Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

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A fatal three-vehicle Oregon car crash near Banks and Glenwood, to the west of Portland, left one person dead and sent two to the hospital with serious injuries, according to an account in The Oregonian.

The fatal Oregon auto crash occurred when “a pickup was headed east on Oregon 6 and near milepost 42, it crossed the center line and collided head-on with” a west-bound car. A short time afterwards another car happened upon the accident, was unable to stop in time to avoid it, and rear-ended the pickup.

The driver of the car involved in the first phase of the accident, a 68-year-old Cloverdale man, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, according to the newspaper. The driver and a teenage boy riding with him in the pickup truck were taken to an area hospital with injuries that the paper describes as serious, but not life-threatening. None of the four people – including a child – in the third car were injured.

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A recent article in The Oregonian details significant efforts in Washington County to improve the environment for cyclists, a plan that, if implemented, may help curb Oregon bicycle and car accidents as well as improving the overall quality of life in our region.

As the newspaper details, county officials are examining “projects aimed at improving transportation corridors and connecting key county roads and trails.” Bicycle commuters, the article reports, are of particular interest to planners with conscious attempts being made to design and build routes that “link to Tri-Met bus and light rail lines” with the goal of making long-distance travel easier both on bikes alone and using a combination of cycling and public transportation. The paper reports that Washington County’s efforts are being funded by a variety of sources at all levels of government and will take shape over a period of years.

Greater Portland, of course, has long prided itself on a bike-friendly reputation. But even in a city known to be welcoming to cyclists there is always room for improvement.

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A recent Oregon motorcycle crash left a Salem man hospitalized in critical condition, according to The Oregonian.

The newspaper reports the accident took place in Aurora at the junction of Oregon Route 551 and Ehlen Road. Quoting a press release from law enforcement officials, the paper says the Aurora motorcycle accident took place when the rider, who was obeying relevant traffic signals, entered the intersection and “was immediately hit by a 2006 Toyota Scion” whose driver “was turning left from eastbound Ehlen Road onto northbound Oregon 551.”

The motorcycle rider was airlifted to the Oregon Health and Science University Hospital by helicopter. The driver of the Toyota “was transported by ambulance to Legacy Meridian Park Hospital with minor injuries. He has been cited for careless driving and taking a dangerous left turn,” the paper reports.

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A class action lawsuit filed in Salem is taking aim at a perhaps surprising target. According to area television station KDRV the lawsuit alleges that a major insurance company has been “fraudulently denying claims after car crashes.”

The target? USAA, a banking and insurance giant that deals exclusively with current and former members of the military and their families. Because of its focus on the military community USAA has long cultivated a customer-friendly, service-oriented image far removed from that of most commercial banks and insurance companies.

The Oregon suit, however, charges the company with “using medical reports by physicians to say treatment for injuries suffered in car crashes were not medically necessary. Plaintiffs allege in their suit that the insurance medical reviewers of their cases never even talked or consulted with them.” The station’s report said USAA “declined to comment on the lawsuit.”

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A recent announcement that insurance giant Allstate is buying the Esurance and Answer Financial brands from the smaller, less well-known, White Mountains Insurance Group raises several troubling questions.

According to an Associated Press article, Allstate expects to pay about $1 billion for the two brands. The acquisition will allow Allstate to broaden the offerings available under its corporate umbrella. AP cites an Allstate press release claiming “the deal will help it tap consumers who prefer certain brands along with consumers who want choices among insurance carriers.”

Leaving aside the dubious claim that one company’s marketing of its products under different names actually constitutes “choice” from a consumer’s perspective, customers might also want to consider what a company really has in mind when it makes acquisitions like this at below-market-value. Notably, White Mountain told the AP that the sale “will increase its book value by $80 per share.” Yet in trading after the deal was announced White Mountain’s stock rose by only $51 (about 15%) – indicating that the market thinks White Mountain should have gotten more money from Allstate for the deal to raise the company’s valuation as much as the White Mountain claims.

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Fox News used to run a regular segment called “stupid criminals.” If it were still on the air the subject of today’s Oregon drunk driving blog would definitely be a candidate.

According to The Oregonian, Aaron Arrell killed a woman in an Oregon fatal hit-and-run accident in March, and was apprehended in large part because he tried to cover his tracks by having his wife phone police to report their van – the vehicle involved in the accident – stolen. “Had they not called, it may have gone unsolved,” the paper quotes a Multnomah County prosecutor saying.

When police caught up with Arrell – based largely on the description of the vehicle that his wife had given them – he tested for blood alcohol at almost twice the legal limit, according to the paper. It also emerged that he was driving on a suspended license, and had been cited twice previously for doing so in the weeks prior to the Portland drunk driving fatality.

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Legislators in Salem hope to close what has emerged as a significant loophole in Oregon’s year-and-a-half-old distracted driving law. As almost everyone knows by now, talking on a cellphone while behind the wheel is illegal in Oregon unless one is using a hands-free device.

As The Oregonian details, however, many judges are taking a broader view of one particular provision of the 2009 law than its authors intended. The Oregon distracted driving law contains an exception “allowing drivers to go on talking on their handheld cellphone – as long as they are driving for work and ‘acting in the scope’ of their employment,” the paper notes.

The legislators who wrote the law tell The Oregonian their idea was “to make exceptions for police, firefighters and others who truly need to make calls on the move.” As it turns out, however, courts have given that phrase a much wider interpretation. In many places, its effect has been to give a free pass to anyone who simply tells the judge they were making a work-related call. As a consequence, some police officers tell the paper they have stopped even issuing distracted driving citations to anyone who claims when pulled over to have been on the phone for work.

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After a year marked by bad news – fatal crashes; official reports indicating that safety needs to be improved – it is refreshing to encounter a story about Tri-Met that makes you feel good.

According to The Oregonian, a Tri-Met train driver’s quick thinking saved the life of a woman who had fallen onto the tracks last week. What could have turned into a disastrous Portland transportation accident was averted, the paper reports, mainly because train driver Arthur Beardsley “knew the Willow Creek stop in Hillsboro can be ‘a scary area.’” As a result, he was already approaching with caution when a woman fainted in front of his oncoming train.

Trains, as the article notes, can take a long time to stop. Large freight trains can easily travel over a mile after the brakes are applied before they begin to lose momentum. Even light rail cars, like the trains commuters use here in the Portland area, normally take about 600 feet to stop, according to The Oregonian. In this case it was only Beardsley’s unusually slow approach to Willow Creek that averted an otherwise certain tragedy.

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A Clatsop County court has convicted a 45-year old Portland man in a case stemming from a fatal drunk driving car crash last year, according to The Oregonian.

The case of Ken Middleton’s Portland fatal car crash is particularly shocking not only because of the sheer amount of alcohol he consumed in the hours leading up to the accident, but also because he got behind the wheel so completely intoxicated despite having his own 13-year-old daughter riding with him. The Daily Astorian reported that Middleton, at his trial, “admitted he had consumed at least 12 beers that day.” His daughter, mercifully, “suffered only minor injuries,” according to The Oregonian.

In addition to Oregon drunk driving Middleton was convicted of manslaughter, second-degree assault and three counts of reckless endangering, The Oregonian reports. The manslaughter charge stems from the death of Andrew Church, a motorcyclist whom Middleton struck head on when he drifted over the centerline as he and his daughter drove along US-30 in Astoria last May.

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Police are investigating the circumstances of an Oregon car crash involving two pick-up trucks and a semi-trailer that left one of the pick-up drivers dead, according to The Oregonian.

The accident took place last week in Dallas, west of Salem. According to the newspaper, a pick-up driven by a 58-year-old Grand Ronde man drifted across the centerline mid-evening on Oregon Route 22. The pick-up and semi-trailer collided, killing the pick-up’s driver. According to the Salem Statesman-Journal, another pick-up following behind the big rig was unable to take evasive action and rear-ended the larger truck.

The driver of the semi was injured in the Central Oregon truck accident and was taken to a local hospital. His injuries were not reported to be serious. The driver of the second pick-up was uninjured, the paper reported. Oregon 22 was closed for several hours while the Oregon State Patrol and local police launched their investigations of the accident.

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