85-Year-Old Woman Critically Injured in Single-Car Crash

Date:  May 11, 2012
Location:  Highway 238 and Forest Creek Road, near milepost 28, east of Ruch
Name:  Dorothy Livingston

An 85-year-old woman is in critical condition after her car flipped several times in a single-vehicle accident Friday morning, easy of Ruch. The accident happened on Highway 238 just after 10:30 a.m.

OSP Senior Trooper Jeff Allison told OregonLive.com that a 2004 Toyota Camry being driven eastbound on Highway 238 by Dorothy Livingston, 85, from Ruch, was near milepost 28 when it drove off the north (left hand) side of the highway, into a ditch. The car hit a stop sign at Forest Creek Road, then struck a culvert and went airborne, flipping end over end several times before finally coming to rest on its wheels.

When emergency responders arrived on the scene, they discovered that Livingston had been critically injured in the crash. She was rushed to Rogue Valley Medical Center, where she remains in a critical condition.

Car accidents can be life-changing, and we hope Dorothy Livingston is able to fully recover soon.

While many single-car accidents seem uncomplicated, there are sometimes other factors to consider. If you have been injured in a single-car accident like the one described here, you may be able to receive compensation in several instances:

1. If poor road conditions, poor signage, or bad traffic control contributed to the accident, there may be a lawsuit available against the city, county, or state. In cases against a public body, you may only have 180 days to file a tort claim notice (in most cases) so act quickly to protect your rights.
2. If the car’s mechanic was negligent in his last repairs, contributing to the accident, there may be a lawsuit available against the mechanic or his business.
3. If the car’s manufacturer was negligent, you may be able to file a product liability suit against them. Car manufacturers have often been held accountable for design defects and manufacturing defects, and these lawsuits help ensure that future drivers are not hurt by negligent safety standards.

If you have been injured in a single-car accident that you believe may not have been your fault, you can call a Portland car accident lawyer for help with your investigation at 503-222-4411. Or you can learn more about filing your own claim by reading the book 7 Common Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Oregon Accident Case.

Hwy 30 Accident Leaves 4 Injured After Icy Crash

Date:  April 7, 2012
Location:  Highway 30, near milepost 77, Clatsop County
Names:  Dale Herren, Frank Johnson, Dwayne Thomas

Icy roads are being blamed for a two-vehicle smash that sent four people to the hospital early Saturday morning. Three of those injured are from out of state.

According to the report on TDN.com, the accident was triggered when an eastbound 1992 Ford Bronco being driven by Dale Herren, 35, from Rainier, went out of control on an icy section of Highway 30, west of Westport. The Bronco went directly into the path of a 1996 Ford Windstar being driven by Frank Johnson, 58, from Kelso, Washington, who also had his 6-yeasr-old granddaughter in the vehicle with him. Johnson tried to veer left, but the two vehicles collided almost head-on.

When emergency responders arrived on the scene, they discovered that a passenger in Herren’s vehicle named as Dwayne Thomas, 39, from Toronto, Ohio, had received serious but non-life threatening injuries in the crash. He was taken by ambulance to St. Johns Medical Center in Kelso. Johnson and his granddaughter were taken to Mid-Columbia Medical Center in Astoria, where both are expected to make a full recovery from their injuries. Herren received only minor injuries and was not taken to the hospital.

We wish all the people involved in this frightening crash a full and speedy recovery.

As Portland car accident attorneys, we know that filing an insurance claim can be extremely complicated and stressful. After a crash like this, any injured person can seek compensation through the at-fault driver’s insurance policy, or through their own uninsured motorist coverage.

Steps to Take for Filing an Insurance Claim after an Oregon Accident:

1. Get medical treatment. If you’ve been injured, waiting to seek medical treatment can greatly affect the value of your claim.
2. Immediately after the accident, write down any details you remember.
3. Contact your insurance company and get a copy of your insurance policy if you don’t have one. Talk to your adjuster about using your personal injury protection (PIP) coverage for medical treatment, lost wages, etc.
4. Determine the amount of property damage done.
5. Start keeping good records. Get the police report, copies of medical bills, pictures of your car before and after repairs, etc.
6. If you are considering hiring a lawyer, talk to the lawyer before you talk to the other driver’s insurance company.
7. If you know you are not going to hire an attorney, contact the insurance company for the other driver yourself. Be honest, but do not give a recorded statement and do not admit any liability.
8. Get all correspondence with both insurance companies in writing.
9. Do not sign anything until you are finished receiving treatment and are medically stationary.
10. Check the statute of limitations on your claim. For most car accidents in Oregon, the time limit is two years, but this is not true for all cases. In some cases, you will only have 180 days – speaking to an attorney can clarify your time limits.
11. Discuss your case with a car accident attorney in Portland who offers free consultations, to start understanding the laws that affect your case and your rights as an accident victim.

But before you speak to the insurance adjuster or an attorney, you can learn more about the Oregon insurance claim process in the very helpful book, 7 Common Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Oregon Accident Case.

 

Woman Rear-Ended by Careless Driver

This is a real story about one of our real clients.  All names of individuals have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty alike.  But names of insurance companies are real, and the details of what happened have not been changed.

Our client, “Maria,” was stopped at stop light on SE 82^nd in Portland, OR when she was rear-ended. The bad driver, “Gary” had hit the car behind Maria, which in turn hit her and also forced her car into the car in front of her. The police came quickly to this four-car incident

According to the Oregon Police Traffic Crash Report, Gary was cited with Carless Driving and also might have fallen asleep. Maria was thrown forward, as was her dog, who crashed into the windshield.

Maria’s injuries include trauma to her neck, back, and both shoulders. In order to recover from these injuries, she went to extensive chiropractic, massage, physical therapy, and acupuncture treatments. But this was not enough.  Her left shoulder eventually required surgery.

Rear-Ended on I-84 in Portland, OR

This is a real story about one of our real clients.  All names of individuals have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty alike.  But names of insurance companies are real, and the details of what happened have not been changed.

A while back, “Bob” rear-ended “Susan” on I-84. Our client “Susan” suffered considerable injuries to her back – later requiring disk replacement surgery, as well as ongoing physical therapy.

Susan was in a lot of pain, was facing possible surgery (which she did end up getting), and was at her wit’s end trying to deal with all the insurance companies on top of everything else.  So she came to us, and we took over all the insurance paperwork, and worked our magic to get her compensated.

After some wrangling, Bob’s insurance company, Safeco, settled the claim for policy limits (i.e. the most money possible for the client’s claim)

Unfortunately, because of the severity of her injuries, even that maximum policy limit was not enough to fairly compensate Susan. Not willing to leave our client without sufficient compensation, the team at Shulman DuBois sent a demand letter to the client’s own insurance earlier this week.

This demand asked for the policy limits on the client’s own Underinsured Motorist coverage policy, as allowed by state law.

In an accident where the other driver is legally responsible for the accident, sometimes the payment limits are so low that justice is not served. But many drivers have underinsured or uninsured (UIM) coverage on their own auto policy that can be used to help pay for damages, both to property and medical bills.