Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog

August 31, 2015

New CDC Report Focuses Attention on Oregon Bicycle Safety

A report released earlier this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlights both the health benefits of cycling and the potential risks. As the report notes, “only about 1% of trips across all modes of transportation” are made by bicycle here in the United States, but the number of deaths associated with cycling remains disproportionately high – and in some places much higher than in others.

The report examines nearly 30,000 cyclist deaths on American roads over a 38 year period – 1975 to 2012 – and leads with some good news: “annual cyclist fatalities declined from a high of 955 in 1975 to 717 in 2012” with the proportion of cyclist deaths among all motor vehicle-involved fatalities dropping from 2.3 to 1.4 percent from 1975 to 2003. In the decade since, however, the figure has risen back to 2.2 percent – meaning that proportionately we are pretty much where we started 40 years ago.

A table accompanying the CDC news release shows that over the period measured by the study fatal Oregon bicycle and car accidents have fallen by 45.9% – a figure that places our state 35^th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The greatest improvement was shown by Vermont, where fatalities dropped by more than 82%. Florida (9.7%) and Wyoming (6.7%) had the worst improvement rates.

August 29, 2015

Oregon Distracted Driving Case Leads to Criminal Conviction

by Matthew D. Kaplan

The Oregonian this week reported on a guilty plea by a 24-year-old Gresham woman in an Oregon distracted driving case that encapsulates everything that is wrong with this growing problem.

According to the newspaper, the defendant admitted to “taking cellphone video of her child when she crashed into three teens outside their high school in January.” The three 14 and 15-year-old girls “sustained skull, pelvis and knee fractures” according to the paper, as well as “a broken nose, concussion and a lost tooth, and… a torn ACL and a concussion, court documents said.”

“Investigators found a 19-second clip on (the driver’s) phone that showed her hands off the wheel just before she plowed into the teens in the crosswalk, court documents said. She appeared to be holding the phone in her left hand and making gestures with her right hand at her son sitting in the back seat. Phone records show she had also been texting before the crash,” the Oregonian writes.

August 25, 2015

Focus on Safety for Back-to-School

by Matthew D. Kaplan

SafeKids Oregon – an organization that regular readers will know I have long supported – has just published a very useful set of back-to-school tips and reminders. They are worth the attention of every Oregon parent.

The group’s website offers a useful guide focused on preventing injuries to children by teaching them how to walk safely to school. The publication, “Teaching Children to Walk Safely as They Grow and Develop” usefully offers varied advice for parents of kids in several different age groups. Key points include teaching younger children “where to cross streets and how to cross safely.” With older kids – especially kids who may have their own cellphones or other attention-absorbing electronic devices – the group notes that “attention-switching and concentration skills are essential.”

At every age the important thing is not only that skills are learned but that children have the opportunity to reinforce them. As the group notes, “children will demonstrate these skills some of the time, so continued practice is needed until they are consistent.”

August 23, 2015

Distracted Driving Cited for Rise in Traffic Deaths

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A summer marked by low gas prices has led to a jump in the number of miles Americans are driving. Unfortunately, it also appears to be leading to a significant increase in traffic deaths, according to a recent Yahoo! News article.

“The National Safety Council reported this week that traffic deaths and serious injuries in the US are on a pace to rise for the first time in nearly a decade. If the trend for the first six months of this year continues, the NSC says traffic fatalities in the nation will exceed 40,000 for the first time since 2007 and deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled will also increase,” the news service reports. The key lies in the last part of that sentence – indicating that the number of on-road deaths is not merely a function of the greater number of miles being driven. The article notes that when compared to 2007 the number of mile Americans drive has increased by 3.4% but in the first six months of 2015 alone the number of traffic fatalities has jumped by 14%.

According to the article a number of factors contribute to this – such as higher speed limits – but one might also think that the steadily improving safety gear in modern cars and trucks would, at least to some extent, mitigate that. The big thing that has changed for the worse, according to the study, is the steady rise in distracted driving in general and cellphone use in particular despite laws and educational campaigns here in Oregon and elsewhere designed to curb the practice. From a legal perspective this is especially significant since it, in turn, means that an increasingly large number of drivers are placing themselves at risk of wrongful death charges in the event of an accident.

August 17, 2015

Oregon Injuries to Children May Be Prevented by Prompt Car Seat Recall

by Matthew D. Kaplan

NBC news is reporting this weekend that Britax, a major manufacturer of child car seats, “is recalling 37 models of its car seats due to a potential safety defect that could prevent harnesses from locking.”

In a web article the news organization reports that the recall order effects models built between August 1 of last year and the end of last month. The seats in question “may have a defective harness adjuster button that stays in the ‘release’ position when the harness is tightened, rendering the seat useless.” NBC adds that up to now no injuries to children have been reported as a result of the defect.

For its part, the company’s product recall page (see link below) offers detailed information on how to locate the manufacture date and serial number on Britax car seats and then use those to determine whether or not a particular seat is included in the recall order.

August 9, 2015

Bend-area Car Crashes Put US-97 in Spotlight

by Matthew D. Kaplan

As the Bend Bulletin notes in a recent article, two recent crashes near the Central Oregon city are drawing attention to safety issues on US-97. The newspaper notes that just on Tuesday of last week two Oregon car crashes took place on the same stretch of the road highlighting an area that “has long been considered perilous for its intersections and lack of median barriers.”

The paper reports that an elderly man visiting from the Midwest was involved in a head-on crash Tuesday morning when he “tried to turn north from a private driveway on the southbound side” of the road. No one suffered life-threatening injuries in that particular Oregon car crash, but later in the day a six-year-old girl was critically hurt and seven other people suffered less serious injuries “when a Redmond woman traveling southbound crossed into the northbound lanes” in the same area of Highway 97.

Both of these accidents involved cars, but the heavy presence of semi-trucks along this stretch of road is a reminder that even more serious accidents can and do take place when larger vehicles are involved.

July 31, 2015

Repair Kits Offered by IKEA After Dangers Identified With Some Dressers

by Matthew D. Kaplan

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a recall notice regarding millions of dressers sold by furniture giant IKEA, announcing last week that the company is offering free repair kits to customers.

According to the CPSC notice (see link below) “the chests and dressers can pose a tip-over hazard if not securely anchored to the wall.” The danger of injuries to children is especially acute from this defective product. The models effected are the “MALM 3- and 4-drawer chests and two styles of MALM 6-drawer chests… about 7 million MALM chests and 20 million other IKEA chests and dressers are part of the nationwide repair program.”

The recall follows reports of two children’s deaths after IKEA dressers tipped over on them. The agency notes that “consumers should immediately stop using all IKEA children’s chests and dressers taller than 23-1/2 inches and adult chests and dressers taller than 29-1/2 inches, unless they are securely anchored to the wall.” As part of the recall IKEA is offering free wall anchoring kits to consumers.

July 28, 2015

Laws Shield Auto Industry from Accountability in Recall Cases

by Matthew D. Kaplan

US car makers may no longer dominate their industry they way they did a generation or two ago, but, as the New York Times recently detailed, their political clout in Washington remains formidable. As a result, the industry enjoys protections for unsafe and irresponsible behavior that other industries do not even when it results in auto accidents here in Oregon and elsewhere.

The newspaper reports that “legal loopholes that the auto industry helped create” are complicating efforts to hold both the auto makers and individuals working for them accountable for defective products they sold to millions of Americans over a period of years – products that led to many deaths and injuries.

“In one prominent example, lobbyists and trade groups blunted a law requiring car companies to notify regulators of certain safety defects within five working days, persuading Congress to water it down so that it carries only civil penalties, not criminal liability,” the paper notes. The article goes on to outline sensible proposals for accountability put forward over the last several decades by Republicans and Democrats alike, all of which have been eliminated or gutted in final legislation. It notes that “other industries, like pharmaceuticals and food” do not enjoy similar protections.

July 25, 2015

Portland Takes Lead in Gathering Data to Improve Cycling

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A report on the public radio program Marketplace this week focused on yet another way that our city is becoming a leader in promoting cycling. According to the report, a locally-based tech entrepreneur “has created an app called Ride, which asks cyclists to collect data as they cruise around Portland. The data will then help the city plan better cycling infrastructure, like signals, lanes, safer routes and where to avoid traffic.”

The report notes that around six percent of Portlanders use bikes to travel to and from work, a figure far above the national average of one percent. More dramatically, “that number leaps to 25 percent in the inner city.” Combine this with almost 350 miles of bike infrastructure in and around Portland and our city is uniquely well-equipped to help people improve both their health and the environment by replacing cars with bikes.

Unfortunately, Portland bicycle accidents involving traffic remain far more common than they should be. The hope is that by collecting a constant, and far more accurate, stream of data those accidents can be curbed – something that would benefit everyone.

July 19, 2015

Lobbyists Win and Safety Loses in Senate Vote

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A party line vote in the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee this week marked a big win for industry lobbyists and loss for consumers. According to a report in the Washington Post the approved legislation, which now heads to the full Senate, “brims with industry-sought provisions that would block, delay or roll back safety rules.”

The newspaper’s account focuses in particular on auto and rail safety. According to the Post the bill “would block a new Department of Transportation rule requiring that trains hauling crude oil are equipped with electronically-controlled brakes that affect all cars at the same time.” It would also delay rules requiring both freight and passenger trains to have “positive train control” safety systems, despite the fact that most observers believe the recent fatal Amtrak crash near Philadelphia could have been avoided if a PTC system had been in place on the train in question.

On our roads, the bill would roll back measures intended to curb car accidents here in Oregon and around the nation by increasing the size of the fines the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can assess against auto makers. Those fines are currently capped at $35 million – a relatively small sum for any big global carmaker – at a time of record-shattering auto recalls. The NHTSA had sought the authority to levy fines of up to $300 million, believing that the higher number would give car companies more incentive to put safety first. The committee reduced that to $70 million.