Oregon Injury Lawyer Blog

May 31, 2015

New Products to Combat Distracted Driving May Actually Make Things Worse

Last week the New York Times published a long article looking at a number of so-called ‘heads-up’ technologies making their way toward commercial use in the auto industry. All of the technologies described in the article involve projecting information onto a car’s windshield so that it appears to be ‘floating’ just ahead of the car. The companies designing these systems tout them as cutting-edge tools in the fight against distracted driving, but the article makes a strong case that for many drivers there is a high probability the heads-up technology will make things worse.

Accompanying the article is a screen shot from a video promoting one of the new companies. The still image shows the driver’s hands on the steering wheel as the car enters a sharp bend to the left. Projected into the driver’s line of sight are both an animated image of the car and the road, and a photo of the driver’s mother as he takes a phone call from her. The device allows the phone to be answered with a wave of the driver’s hand.

The idea that these devices will make driving safer boils down to the contention that by keeping drivers looking up and ahead they reduce the distraction of cellphones, in-dash navigation systems, and even the dashboard itself (since the devices can display things like speed and gas level). “The argument… boils down to a simple notion: Drivers are going to do it anyway, so why not minimize the riskiest kinds of multitasking, like looking down at the phone or handling it” according to the Times.

May 29, 2015

Once Again, Dangerous Truck Provisions Quietly Make Their Way Through Congress

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Last December I highlighted a stealthy move by the trucking industry to have its friends in Congress slip provisions into a stop-gap funding bill that were good for the industry but bad for Oregonians and the rest of America. Not content with that victory of profits over public safety the industry is now at it again, according to The New York Times.

An editorial published in the newspaper this week warned that “Republican lawmakers have attached a long industry wish list to an appropriations bill that will be voted on in the House in the coming weeks.” Last December’s measure suspended rules governing how much rest the drivers of large trucks need to get each week. The new measure, if it becomes law, will make it very difficult for President Obama or his successor to lift those ‘temporary’ rule suspensions.

Meanwhile, other parts of the bill “would allow trucks to carry longer trailers across the country, make it harder for the Department of Transportation to require drivers get more rest before they hit the road and forbid the department from raising the minimum insurance it requires trucks and buses to carry. The insurance levels have been in effect since 1985,” according to the paper.

May 26, 2015

A Water Safety Warning as Summer Gets Underway

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Memorial Day weekend has come and gone and the summer is officially underway. That is mostly a good thing, but as The Oregonian reminded us last week, it is also a moment to give some careful thought to safety. The holiday weekend, the paper noted, is “also the start of the season for cold water drownings in the region’s alluring, but often deadly, natural waterways.”

An investigation by the paper found that since 2006 “area lakes, rivers and the Pacific Ocean were the site of 212 drownings. The large majority – 180 – were men or boys; the remaining 15 percent, a total of 32, were women or girls.” The paper goes on to offer examples of incidents that started as routine outings but quickly turned into tragedies. It continues: “This kind of hazard abounds in natural waterways. One moment you’re in water up to your thighs, the next step takes you to water 10 feet deep.”

The solutions are very simple: public awareness and easier access to safety equipment. The Oregonian notes several organizations and initiatives that are working “to reduce the number of drownings through education and enforcement.” In particular, it quotes first responders reminding people of the importance of life jackets. The article quotes a sheriff’s office official in Clark County saying that “in more than 90 percent of the drownings he’s responded to, a life jacket would have saved the person.” Among the safety initiatives already underway in some parts of the state and expected to continue this season are efforts to make life jackets – usually ones that can be borrowed for free – more easily and widely available at potential trouble sites.

May 24, 2015

Bicycle Safety Promoted by New Design Guide

by Matthew D. Kaplan

May is National Bike Month and to mark the occasion the US Transportation Department’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has released a new set of guidelines designed to promote bike safety in cities and towns across the country.

Formally titled the “Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide” the 147-page document is seeks, according to the official FHWA blog, to outline “planning considerations and design options for this innovative bike facility. It provides information on one and two-way facilities, outlines different options for providing separation.” The report goes out of its way to address “midblock design considerations” – meaning situations in which vehicles need to be allowed to cut across the bike lane to gain curb access – as well as offering advice on how to handle intersections (something Portlanders, with our city’s mixed history of success with bike boxes, know is one of the more tricky elements of bike infrastructure design).

As the news release goes on to state: “The guide builds on our current policy to provide pedestrian and bicycle accommodations and on our support for design flexibility. It will inform the USDOT’s ‘Safer People, Safer Streets’ initiative as well as our efforts to improve access to opportunity for everyone.”

May 20, 2015

Portland Car Accident Raises a Series of Potential Legal Issues

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A single-vehicle Portland car accident that killed one person and injured two others spotlights both the dangers of reckless and drunk driving and its broader legal implications, even when a second car is not involved.

According to a report earlier this week in The Oregonian a 29 year old man who was riding in the back seat of an SUV died when he was thrown from the vehicle during “a fatal crash Sunday night off Northwest Skyline Boulevard.” The paper reports that “the SUV rolled down a steep embankment toward the 6600 block of Meridian Ridge Drive where it struck a house and caught fire. Neighbors were able to extinguish the fire and no one in the home was injured.” The newspaper, quoting police, says that the SUV’s 39-year-old driver remains in an area hospital in critical condition. The other passenger, a 30-year-old woman, “was treated for her injuries and released” from the hospital.

As the paper notes, “while the cause of the crash remains under investigation… (police) said it appears that alcohol and excessive speed were both contributing factors.”

May 17, 2015

Blue Bell Case Shows Emphasis on Profits Over People

by Matthew D. Kaplan

Reports late last week that Blue Bell, the troubled Texas-based ice cream company, “will lay off more than a third of its workforce following a series of listeria illnesses linked to its ice cream,” according to the Associated Press, are the latest example of a company putting its profits ahead of responsibility to its workers or to society at large.

As the news agency reports “the 108-year old company’s production plants in Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama have been closed since Blue Bell issued a full recall in April. The company’s ice cream has been linked to listeria illnesses in four states, including three deaths in Kansas.” Though the article quotes the company’s CEO saying “our employees are part of our family” it is difficult to balance that statement against revelations by the Houston Chronicle that the company knew it was distributing unsafe products two years ago, but kept the matter secret and continued with business as usual.

“Blue Bell Creameries found strong evidence of listeria in its Broken Arrow, Oklahoma plant as early as 2013 but failed to improve its sanitation programs, according to findings released… by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” the newspaper reported last week.

May 1, 2015

Increased Fines & Sanctions Sought in Bid to Cut Workplace Deaths

by Matthew D. Kaplan

On this May Day it is appropriate to pause for a moment and give some thought to workplace safety. With that in mind I’d like to highlight a rather stunning statistic that appeared in the pages of The Oregonian this week: more than 54,000 Americans die every year from workplace-linked causes. That figure was part of a report published by the National Council for Occupational Health and Safety, drawing on data gathered by the federal government.

According to the study, in 2013 (the most recent year for which figures are available) 4,585 workers died on the job in the United States. That figure is far too high, but based on what we all know regarding dangerous jobs such as logging, truck driving or working in certain types of industrial facilities it is, perhaps, not overly surprising for a country the size of ours. In addition to that, however: “an additional 50,000 people die each year from long-term exposure to workplace hazards such as asbestos, silica and benzene, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration,” the report said, according to The Oregonian.

That figure is, frankly, stunning, especially when one considers that one of the toxic agents named – asbestos – is a product whose dangers have been known for decades. Add to that the paper’s comment that “proven prevention strategies are available for all the major categories which result in worker deaths, including transportation incidents, contacts with objects and equipment, falls, workplace violence, exposure to harmful substances and environments, and fires and explosions” and one has to ask why these numbers are so high.

April 26, 2015

Bike Alliance Advocates for Safer Bridges

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A recent news release from Portland’s Bicycle Transportation Alliance announced a small but potentially very significant victory for bike safety in our city. “Thanks to coordinated advocacy work on the part of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and Multnomah County’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Citizen Advisory Committee, fixes to heavy congestion and bike/pedestrian conflicts on Portland’s bridges may be on the horizon,” the BTA says.

The BTA reports that two important projects have been added to the county’s plans for infrastructure upgrades as part of the Willamette Bridge Capital Improvement Plan: a $1.4 million “planning study to identify bike/ped capacity improvements” and $32.6 million in overall design and construction improvements. Equally important, the BTA announced it had been formally informed by the county that these particular projects “have been moved to a timeline that better reflects their urgency” – meaning that cyclists may see progress within five years, as opposed to the six to ten year timetable originally anticipated.

The plan now goes to the Multnomah County commissioners for consideration next month. Sounding a cautionary note, however, the BTA warns that “if it is passed, the next challenge will be to identify funding that will pay for these two projects.”

April 22, 2015

Oregon Distracted Driving Study Shows Problem at All-Time High

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A recently published Oregon State University study demonstrates dramatically that interactive efforts to educate teens about the dangers of distracted driving are far more successful than passive efforts. However, the study also showed that among younger drivers the problem is just as serious as anecdotal evidence would suggest, and that the focus on texting may be diluting the larger message about the risks of Oregon distracted driving.

According to a summary published by EurekAlert, a PR website, the OSU study found that “while many young drivers understand the risks of texting… they are much less aware of other concerns that can be real – eating, drinking, talking on a cell phone, smoking, adjusting the radio, changing a CD, using a digital map and other controls.” The article adds that in addition to a lack of experience behind the wheel “young drivers also have a higher risk tolerance, use seat belts less and choose higher speeds.”

These findings are, perhaps, unsurprising (though the finding that “27 percent of respondents changed clothes or shoes while driving” was a bit eyebrow-raising), but it is good to see data backing up what many people have long believed based on anecdotal observation. The highlight of the study is its conclusion that young drivers react best to safety training that is “interactive” – training that requires young people to do something rather than simply passively watching a film or listening to a lecture. Interactive training, the study found, was far more effective in reinforcing both the importance of safe driving habits and the bad habits which everyone should avoid.

April 20, 2015

Prineville, Oregon Industrial Accident Took Place Despite Warnings

by Matthew D. Kaplan

A new report by Oregon Public Broadcasting indicates that the Prineville Mill, whose roof collapsed on a snowy morning last November, was warned of the possible danger well in advance. According to OPB the Mill’s own employees raised the alarm to no avail.

Astonishingly, no one was hurt when the roof at Woodgrain Millwork collapsed. That does not, however, change the face that this incident is an almost textbook example of an Oregon industrial accident and a reminder of why our court system is crucial in holding companies to account where their employees safety is concerned.

Plant employees who spoke with OPB “paint a picture of an environment at Woodgrain where building maintenance was lax and the roof leaked for years. The former Woodgrain workers described what they saw as a number of unsafe conditions and potential safety hazards at the mill, even before the roof collapsed.”