Portland Riders Take Note-Two Shared E-Scooter Riders Die This Month

I had previously expressed concerns the dangers the shared E-Scooters pose to riders and others. As predicted as ridership has increased, so have the injuries and deaths. Last month two shared e-scooter riders died. One shared e-scooter rider was killed in Washington DC after being hit and dragged by an SUV. Another rider was killed after being found with a major head injury and hundreds of yards away from the scooter. That rider died of blunt force trauma to the head.

These catastrophic injuries are exactly the types of injuries we expect to see in the personal injury world. Earlier this year a teen was seriously injured while riding an e-scooter in or around Gresham Oregon. It is not a matter if, it is a matter of when, another Portland e-scooter rider suffers from a concussion, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), broken arm, or leg. Unfortunately, it is also only a matter of time before a shared e-scooter rider is killed in or around Portland. There are simply too many inexperienced riders without helmets riding vehicles that travel at speeds dangerous to cause serious injuries or deaths.

If that occurs the rider should contact immediately contact a personal injury lawyer. As a Portland Personal Injury Lawyer, I am happy to provide free case evaluations for personal injury clients. Call my office, Ross Law PDX, at 503.224.1658 if you or someone you know have been injured by or on a shared e-scooter. Please note that this post is for Advertising Purposes.

E-Scooter Injuries Are a Significant Concern for Portland

E-scooters have taken Portland by storm. It is only a matter of time before Ross Law PDX represents an individual injured on an e-scooter operated by Bird, Lime, or Skip. Recent articles have noted the frequent and alarming number of injuries on e-scooters. Some of these injuries are caused by operator error, some are caused by driver’s failing to pay attention to the riders, some are caused by the e-scooters failing to operate as they should. Some of these injuries can be catastrophic and one person has already been seriously injured on an e-scooter in Portland. This should concern all of us in Portland, as the nuisance of e-scooters is one thing, but injuries and fatalities are unacceptable.

As you may imagine, the courts and regulators are going to have to sort out the mess created when a person is injured or killed in an adverse incident involving an e-scooter.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a crash or accident with an e-scooter, please call Portland Personal Injury Lawyer Jeremiah Ross at 503.224.1658. Ross Law PDX is happy to provide a free case evaluation for personal injury clients.

Where Does Oregon Rank on "The States with the Worst Drivers"

As a personal injury lawyer, I often hear about Oregon's worst drivers.  Oregon's drivers can do some incredibly dumb things that often result in injuring others.  A recent survey from SmartAsset (a tech/finance company) has ranked the States' drivers from best to worst.  Oregon ranks number 26 on the list. The optimist in me says that we are lucky to live in Oregon, because there are 24 States that have more terrible driving habits than Oregonians. However, the reality isn't so rosy.  Oregonians have serious room for improvement, to drive safer and reduce traffic caused fatalities and injuries.  The survey also noted some interesting facts about Oregon Drivers: 

1) Only 83.3% of Oregon drivers have insurance.  All vehicles are required by law to be covered by insurance, so this is a troubling statistic.   This is why it is imperative to have sufficient uninsured ("UM") motorist coverage on your auto insurance policy. The State minimum $25,000.00 is likely not enough to cover you if you are in a crash.  Click here to learn three things you should know about Oregon's Auto insurance. 

2) For every 1,000 drivers in Oregon 3.16 of them will be arrested for DUII (Driving While Under the Influence of Intoxicants).  This is also a troubling statistic because this is for DUI arrest, not the actual number of DUII drivers.  This statistic is not surprising to me because I regularly represent people that were injured by DUII Drivers.  In case you were curious, North and South Dakota both top the charts for DUII arrest with over 11 DUII arrests for every 1,000 drivers.  

CAUTION THE LANGUAGE IN THE VIDEO MAY BE OFFENSIVE and IS NOT ENDORSED BY ROSS LAW

3) 1.3 people will die in Oregon Roads for every million vehicle miles traveled.  To put it another way, 2 people will die on Oregon Roads after all of the vehicles in Oregon travel a combined 3 million miles.  These wrongful deaths become more frequent as more people move to Oregon and more people drive in Oregon.  As of May 2018, 17 people had died in traffic crashes.  Things are not looking better for the remainder of the year. For example, last week a motorcyclist was killed near the St. Johns Bridge. Almost all of these wrongful deaths are completely preventable if drivers simply obey the rules of the road.  or the 

If you were wondering where the worst drivers are, well here it is.  According to Smartasset the states with the worst drivers are:

1) Mississippi

2) Tennessee

3) California

3) Missouri (Tied with California)

5) New Mexico

5) Texas (Tied with New Mexico)

7) Alabama

8) Florida

9) Alaska

10) Arizona (Tied with Alaska)

Click here to read more about the survey and the methodology they used. Remember if you or someone you know where in an Oregon car crash call Portland Personal Injury Attorney Jeremiah Ross at 503.224.1658.  Ross Law PDX provides free case evaluations for wrongful death and personal injury matters.   Jeremiah Ross also represents people in disputes with their insurance company in uninsured motorist claims, underinsured motorist claims, and personal injury protection benefits claims.  Please note that Jeremiah Ross, and Ross Law PDX, do not have any affiliation with Smartasset, nor have they confirmed any of the statements or statistics are accurate. 

Wrongful Death Suicide Case Featured in Newspaper Article

The Daily Astorian Newspaper recently featured a case where Jeremiah Ross and Ross Law represented the family of a woman who had committed suicide in Astoria, Oregon in a wrongful death action. The article Notes: 

"The family of a woman who jumped off the Astoria Bridge in 2015 has settled a wrongful death claim against Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare over her mental health treatment. The lawsuit alleged the mental health agency was negligent in caring for Carrie Barnhart, 54, who had a history of schizophrenia and depression.  The amount of the settlement is confidential.  Jeremiah Ross, a Portland attorney who represented Barnhart’s family, declined to comment."

Please Drive Safe! 17 People Have Died in Portland Traffic Crashes So Far

This year has been a deadly year on Portland's roads.   According to Oregonlive, as of May, 17 2018 people have died in traffic-related crashes in Portland alone.   Pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users, so far 9 pedestrians have been killed in traffic-related incidents so far.   Motorcyclists are also susceptible to injury or death due to the fact they have minimal protection in a crash.  4 Motorcyclists have been killed in traffic crashes so far.   Three people that were in motorized vehicles have also died in traffic crashes so far.  One cyclist has been killed by a vehicle this year.

These tragic deaths highlight the need for Portland's drivers to remain attentive.  Drivers need to get off of the phone, stay alert, look for pedestrians and cyclists, and slow down.  We all know we need to do this, but the consequences of a driver's "mistake" are tragic. 

If you or someone you know was injured by another driver's negligence call Ross Law LLC.  Portland Personal Injury Attorney Jeremiah Ross represents cyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists and drivers who have been injured in Oregon traffic crashes.  Call Jeremiah Ross at 503.224.1658 for your free case evaluation.   

PUT THE PHONE DOWN! NATIONAL DISTRACTED DRIVING AWARENESS MONTH

It is a no-brainer that people need to put their cell phones down while driving.  However, despite the legal consequences of driving with a mobile device in your hand while driving, people continue to do so.   People also apparently have no issues with the fact that they are putting other drivers, cyclist, and pedestrians in danger if they are texting or using their mobile device while driving. This may explain why the number of traffic injuries and fatalities are on the rise.  In an effort to bring MORE awareness to this issue various agencies have declared April "National Distracted Driving Awareness Month."  Hence, this blog post.

Put the Phone Down and focus on Driving. As a personal injury lawyer, I have to represent too many people injured in an Oregon crash caused by a distracted driver.  There is no excuse for messing with the phone while you are driving.  It puts other lives in danger, and technology has made it absolutely unnecessary.  That is why I have no qualms about seeking punitive damages from a cell phone using defendant that has injured one of my clients. 

If you or someone you know has been injured in a car crash then call Ross Law PDX and Jeremiah Ross.  Oregon Personal Injury Lawyer Jeremiah Ross will provide a free case evaluation.  Call Ross Law PDX at 503.224.1658 to discuss your crash injury case, cyclist injury case, pedestrian injury case, or wrongful death case.  Please remember that this post is for information purposes only.  It is not to be considered legal advice. 

Distracted Driving Kills, But Should We Have a Law Outlawing Eating and Driving?

As a personal injury attorney I am constantly exposed to the gruesome consequences of distracted driving.  My clients are typically injured by someone that is driving and not paying attention.  These injuries can range from bruises, soft tissue and whiplash type of injuries to serious catastrophic injuries that require hospitalization, surgery, and months of rehabilitation.   I never get to meet some clients because they were killed by the negligence of another.

With that said, there is an interesting law being proposed in New Jersey to attempt to outlaw anything that can result in unsafe driving.  I have not seen the text of the bill, but reports note that it is aimed with outlawing a driver from participating in any activity that is unrelated to the safe operation of a motor-vehicle. Lawmakers are attempting to make roads safer by outlawing things like shaving and driving, putting make-up on while driving, watching a movie on a ipad while driving, and all of the various other distracting things people do while driving. Depending on the language of the law, it may be challenged on Constitutional grounds for being over-broad. 

A compilation of teen driver vehicle crashes caused by driver distraction.

In any event, I agree with the spirit of the law, but have concerns about its Constitutionality and the power it may provide law enforcement.  Distracted driving is an issue that needs to be addressed.  An article noted that according to the AAA foundation for Traffic Safety, the three main sources of distracted driving are:  

1) Visual (failing to keep a proper lookout)

2) Manual (taking hands off of the wheel)

3) Cognitive (thinking about something else aside from driving)

Those results are in line with the  personal injury cases I see. The AAA study noted that studying whether or not a person is thinking about something aside from driving is the most difficult thing to study.  This seems  fairly obvious, because it is impossible to see into a person's actual thoughts in real time.  For example, it is difficult to prove a person caused a crash because they were day dreaming. 

At the end of the day what does this mean for Oregon drivers?  The data seems to question whether or not these laws are effective.  However, I am sure more studies will pop out of the wood work affirming the validity of these laws.  

I think everyone will agree that texting and driving is unsafe and should be outlawed even if the empirical data from one particular group does not conclude it is.  Should Oregon Law Makers want to eliminate distracted driving, they can probably look to the current Oregon Revised Statutes that outlaw: texting while driving (ORS 811.507), careless driving (ORS 811.135), and reckless driving (ORS 811.140).  Oregon lawmakers may need to decide whether these laws provide a sufficient deterrent to distracting driving.  

Until the lawmakers address the issue, I will be here to hold distracted drivers accountable for the harms and losses they cause to my clients.   If you or a person you know is injured as a result of distracting driving, please call Portland personal injury attorney Jeremiah Ross at 503.224.1658.   Please call Ross Law LLC today for your free personal injury consultation.  

Tesla's Dangerous Autopilot Feature-Crashes and Recalls

Earlier this week I had written about the dangers of TESLA'S Autopilot feature.  There are allegations that this feature is responsible for causing car crash injuries and deaths throughout the United States.  Yesterday, Consumer Reports made the bold announcement requesting TESLA to disable the autopilot feature until the glitches are worked out.  This would allow TESLA to make the vehicles safer for people on the road.  

As I had stated earlier this week, Consumer Reports agrees that marketing the feature as "autopilot" will lead to driver complacency.  This is due to the fact that the name implies that the driver is not required to do anything.   The sales and marketing of the autopilot feature directly contradicts any warning TESLA may provide consumers.TESLA is denying liability and claims the autopilot feature is safe.  Tesla claims the statistics support their assertion that the autopilot feature is safe. 

If you or someone you know has been injured by an autopilot feature in a TESLA or any other vehicle, please call Jeremiah Ross at 503.224.1658.   Portland Oregon based Ross Law LLC is happy to provide a free consultation to any personal injury or products liability client.