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An outbreak of wintry weather led to a massive chain-reaction crash in eastern Multnomah County last month. Frequently, multi-vehicle crashes, while they may involve natural phenomena like ice, snow, rain, fog, wind, and smoke, are not situations where “Mother Nature” alone is to blame. Often, the problems- and the injuries or deaths that result- are caused (or at least made worse) by drivers driving negligently. If you have endured serious harm or have lost a loved one in an accident like this, finding out who was responsible can be an immensely complicated and daunting process. Rather than tackle such an undertaking alone, call an experienced Oregon auto accident lawyer to get the legal representation you need.

The recent Multnomah County accident involved at least eight collisions and ended with 100+ vehicles trapped on westbound Interstate 84 near Multnomah Falls. The crash left between 20 and 30 vehicles damaged, and numerous people suffered harm, but at the time of FOX 12’s reporting, authorities had recorded no serious or fatal injuries.

“Near whiteout” snow conditions and slick, icy roads were prominent factors in the accident.

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Mid-February 2025 has brought another highway death in Yamhill County. The incident occurred along a part of Highway 99W in Yamhill County that has been the home of numerous serious and fatal crashes in the past. When stretches of highway become notorious for their dangerousness, that reputation frequently springs from various factors. Often, it includes driver negligence. Sometimes, it also includes negligence in the road’s design, maintenance, or repair. When you have been catastrophically injured (or have lost a loved one) in an accident along a notorious highway, you need a skilled Oregon auto accident lawyer representing you to get to the bottom of what happened and why. Only then can you be properly equipped to begin holding accountable the people and entities who were genuinely responsible.

In the February 19th collision, a Washington State man behind the wheel of a Chevrolet pickup truck attempted to turn onto Highway 18 from southbound Highway 99W when he “entered the path of a northbound Toyota Yaris… causing a side impact collision.” The driver of the truck suffered minor injuries. The crash killed the driver of the Toyota, a 31-year-old woman from McMinnville.

The mid-February accident was far from unusual. The “Y” intersection where Highways 99W and 18 meet near Dayton has been the site of many prominent (and deadly) collisions. In early December, a 45-year-old Newburg man lost his life after a crash at the same intersection. The man’s Mercury Grand Marquis collided with a motorhome, and he died a short time later at Willamette Valley Medical Center.

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Recent headlines have sounded an alarm about one type of injury accident trending upward in a big way: e-bike crashes. E-bike crashes may present some unique challenges when it comes to obtaining a recovery that adequately compensates you for the harm you endured. Whether you are dealing with an insurance company or the civil justice system, you can enhance your odds of achieving a fair outcome by retaining a skilled Oregon e-bike accident lawyer to represent you.
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the number of e-bike injuries in 2022 was 30 times higher than that recorded just five years earlier. The number of people who required hospital treatment for e-bike injuries in 2022 was 43 times the number recorded in 2017. The American College of Surgeons declared e-bikes an “emerging… public health hazard.”

This hazard recently touched one local community. In October, a high school sophomore in Tualatin died west of downtown after, police believe, he “may have lost control of the e-bike,” then hit a curb and ultimately a tree. The teen was wearing a helmet at the time.

The massive uptick in e-bike injuries has spurred the creation of new legislation. In Oahu, where e-bike injuries tripled in two years, the local council passed a bill in January intended to “clear safety guidelines.” The bill placed a power cap of 750 watts on e-bikes on public roads and mandated helmet use for all riders under 18.

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If you watch enough courtroom-themed television programming, you likely have heard certain legalese words like jurisdiction and venue. In the real world, these terms are essential concepts that can make or break whether your case goes forward in the court where you filed it… or is dismissed before a trial begins. That is especially true if the state you call home and the state where your accident took place are two different places. A knowledgeable legal advocate can help you ensure that your efforts to get justice go forward in a court of proper jurisdiction and venue. If you have questions about your Oregon crash, consult an experienced Oregon auto accident lawyer about how best to proceed.

A common thread links two terrible recent crashes: they involve people who died in out-of-state accidents. Earlier this month, an Oregon man died in Idaho following a two-vehicle accident. The man was a passenger in a car that was making a left turn from a northbound highway when a southbound SUV hit the car.

In September, the accident scene was in Marion County, Oregon. According to police, a Silicon Valley woman, who was headed southbound, “entered the intersection, which is controlled by stop signs,” when an eastbound driver slammed into her, sending both vehicles “off the roadway and into a field.” The woman’s 88-year-old passenger, also from California, died at the scene.

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Any fatal auto accident is a tragedy. A death that occurs because one or more people engaged in reckless driving is particularly disheartening. When people engage in street racing, stunts, aggressive driving, or impaired driving, they may have done more than engage in mere negligence. When misconduct behind the wheel rises to the level of recklessness, it may significantly impact an injured person’s pursuit of justice. If a reckless driver has hurt you, the law presents many options. To enhance your case, ensure you have retained an Oregon auto accident lawyer who has experience in these cases.

Reckless driving resulted in the death of a teenage boy in Northeast Portland in late November, according to police. Authorities believe that an 18-year-old driver performed “donuts” in his car when the vehicle rolled over onto its right side. The man’s passenger died in the accident.

Police also believe that the driver’s stunt driving was part of a street racing/street “takeover” event on North Marine Drive. (Street takeovers are events where people block off an area of roadway where people race, perform stunts like donuts and burnouts, and engage in other “exhibition driving” maneuvers.) These events frequently involve reckless driving. (Authorities charged the Northeast Portland driver with reckless driving and negligent homicide.)

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Whether a person behind bars is a detainee or has already been convicted of a crime, they are constitutionally entitled to appropriate health care, including mental health care. Incarceration is incredibly stressful, and that stress can lead people to deep emotional depths, including suicidality. Too often, however, jail staff members do not do their jobs (such as skipping mandatory checks), and they miss clear signs of mental health distress. When a person behind bars harms themselves because the staff at their jail failed, that failure may represent a civil rights violation. If you suspect that has happened to a loved one, an experienced Oregon jail neglect lawyer can provide knowledgeable answers about your options.

A jail death to our south is one of the latest examples of these stresses and these kinds of jail staff failures.

A.A. was inside the Riverside County Jail in Southern California. According to the Desert Sun, he “had an extensive history of mental illness” and was housed in the jail’s mental health unit.

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No one wants to think about their child being in an auto accident, but hundreds of thousands are each year. Of the four million-plus involved in crashes from 2018-2022, more than 540,000 were hurt, and almost 3,000 died. These numbers are a stark reminder of how vital child car seat safety is. This includes ensuring that the seat you have purchased is installed and used correctly, but it also means selecting a safe seat. Regrettably, some injuries occur because a seat was an unsafe product that failed to perform as it should have. When that happens, legal action may be necessary. An experienced Oregon product liability lawyer who handles injuries to minors can provide essential advice about how to proceed in your situation.

Safety recalls of child car seat products remind us that even products like these are susceptible to manufacturing and design defects.

The first of two recent recalls covered a relatively small number of flawed products—between 1,200 and 1,300. According to the recall, some of Britax’s One4Life car seats manufactured in July 2024 had a labeling error. The product is designed to be a long-term solution, functioning as a rear-facing seat for infants and toddlers and a forward-facing seat for bigger kids. The erroneous labels incorrectly stated that the weight limit for using the seat in the rear-facing position was 40 pounds, but the correct weight limit was 35 pounds.

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The death of 27-year-old S.B. was the tragic final chapter of a man allowed to “fall through the cracks” repeatedly. The man’s situation included many institutional failures, but one of the biggest was the inadequate mental health care he allegedly received while behind bars in Douglas County. Inmates and detainees are constitutionally entitled to appropriate health care while incarcerated, and a failure to receive that care can represent a violation of that person’s civil rights. If you have lost a loved one in this way or have questions about appropriate standards of care and jail inmates and detainees, be sure you get the reliable information you need by talking to an experienced Oregon jail neglect lawyer.

S.B. died seven weeks after he entered the Roseburg jail. On February 28, 2024, law enforcement officers encountered the man at a coffee shop repeatedly “asking customers if they wanted to ‘box’ and acting strangely.” A day later, police found the man wandering in traffic on a Douglas County highway. Despite the man’s mental health crisis, police arrested him for disorderly conduct.

When the man entered the Roseburg jail, he weighed 235 pounds. By the time deputies entered the man’s cell on April 18 to transport him to his court-ordered psychiatric treatment, he was down to 139 pounds, having lost more than 40% of his body weight.

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Proper maintenance, inspection, and repair of commercial trucks are vital to ensuring the safety of truckers and all those who share the road with them. An improperly maintained truck is at an elevated risk of breaking down and causing an accident and, as the data shows, truck accidents cause thousands of deaths annually… usually to someone other than the trucker. If you have lost a loved one in a commercial truck crash, the civil court system may allow you to seek justice through a liability action against one or more parties. An experienced Oregon truck accident lawyer can help you look at your circumstances, assess your options, and choose the best path forward.

Truck maintenance was a potential issue in a recent multi-vehicle crash in Lane County. The operator of a Kenworth log truck experienced a “catastrophic engine failure” as he passed through the Knowles Creek Tunnel along Highway 126. The trucker cautiously passed through the tunnel and brought his vehicle to a stop along the side of the highway’s westbound lane. Unfortunately, the trucker’s broken engine had left behind a “200-yard-long” oil spill.

A westbound driver behind the truck hit the oil slick then hit the truck, but managed to move off the highway. The next westbound driver, however, slid not into the log truck but into the oncoming lane. That vehicle and an eastbound Chevrolet HHR slammed head-on. The driver of the Chevrolet died at the scene. The other driver suffered serious injuries.

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Running between the Columbia River and the Willamette Valley, Oregon State Route 47 offers many scenic views and interesting destinations, including numerous nearby volcanoes… and the World’s Tallest Barber Pole. The road also is home to many serious and fatal vehicle accidents. From drivers going too fast to commercial trucks operating unsafely, the reasons for serious and fatal crashes on this road are many but often involve negligent conduct by someone other than the person (people) who were severely injured or died. If your family has been touched by a catastrophic or fatal accident that occurred because someone else was not meeting their safety obligations under the law, your family may be able to obtain justice through a civil litigation action. An experienced Oregon auto accident lawyer can help guide you through this process which is often complex, intricate, and extensive.

A crash that occurred last weekend further underscores this reality. On Sunday night, emergency responders were called to an accident scene in Forest Grove. The collision was serious enough that one injured person was life-flighted to a nearby hospital and authorities closed the road to traffic.

Only two weeks earlier, the scene was Yamhill County. That crash, according to police, occurred after a southbound driver “missed a curve” and crashed into a pickup truck. The impact injured two children riding in the pickup truck. The drivers were less fortunate, with one enduring severe injury and the other suffering fatal harm.

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50 SW Pine St 3rd Floor Portland, OR 97204 Telephone: (503) 226-3844 Fax: (503) 943-6670 Email: matthew@mdkaplanlaw.com
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