Articles Posted in Motor Vehicle Accidents

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In Albany, Oregon, five people were hurt in a Linn County multi-vehicle crash on Friday when a driver in a stolen Jeep Cherokee ran a red light while fleeing from police. The suspect, 22-year-old Portland resident Kyle Holder, ran a red light before colliding with an Eagle Summit, a Toyota pickup, and a Nissan Sentra. Holder then fled the scene on foot but was later apprehended by police.

Oregon car crash victims who were injured include John Dinnis, 63, and Candice Dinnis, 56, who are both from Monmouth, John Carreira, 46, Robert Foss 49, and Scott Foss, 19, who are all from Albany.

Holder faces five counts of third-degree assault charges in Linn County and he is wanted in Multnomah County for assault, robbery, attempted strangulation, harassment, theft, burglary, and interfering with the making of a police report.

Running a Red Light
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, about 260,000 motor vehicles accidents occur every year because a driver ran a red light. For example, 206,000 US traffic accidents occurred because of red light running in 2003—934 people died and 176,000 got hurt as a result.

A few common reasons why people run red lights:
• To avoid having to wait for the light to turn green again.
• To avoid law enforcement officers who might be pursuing them.
• Driver distraction causes them to not realize they are about to run a red light.

Running a red light can lead to serious auto injury accidents. The driver responsible for causing a traffic accident because he or she ran a red light can also be held liable for Oregon personal injury or wrongful death.

For motorists wishing to protect themselves against red light runners, the Allstate Web site recommends:
• Make sure that when the light at the intersection in front of you turns green that you check to make sure there are no vehicles on all sides of you that are about to run a red light.
• Drive carefully into an intersection in case a motorist decides to run a red light.
• Pay extra attention when turning at intersections.

Man caught in Albany chases faces more charges in Portland, OregonLive.com, March 24, 2009
5 injured in 4-car crash as driver flees police, KVAL.com, March 23, 2009
Running red lights, Allstate
Related Web Resources:
Oregon DMV

State Traffic and Speed Laws, MIT.edu

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In Oregon, the family of Tracey Sparling is suing a cement truck driver and his employer for her wrongful death. Sparling, 19, sustained fatal crush injuries on October 11, 2007 after her bicycle was struck by the large truck. The deadly Portland truck accident occurred at the intersection of Burnside and Southwest 14th Avenue.

Both Sparling and truck driver Timothy Wiles were stopped at a red light. Sparling was stopped in a bike lane located on the right side of the road in an area that Wiles couldn’t see.

When the light turned green, the trucker turned right. Sparling was crushed under the truck’s back wheels. The cement truck, which weighed 40,000 pounds, belonged to Rinker Materials, which was purchased by Cemex Corp.

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In Oregon, lawmakers are considering revising the current state drunk driving laws so that they include all substances that could impair someone’s ability to safely drive a motor vehicle. The current Oregon DUI laws cover alcohol and controlled drugs. A person apprehended or who causes an Oregon motor vehicle accident because he or she was abusing medication or overmedicated, however, cannot currently be prosecuted for drunk driving because state law regarding driving under the influence of intoxicants does not define these substances as intoxicants.

Those who oppose changing the law, however, say adding prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs to the list of intoxicants under Oregon’s drunk driving laws would place motorists who actually need to take the medication for their health at a huge disadvantage.

Impaired Driving Caused by Medication
Catastrophic Oregon motor vehicle crashes have been known to occur because a motorist was under the influence of strong medication. For example, one teen driver drank two bottles of Robitussin cough medicine right before becoming involved in an Oregon rollover accident. Although Portland police charged him with Oregon DUI, the criminal charge was eventually dropped.

Medication and Driving
Medication, depending on the kind of drug and the dose taken, can lead to drowsiness, dizziness, difficulties focusing, nausea, vision difficulties, delayed reflexes, and unconsciousness. These are not the kind of side effects you want to have when operating a motor vehicle anywhere in the United States.

While many medications are prescribed by doctors to maintain a patient’s health, especially someone who is suffering from depression, heart problems, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, high blood pressure, schizophrenia, and other conditions, it is the responsibility of the person taking the drugs to make sure that he or she doesn’t drive while under the influence of such medicines.

Any kind of impaired driving is dangerous driving. Too many lives are lost every day in drunk driving accidents because someone was driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or medication.

Oregon ponders new drunken driving law, SeattlePINews.com, March 9, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Impaired Driving, CDC
Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, Oregon State Legslature

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In Portland, a 16-year-old boy is in critical condition after he was struck by two cars on Interstate 5 on Sunday. The teen pedestrian had just left the Rose Garden where he had been watching the Portland Trail Blazers play against the San Antonio Spurs.

The boy is being treated at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Portland police are investigating the cause of the fatal Oregon pedestrian accident. They think he may have been trying to cross the freeway. One vehicle reportedly hit the boy before he was hit by another car.

Both motorists stopped at the Portland, Oregon traffic accident scene and spoke to local authorities. One woman who had also been watching the basketball game says the boy is not the only one that had been trying to cross Interstate 5.

Oregon Pedestrian Accidents
It is important that pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists take steps to prevent pedestrian accidents from happening. Whenever there is a traffic accident involving a pedestrian, he or she is the one most prone to serious injuries.

The Web site PedestrianSafety.com talks about a list of scenarios on the road that can lead to Portland traffic accidents and resulting pedestrian injuries and deaths:

• A motor vehicle turns into a pedestrian’s path.
• A pedestrian runs onto the street.
• A pedestrian crosses the street in the middle of the road.
• A bus may be obstructing another motorist’s view, making it difficult to see that there is a pedestrian behind a large vehicle unless the driver or motorcyclist is paying close attention.

To prevent pedestrian accidents, a Safety and Consumer Protection Web site advises:
• Yield the right of way to pedestrians whether or not there is a walk signal or pedestrian lane if they have already started crossing the street.
• Do not overtake or try to pass a vehicle that is stopped at an intersection.

Teen Struck By Car After Leaving Rose Garden, Fox 12 Oregon, March 1, 2009
Rules and pointers for pedestrians and drivers, Safety & Consumer Protection
Pedestrian Safety

Related Web Resources:
Bicycle & Pedestrian Program, Oregon.gov
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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The family of Jakobi Mulgrave, the 10-year-old boy who survived a Eugene drunk driving accident that killed his mother and three other people last month, is suing several plaintiffs on his behalf for personal injury. According to the Oregon car accident lawsuit, which is seeking approximately $13 million, Jakobi sustained a brain injury, a fractured skull, a fractured pelvis, as well as damage to his kidney, spleen, and liver. Mulgrave is being treated at a Portland hospital.

The catastrophic motor vehicle accident took place on the night of January 21 when an Isuzu Rodeo, driven by Matthew Ellmers and the Toyota Highlander carrying Jakobi, his mother Yvonne, Connie Marie Vermilyea, 34, Jaziah Vermilyea, 10, and Nima Gibba, 11, collided, causing the Highlander to turn in the air and hit a utility pole. Ellmers, who is the only other person to survive the crash, also sustained serious injuries. Police say the 24-year-old Eugene driver was driving drunk.

The Mulgrave family’s Oregon personal injury lawsuit involving injuries to minors contends that Jakobi should receive $10 million for noneconomic damages, $2.8 million for lost wages throughout his lifetime, medical expenses, and other costs.

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A series of unrelated Oregon rollover accidents have left accident victims with injuries. In one auto crash, a Multnomah County judge sustained critical injuries after the car he was riding in rolled over when it was struck by a pickup truck. Three other people, including the judge’s two children, were also injured in the head-on collision. According to Oregon State Trooper Duane Larson, pickup truck driver Craig Gilbert lost control of his vehicle.

In another Oregon auto crash, a 5-year-old boy was killed on Saturday when he was thrown from the family’s 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe during a rollover accident on I-82 south of Umatilla. His mother reportedly lost control of the vehicle while breaking and the SUV rolled over three times.

In another deadly rollover crash, an Oregon woman died on January 17 when her car rolled over on Highway 26, close to Prairie City. According to Oregon State Police, Fredina Sue McKrola, 66, was found close to her Chevrolet Suburban. Investigators think that the auto collision happened because she lost control of her car. There were ice spots reported in the area where her accident happened.

Rollover Accidents
There are many reasons for why rollover accidents occur, including:

• Negligent driving
• Products liability
• Unsafe conditions on the road that should have been cleared out
• Multi-vehicle crashes
While some rollover accidents are the drivers’ fault, there are rollover crashes that do occur because another party was negligent. If you were a passenger injured in a rollover accident caused by a negligent driver, or if your loved one died in another kind of auto kind of accident caused by someone else’s carelessness or recklessness, you may have grounds to file an Oregon personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit to claim compensation.

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Police in Oregon say alcohol may have been a factor in a deadly Eugene auto accident that left 10-year-old Jakobi Mulgrave in serious condition and killed four other people on Wednesday. Injured in the Oregon auto wreck was the boy’s mother, 34-year-old Heather Yvonne Mulgrave, 10-year-old Jaziah Vermilyea, 34-year-old Connie Marie Vermilyea, and 11-year-old Nima Gibba. All of the victims were from Springfield, except for Nima, who is a Eugene resident.

The accident occurred at about 9:16pm at night when the Toyota Highlander carrying the victims and an Isuzu Rodeo collided. Both vehicles were totaled in the crash. The driver of the Isuzu, 24-year-old Eugene motorist Matthew N Ellmers, was listed in serious condition at a Springfield hospital as of yesterday.

The deadly auto crash happened at an intersection where there is a 4-way traffic signal. One teenager says the cement building she was in shook when the vehicles collided. The Highlander reportedly flipped into the air following the crash and drove into a utility pole.

According to The Register-Guard, multi-vehicle crashes don’t happen very often in Eugene. The last time local police investigated an auto accident death involving more than one victim was in 1978.

According to the state’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, there were five Oregon multi-vehicle accidents involving at least four fatalities in 2007 and 2008.

Multi-Vehicle Collisions
Proving liability and obtaining personal injury or wrongful death recovery in a multi-vehicle crash can be complicated—unless you are working with an experienced Oregon car accident lawyer who knows how to properly investigate your case.

Accident reconstructionists, medical specialists, accident investigators, and other experts may have to be called in to investigate all of the evidence to determine fault and figure out how much compensation you should receive. If you or someone you love was injured in a multi-vehicle Oregon auto accident—do NOT try to negotiate an agreement with the other parties’ insurance companies or their legal representatives without seeking your own legal counsel.

Police need public’s help with investigation of crash that killed 4, KVAL, January 23, 2009
Accident Touched Lives of Many, The Register-Guard, January 23, 2009

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This week, the National Safety Council (NSC) issued a call for a US-wide ban that would prohibit motorists from using cell phones while driving. The consumer safety organization says it will lobby all 50 US states and Washington DC to implement laws that ban the use of both hand-held and hand-free cell phones and text messaging whenever a driver is behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.

The NSC says that there is now clear scientific evidence to show that use of a cellular phone while driving increases the risks of the driver becoming involved in a motor vehicle crash. According to the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis:

• 6% of traffic accidents (636,000 motor vehicle collisions) that occur each year happen because someone was using a cell phone.
• 330,000 people were injured in these accidents.
• 12,000 of the injuries were serious.
• 2,600 people died in auto collisions that involved cell phone use.

According to researchers at the University of Utah, over 100 million people talk or text message on cell phones when driving. Dr. Gavin Melmed of Baylor University Medical Center in Waco, Texas agrees that legislation, more education, and enforcement are needed to get people to see how cell phone use, like driving without a seatbelt and drunk driving, is unacceptable behavior while operating a vehicle.

While certain US states have a ban on handheld cell phones, no state has completely banned the use of all cell phones while driving. Oregon law bans drivers younger than 18 from talking or text messaging on a cell phone while driving. However, in order to be cited for violating this law, the use of the cell phone must be a secondary offense. This means the young or novice driver had to have violated another law by, for example, speeding or drunk driving. Oregon police officers say that enforcing this law has proven challenging. As of January 8, there were no records of citations in Portland, Eugene, Pendleton, and Bend.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says drivers who use cell phones when operating their vehicles quadruple their chances of becoming involved in a motor vehicle crash. Cell phone use while driving is a form of driver inattention.

National Safety Council Calls for Nationwide Ban on Cell Phone Use While Driving, NSC.org, January 12, 2009
Ore. teen drivers not cited, year after cell-phone ban, KTVZ, January 8, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Cellphones and Driving, Insurance Information Institute
Cell Phone Driving Laws, Governors Highway Safety Association

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Oregon Department of Transportation is reporting that seven people died in five motor vehicle accidents between 6pm and 11:59pm on December 31, 2008. These figures are an increase from the same period beginning December 31, 2007, when five people were killed in four motor vehicle accidents. There were four Oregon auto deaths on New Year’s Eve 2006.

Poor road conditions were a contributing factor in four of this New Year’s Eve deadly accidents, while intoxicated driving was a factor in the fifth collision that took place in Bend, Oregon, on Highway 20. Five people who survived these crashes have since been released from local hospitals.

Holiday Drunk Driving
The Oregon State Police say they made 52 DUI arrests between December 31, 2008 and January 1, 2009 at 8am. Between 6pm on New Year’s Eve through 11:59pm on January 4, 2009, they made 85 DUI arrests—that’s 13 less than for the same time period last year. Police throughout the state had increased their efforts to stop drunk drivers and prevent them from causing Oregon motor vehicle accidents.

What to Do If You Are Involved in an Oregon Car Accident:
• Do not leave the scene of the Oregon motor vehicle crash without stopping to see if anyone was hurt and exchanging contact and insurance information with the other party.

• Document any injuries or property damage to your vehicle.

• If applicable, talk to police who arrive at the crash scene and make sure you tell them exactly what happened.

• Do NOT try to settle your claim with the other party’s insurance company without exploring your legal options.

• Talk to an experienced Portland personal injury lawyer about your case.

OSP holiday patrols net 85 DUI arrests, StatesmanJournal.com, January 6, 2009
OSP Troopers Report Over 50 DUII Arrests During New Year’s Eve, January 1, 2009
Related Web Resources:

Oregon DMV

Oregon State Police

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The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says auto accidents and fall accidents are the leading causes of accidental teen and child injuries and deaths in this country.

Facts included in the CDC’s report:

• 9.2 million teenagers and children a year are treated in US emergency rooms for accidental injuries.
• 2.8 million teens and young kids are injured in fall accidents annually.
• Over 50% of the nonfatal injuries involving kids younger than 1 occurred during fall accidents.
• About 8,000 minors are killed each year in traffic accidents as pedestrians, vehicle occupants, and pedalcyclists.
• 12,175 people under age 20 die in the US every year because of accidental injuries.
• Approximately 20 kids die every day because of an injury that could have been prevented.
• Some 20 million kids and young adults sustain injuries each year that limit their activity and require medical care.

Leading causes of injury deaths, according to age group:

• Infants – suffocation
• Ages 1 to 4 – drowning
• Ages 5 to 19 – traffic crashes
In addition to fall accidents, other leading causes of nonfatal injuries to kids include:

• Animal bites
• Insect bites
• Getting hit by or falling against an object
Children in the 1 – 4 age group were most likely to suffer nonfatal injuries in fall accidents or due to accidental poisoning. According to CDC Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention Director Grant Baldwin, many of these injuries can be predicted and are preventable.

Many times, these injuries occur while a child or teen is engaged in everyday activities, such as riding in a car, walking to school, or swimming in the neigborhood pool. Such injuries are often caused by reckless motor vehicle drivers, careless property owners, negligent product manufacturers, careless dog owners, or other responsible parties.

Car Crashes, Falls Top List of Accidental Injuries for Kids, US News, December 10, 2008
Childhood Injury Report, CDC
Related Web Resources:

Children Traffic Safety Fact Sheet, NHTSA (PDF)

World Health Organization

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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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