safe on Oregon roads, including:

• Check your mirrors and blind spots when leaving or entering a lane or an intersection to see whether there are motorcycles in the vicinity.

• Don’t try to share a lane while riding next to a motorcycle.

• Remember to signal any time you merge into traffic or switch lanes.

• Make sure that you allow 3 to 4 seconds more following distance when you are riding behind a motorcycle so that the rider has space to move or stop during an emergency.

• Never tailgate a motorcycle.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and other federal, state, and local safety and transportation agencies want people to remember to share the road safely not just with motorcyclists but with the drivers of other motor vehicles as well as pedestrians.

Personal injuries and wrongful deaths can result when negligent driving leads to Portland, Oregon, motorcycle accidents.

Governor proclaims Motorcycle Safety Month, Oregon.gov, April 29, 2009
Hit-and-run crash severs man’s leg, NRToday.com, April 27, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Motorcycle Safety Awareness, NHTSA
Motorcycle Safety Foundation

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According to AAA, the drop in gas prices is expected to inspire about 32.4 million Americans to travel by motor vehicle over the Memorial Day weekend. That’s a 1.5% increase in travel over the holiday weekend. Compare that to the 9.6% drop in road travel over the 2007 Memorial Day weekend when gasoline prices rose had risen to almost $4/gallon. Retail gas prices are currently averaging about $2.25/gallon.

101 Deadly Days on the Road
In 2004, Drive for Life, a public purpose initiative, said that poll findings caused it to declare the 101 days between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend as the 101 days when Americans are most at risk of becoming involved in a US auto accident because so many adults and children—particularly with the summer holidays coming—tend to travel by motor vehicle.

Among Statistics Cited by Drive for Life:
• Americans have been known to travel over 1 trillion miles over the 101 days. (2001, Bureau of Transportation)

• This figure is 10.5 million more miles a month each of the other months that make up the rest of the year. (2001, Bureau of Transportation).

• More people are killed in US auto accidents during the summer months than the other times of the year. Children and teens that would normally be at school are especially susceptible to fatal injuries from a motor vehicle crash. (NHTSA)

Common Causes of US auto accidents during the 101 Deadly Days:
• Drunk driving
• Improper use of safety belts and child safety seats
• Driver fatigue
• Speeding
• Inadequate auto maintenance
• Distracted driving
AAA says 83% of Memorial Day travelers are expected to ride in motor vehicles on US highways, while another 10% are likely to travel by bus, train, or another mode of transportation. The remaining 7% of holiday travelers are expected to fly by plane.

As a Portland, Oregon car accident victim, there are steps you can take to make sure that you are fully compensated for any injuries you sustained that were caused by another driver’s negligent behavior.

More Americans expected to travel for Memorial Day, AAA says, Palm Beach post, May 12, 2009
The 101 Deadliest Days on the Road and How to Survive Them

Related Web Resources:
Tips for Memorial Day road tripping, ConsumerReports.org
Memorial Day Weekend, Summer Travelers Can Cut Gasoline Costs in Tough Economy with Drive $marter Challenge Interactive Website, Money-Saving Tips, Resources, Alliance to Save Energy/PR Newswire

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The US Department of Transportation is developing a new consumer program that will involve car manufacturers recommending specific child safety seats for each of their cars. Not every child car seat is necessarily the right fit for a specific car—even if the seat is highly rated or reviewed as one of the best or most expensive products in the market. A variety of recommendations will be made to meet different parents’ budgets that can hopefully help them pick the safest seats for their kids.

The US DOT also is ordering the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop a new child safety seat standard for side impact safety. 1/3rd of all highway fatalities involving children younger than age 13 occur during side impact auto collisions.

While the current standard requiring child seats to withstand forces stronger than 99.5% of real collisions is good, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood believes that more can be done to improve child safety during auto accidents. He also noted that in order for a properly working child safety seat to do its job, parents and other adults must make sure that kids use them. According to statistics, 50% of kids under 8 years of age that died in auto accidents were not using child safety seats.

That said, it is the job of child safety seat manufacturers to make sure that their seats are free from defects. Parents and guardians rely on child safety seats to keep their kids and babies safe during auto collisions. While a properly working child safety seat can save lives, a defective seat can prove catastrophic.

Examples of defects that can render a child safety seat ineffective:

• Improper padding on the seat
• Defective seat buckle that can unlock at the wrong time, failing to properly secure the child in the seat
• Defective child seat clip
• Improperly designed harness
• Insufficient or hard to understand installation instructions
There is nothing more devastating for a parent than for his or her child to get hurt. If your son or daughter sustained serious or fatal injuries in a Portland, Oregon car accident that were partially caused by a defective child car seat, you may be entitled to recover Oregon personal injury or wrongful death compensation.

U.S. DOT Announces New Consumer Program for Child Safety Seats, NHTSA, April 24, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Consumer Product Safety Commission

Child Passenger Safety, NHTSA
Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families 2009, American Academy of Pediatrics

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A number of recent, unrelated Oregon motor vehicle accidents have resulted in catastrophic injuries and deaths. On Sunday, a 62-year-old Roseburg motorcyclist’s leg became severed below the knee when he became involved in a hit and run accident near Fair Oaks.

On Monday, police arrested Oakland resident Billy Whitehead for felony hit and run, driving while suspended, and reckless driving. Motorcyclist John R. Granholm sustained his catastrophic injuries when his motorcycle and Whitehead’s Toyota Corolla collided. Granholm flew off his bike, crashed into the car windshield, and landed on the pavement. As of yesterday morning, Granholm, who was admitted to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland, was listed in critical condition.

Near Sandy, an Eagle Creek mother and daughter were killed on Saturday in a motor vehicle collision on Highway 26. Oregon State Police say 42-year-old Pamela Benson and 11-year-old Clarice Marie Benson were pronounced dead at the Oregon crash site.

Preliminary evidence indicates that Benson’s Toyota Corolla was struck on the driver’s side by a 1987 Toyota R Runner. Boring and Sandy fire department workers had to extricate the SUV driver, 18-year-old Estacada resident Daniel Ingle, from his vehicle.

Last week, a 40-year-old Grants Pass man died on Monday after he was hit by at least one motor vehicle on Interstate 5 close to Merlin. Police are investigating the Oregon pedestrian death.

If you were involved in an Oregon traffic accident with an insured motorist, an injured driver, a drunk driver, a hit and run driver, a distracted driver who was talking on his cell phone or text messaging, or any other kind of negligent driver, you should contact an experienced Portland car accident attorney today. Having an Oregon personal injury law firm that is on your side can make a huge difference in terms of how much financially recovery you can obtain from all liable parties.

Hit-and-run deaths near Merlin spur OSP probe, Mail Tribune, April 28, 2009
Hit-and-run crash severs man’s leg, NRToday.com, April 27, 2009
Identities released in Sandy double-fatal accident, Oregon Live, April 26, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Oregon Department of Transportation

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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A leading cause of pediatric malpractice is a birth defect that isn’t often discussed but occurs more often than one would think: Malrotation, which involves the abnormal alignment of the bowel. This usually happens while the fetus is growing. This birth defect can also be hereditary. Occurring in 1 in 500 live births (like cerebral palsy), most cases are diagnosed by the time the baby turns one.

However, it is not uncommon for pediatricians to misdiagnose or delay diagnosis of this potentially deadly bowel condition and mistake malrotation for a mild illness, such as acid reflux. The only way to untwist the bowels if the malformation is serious is through surgery and when treatment is delayed, the defect can be fatal if blood flow to the intestines is blocked for too long. In many instances involving a misdiagnosed malrotation, a child with this birth defect end up having to be rushed to an emergency room.

Signs of Malrotation:

• Abdominal pain
• Projectile vomit that is green or yellow in color
• A bloody stool
• A swollen abdomen
• Rapid breathing or heart rate
• Drawing up of the legs
Malrotation can also result in other complications, such as Ladd’s bands, volvulus, and obstruction caused by either of these complications. The sooner malrotation is diagnosed, the better the chances that a child will recover fully and develop normally.

Pediatric Malpractice:
Your son or daughter deserves the proper medical care and when a pediatrician or another doctor is careless or makes a mistake that causes injury or death, the medical care provider should be held liable for the injuries to your child. Grounds for pediatric malpractice can include:

• Surgical errors
• Birthing injuries
• Meningitis
• Negligent care
• Delayed diagnosis
• Wrong diagnosis
• Prescription mistakes
Malrotation: Potentially fatal bowel condition often misdiagnosed as mild ailment, Chicago Sun-Times, April 21, 2009
Intestinal Malrotation, KidsHealth
Related Web Resources:
Malrotation

Malrotation and Volvulus, The American Pediatric Surgical Association

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The Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (OBPAC) has written a letter to the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) calling on it to push for a ban on cell phone use while driving and increase its efforts to notify the public about the dangers of distracted driving. The OBPAC not only wants the OTC to support the National Safety Council’s call that all cell phone while operating a motor vehicle be barred, but it wants details about the hazards of distracted driving to be added to Oregon’s DMV manual.

Oregon doesn’t have any laws regarding adults and cell phone use while operating a motor vehicle. The state, however, does currently ban drivers younger than 18 from text messaging or talking on a cell phone while driving.

Next week, the House Transportation Committee will hear House Bill 2377, which bans the use of “mobile communication devices” when people are driving their motor vehicles. The bill makes talking or texting on a cell phone illegal—albeit only a secondary offense, which means an Oregon police officer has to catch the offender committing another offense first. However, the law doesn’t apply to hands-free devices.

According to a 2006 University of Utah study, people who talk on cell phones while driving exhibit behavior similar to that of motorists who are drunk driving. Among the study’s findings:

• Hands-free and handheld held cell phones impair driving to an equal degree.
• Drivers who talk on cell phones tend to drive slower and step on the brakes slower than drivers who aren’t using cell phones.
• Motorists who talked on cell phones while driving exhibited 24% more variation in following distance and were 19% slower when it came to accelerating back to normal speed after braking than drivers who weren’t talking on cell phones.
• Drunk drivers tended to drive slowly but more aggressively than sober drivers. They were also slower to brake and did so with 23% more force.

If you were injured in an Oregon car accident because another motorist was driving drunk, talking or texting on a cell phone, fell asleep behind the wheel, or was impaired, distracted, or negligent in any other way, you may have grounds for filing an Oregon personal injury lawsuit.

Oregon bike/ped committee urges state to ban cell phones while driving, BikePortland.org, April 17, 2009
Drivers on Cell Phones are as bad as drunks, U News Center, June 29, 2006
Related Web Resources:
Oregon Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Oregon.gov
National Safety Council

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The parents of 15-year-old Austin Miller have reached an Oregon wrongful death settlement with TriMet over their son’s bicycle accident death. Austin died on February 11, 2008 when he was struck by a bus while riding a bicycle. Under the terms of the agreement, TriMet will pay Michael and Stephanie Miller $200,000 with an additional $175,000 pending adjudication.

TriMet has argued that the Oregon Tort Claims Act caps its liability at $200,000 and that is the maximum they should owe for Austin’s death. Personal injury attorneys for the Millers, however, have pointed out that the state’s current tort claims cap is now $400,000.

The Miller family’s Oregon wrongful death complaint accuses a TriMet bus driver of acting negligently when driving into the bike lane where Austin was riding his bicycle. Their wrongful death lawyer has said that the bus driver can be overheard in an audio recording telling TriMet’s dispatch that she thought she gave Austin enough space.

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According to the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 37,313 people died in US traffic accidents last year. This annual estimated death toll is the lowest in 47 years when in 1961, 36,285 died. Last year’s fatality rate was also the lowest ever recorded at 1.28 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.

The decrease in overall traffic accidents last year was clearly reflected in the Oregon city of Portland, where its Bureau of Transportation is reporting that 20 people died in traffic accidents last year—15 motor vehicle occupants and 5 pedestrians—and there were no bicyclist deaths. In the past, there have only been three other years—in 2000, 2006, and 2007—when the number of Portland traffic crash deaths was below 30.

Total number of traffic deaths in Portland were particularly high in the 1930’s and 1940’s before neighborhood speed limits, traffic signals, and sidewalk extenders existed. Now, the city has over 1,000 speed bumps—boasting more than any US city. It also has red light cameras, photo radar vans, and over 350 miles of designated trails, bike lanes, and boulevards. The NHTSA lists Oregon (at 96.3%) as one of the 16 US states where seat belt use is 90% or more.

According to traffic safety specialist Greg Raisman, the fact that more people are biking and walking makes them more cautious when they do get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. This is another reason why there were less Portland motor vehicle deaths last year.

Despite these improvements, there are still some areas that are considered dangerous corridors for potentially deadly Portland traffic accidents:

• Burnside Street (beginning from Southeast 20th Avenue to Northwest Cornwall Road)
• Southeast Foster Road (from 52nd to 92nd Avenues)
• 82nd Avenue (stretching from Northeast Columbia Blvd to Southeast Clatsop Street)
• North Lombard Street (from Williams Ave to the St. Johns Bridge)
• Southeast Division Street (from 82nd Avenue to 148th Street)

The decrease in Portland motor vehicle deaths, is of course, excellent, but Oregon car crashes and injuries and fatalities still happen and can be grounds for a personal injury or wrongful death claim if there are any injuries or fatalities.

Accident fatalities in 2008 lowest in Portland history, TheOutlookOnline.com, April 2, 2009
U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood Announces Record Low Traffic Deaths, Improved State Seat Belt Use, NHTSA, April 6, 2009
Seat Belt Use in 2008—Use Rates in the States and Territories (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
City of Portland, Office of Transportation
US Department of Transportation

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The Cambridge Health Alliance is recommending that truck drivers be tested for obstructive sleep apnea. The condition, which makes individuals prone to exhaustion and falling asleep during the daytime, can be deadly in the trucker line of work.

Drivers are already on the road for hours at a time and may be exhausted from working such long shifts or irregular hours. Compounding their fatigue with a greater chance of dozing off behind the wheel of a semi-truck, a tractor-trailer, or an 18-wheeler truck does not bode well for the truck driver or the motorists or pedestrians around him or her and can result in catastrophic truck collisions.

About 2.4 million to 3.9 million commercial truckers in the United States have OSA. Some experts, however, believe that this estimate may be rather low—especially as many truck drivers don’t even know that they are suffering from sleep apnea.

A trucker afflicted with sleep apnea has a seven fold greater chance of becoming involved in a traffic accident. According to the Divided Attention Driving Test, a person who has sleep apnea may exhibit driving behaviors similar to someone who is driving drunk—meaning that their ability to drive responsibly and safely can become severely impaired.

The Cambridge Health Alliance is also reporting a noticeable connection between obesity and obstructive sleep apnea. Findings of their study, which confirms that obesity-driven test strategies can help identify the truck drivers that are at risk of having OSA, can be found in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

The study recommends making OSA screenings mandatory for commercially licensed truck drivers. Meantime, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is considering whether to require all obese truckers to undergo sleep apnea screenings.

In 2006, an article in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine reported that many of the approximately 5,600 commercial truck crash-related deaths that occur in the US every year happen because a trucker fell asleep behind the wheel. Identifying the truck drivers that are more prone to drift off behind the wheel because they have OSA could save lives.

Obesity Linked To Dangerous Sleep Apnea In Truck Drivers, Science Daily, March 12, 2009
Many Commercial Drivers Have Impaired Performance Due To Lack Of Sleep, Science Daily, August 16, 2006
A Study of Prevalence of Sleep Apnea Among Commercial Truck Drivers, FMCSA
Related Web Resources:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Sleep Disorder Channel
Sleep Apnea, National Institute of Health

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Natasha Richardson, who died this month from a traumatic brain injury, was just 45-years-old. The movie star was young, talented, had a loving husband and two young boys, and no one expected her to die so suddenly and unexpectedly—after a fall on a beginner’s ski slope.

Richardson struck her head, and although there are reports that she initially turned down an offer for medical attention—it wouldn’t be until a second ambulance arrived at the ski resort that she was finally whisked away—one can’t help but wonder how her life’s story would have turned out if she or someone else had known enough to insist that she receive medical care immediately.

Autopsy reports indicate that the movie star died because of a blunt impact to the head that resulted in an epidural hematoma. This kind traumatic brain injury can cause the brain to swell and bleeding to occur. It can also take awhile for symptoms of this TBI to appear, and if too much time passes, this injury can prove fatal.

Common causes of an epidural hematoma include fall accidents, assault incidents, motor vehicle crashes, motorcycle accidents, and slip accidents. Of course, there are other kinds of traumatic brain injuries that can also occur from these kinds of accidents.

The sooner someone with a TBI or another kind of head injury gets medical attention—even if the injury appears mild or minor—the faster any potentially serious condition can be diagnosed and the more time there will be to prevent the injury from becoming catastrophic or fatal.

A person who survives an accident with a serious brain injury could end up permanently impaired and debilitated and, depending on the seriousness of the TBI, require ongoing, costly medical care. The financial and emotional toll on the TBI patient and his or her family can be tragically life changing, which is why, if someone you love sustained a traumatic brain injury in an Oregon accident that occurred because another party was negligent, you should speak to a Portland personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.

Richardson died during Brain Injury Awareness month.

911 Calls Show Urgency Of Richardson Fall, CBS News, March 31, 2009
Actress Natasha Richardson buried in Upstate New York, Chicago Tribune, March 23, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Brain Injury Awareness Month 2009

Brain Injury Association of America

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