Personal Injury Law Update

Trucking Accident Leaves One Man Critically Injured

According to the Oregonian, last weekend a semi-truck and a Toyota Camry carrying two people, traveling northbound on I-5 near the Charbonneau Interchange, collided when the truck made an unsafe lane change.

The truck pushed the car across three lanes of northbound traffic where it then careened into the concrete median and flipped over. The driver of the car, David William Brown, 32, of Junction City, Oregon was treated at OHSU for minor injuries while the passenger, David Campbell, 65 also of Junction City was taken to OHSU by LifeFlight in critical condition.

The driver of the semi-truck, Martin Landeros, 41, of Salinas, California, was not injured and was cited for making an unsafe lane change.

Star Football Player Who Fell Asleep at the Wheel Seriously Injured in Car Accident

The Seattle Times reported that, over the weekend, Cory Mackay, a 6-foot-4, 257-pound defensive end who had just completed his freshman year at Washington State University, was seriously injured in a one-vehicle accident after he apparently fell asleep at the wheel of a Nissan pickup truck. In a release, WSU said Mackay was in "stable" condition at Harborview Medical Center.

Driving while drowsy is every bit as dangerous as driving while drunk, insofar as sleepiness slows driver reaction time, decreases driver awareness, impairs judgment and increases aggressiveness. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), drowsiness or fatigue is the principal cause of up to 100,000 police-reported passenger vehicle crashes every year, killing at least 1,500 people and injuring 71,000.

Edmunds offers 10 tips to avoid falling asleep at the wheel.

Trucker Involved in Oregon Trailer Accident Blames Burrito for Crash

In Southern Oregon a few weeks ago, a truck driver lost control of his semi truck after he reached for his breakfast burrito while going around a curve. Bradley Lavern Ruonavaara was driving on I-5 when the accident occurred, scattering 60-foot building joists across both the north and southbound lanes. Drivers on the southbound side got out of their vehicles to clear the mess without waiting for ODOT, but on the northbound side, it took about an hour to clear up. Ruonavaara had minor injuries that he was treated for and he was also cited by the Oregon State Police. Along with cell phones, this is another thing to add to your list of things to avoid doing while driving.

Due to negligence, many innocent automobile drivers and passangers could have been injured in this situation. If you or someone you love has suffered a catastrophic injured in a trucking accident get information about your rights by contacting the experienced trucking accident lawyers at D'Amore & Associates.

Resources For Winter Driving

Washington has been experiencing record snowfall. In Spokane, for example, December finished with 61.5 inches of snow, far eclipsing the previous one-month record of 56.9 inches set in January 1950.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer recently provided links to various travel resources helpful to those driving in the snow, including traffic camera links provided by the State Department of Transportation; a website maintained by Seattle with traffic updates; a statewide road temperature map; and state traffic alerts.

Readers commenting on the story also provided links to a moderated Department of Transportation Twitter site featuring people texting or emailing immediate information about current road conditions and incidents, and Seattle road cams and Bellevue road cams.

Oregon and Washington Receive Perfect Scores in New National Roadway Safety Scorecard

With Thanksgiving weekend just passed, let us give thanks to the wise public officials of Oregon and Washington who enacted the motor vehicle laws and regulations that enabled those two states to earn perfect scores in the 2008 ENA National Scorecard on State Roadway Laws: A Blueprint for Injury Prevention, a report released in late November by the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA).

The 2008 report examines roadway safety laws and regulations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and rates each state based on the following 13 criteria (each state was awarded one (1) point for each ENA criterion that was present in their respective state laws, with 13 points the maximum attainable - only Oregon and Washington received perfect scores of 13):

1. Does the state have a primary enforcement seat belt law?
2. Does the state’s primary enforcement seat belt law apply to all seating positions?
3. Does the state have a booster seat law?
4. Does the booster seat law cover children up to age 8 years?
5. Does the state have a child passenger safety law covering all children up to age 16 years in all seating positions?
6. Does the state have a graduated driver licensing (GDL) law with a six-month holding period provision at the learner's stage?
7. Does the state have a GDL law with a provision requiring 30-50 hours of supervised driving at the learner's stage?
8. Does the state have a GDL law with a nighttime restriction provision at the intermediate stage?
9. Does the state have a GDL law limiting drivers in the intermediate stage from carrying more than one passenger under age 20 years?
10. Does the state have a universal motorcycle helmet law requiring all riders to wear a helmet?
11. Does the state’s universal motorcycle helmet law require that all riders’ helmets meet federal protection standards?
12. Does the state mandate installation of an ignition interlock device as a vehicle sanction to restrict or separate hard-core drinking drivers from their vehicles?
13. Does the state have enabling legislation that provides appropriate officials the authority to develop, maintain and evaluate a state trauma system and its components?

ENA notes that each of the laws addressed in the criterion above has been shown to save lives. Thus, the goal of publishing the scorecard is to motivate policy-makers, opinion-leaders and the general public to take a more active role in advocating for these effective vehicle safety laws, regulations, and programs.

Oregon Man Hurt in Accident Between Electric Car and Logging Truck

It was reported last week that an 84-year old man from Eugene, Oregon, Harold Babcock, was criticall injured after he collided with a logging truck while driving an electric car. Apparently, the truck was trying to pass Babcock when he abruptly turned left and the truck struck him.

Truck Accident Near Seattle Severely Injures Driver, Spills Diesel Fuel and Blocks Highway

Yesterday morning, a dump truck heading eastbound on Highway 92 collided with a red pickup truck heading west after the pickup crossed over the centerline, according to the Washington State Police. The dump truck drive came out okay, but the pickup driver sustained life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The accident closed the highway for several hours after fuel spilled as a result of the accident.

$1.5 Million dollar lawsuit filed after Garbage truck kills cyclist

In October, 2007, Brett Jarolimek was riding his bicycle in the bike lane when struck and killed by an AGG Enterprises garbage truck driver. He was killed when the driver went to turn right on North Interstate to Greeley Avenue in Portland, Oregon.

Last Wednesday, Jarolimek’s family filed a $1.5 Million dollar lawsuit against the company and driver, stating that the garbage truck was unsuitable for driving. It alleges that the right side mirror was broken and only attached to the truck by a bungee cord. The claim also alleges that AGG Enterprises should not have had the driver as an operator of the garbage truck because of previous drug convictions and driving violations.

Because of Jarolimek’s death, city officials are planning to install “bike boxes” around Portland, which are designed to avoid these types of accidents.

See this full article in

The Oregonian

Pedestrian Killed and Teen Injured in Washington Truck Accident

Sad story last week in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer concerning a young woman who was killed after being struck by a pickup truck that veered on to the sidewalk where she was walking with a teen companion. The teen was injured - thankfully nothing life-threatening. Police are still investigating the cause of the accident including whether the truck driver was under the influence of alcohol.

Music Star Toby Keith and Family Win Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Numerous media sources reported at the end of 2007 that country music star Toby Keith and his family had won $2.8 million in a wrongful death lawsuit arising out of a truck accident in which Keith's father, H.K. Covel, was killed (see, e.g., stories here and here). The jury awarded the damages against the company that owned the bus that collided with Covel's truck. Keith and his family had alleged that Covel would not have died in the accident had the bus had been equipped with properly working brakes.

The loss of a family member often has lasting financial and emotional consequences. The wrongful death lawyers at D’Amore & Associates have experience working with grieving families to provide compassionate representation even while working aggressively to obtain the best result.