Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

Two of the drivers involved in a four car Canby auto accident last week were hospitalized with one of them receiving a citation from police for his role in the Oregon car accident, according to a recent report in the Canby Herald.

The newspaper reports that the Portland area traffic accident took place on Arndt Road, near the intersection with Airport Road around 7 am on Wednesday shutting down traffic on Arndt road in both directions during morning rush hour. One of the drivers, 49 year old Michael Lee, was treated at a Portland hospital and was cited for both reckless driving and driving while suspended. A second driver, Hector Estrada-Vargas, was treated at a hospital in Tualatin.

The Herald, quoting police officers, reports that the accident began when Lee, who was traveling eastbound on Arndt Road, illegally passed another vehicle on the right. In executing the pass he lost control of his pick-up truck, careened into the westbound lane and collided with three oncoming vehicles, including the one driven by Estrada-Vargas.

Monday marked the beginning of a two-week crackdown on dangerous driving, according to a recent report in the Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon auto accidents are the target of the statewide effort, known officially as the “Three Flags Safety Campaign.”

The name of the program to prevent Eugene fatal traffic accidents takes its name from what law enforcement officials cite as the three biggest factors in Oregon auto accidents: “driving impaired, driving too fast and failure to use seatbelts.”

Citing Eugene police department statistics, the paper reports that even though official estimates are that 96% of Oregonians use seatbelts, lack of a seatbelt remained “a major factor in half of Oregon’s traffic deaths in 2008.”

A 50-year old man “with a history of driving under the influence” is being held by Medford police on suspicion of drunk driving. In a Southern Oregon drunk driving accident last Saturday the man allegedly injured three people, all of whom had to be hospitalized.

TV station KDRV reported that 50-year old Wayne Scott Rolfe was arraigned on felony DUI charges. He has also been charged with felony driving with a suspended license. He reportedly has three previous DUI’s, and is currently being held in the Jackson County jail pending $250,000 bond.

The good news is that the three Southern Oregon drunk driving victims have been released from the hospital.

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.