Major Trucking and Motor Vehicle Collisions

Mt. Hood Beverage Company. A 12-year-old girl was killed by a licensed commercial driver working for Mt. Hood Beverage Company. The truck driver and his passenger, who were employees of the beverage company, were making a beer delivery, when they slammed into the child walking alongside the road. The two employees fled the scene. They covered up their involvement and claimed they had hit a deer, glued deer hair to the damaged vehicle, and tried to buy parts to repair the van from a local wrecking yard. Plaintiff mother alleged the driver and his employer had failed to comply with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR). The claim settled before trial for $2.2 million.

U-Haul Moving Truck. An Oregon man was crushed and his leg nearly severed when a U-Haul moving truck surged forward and pinned him against the bumper of his car. Prior to this catastrophic injury, U-Haul customers had reported that the truck did not operate properly and that it was subject to surging forward. Extensive document discovery, investigation, and engineering evaluation by Plaintiff's experts indicated that the automatic transmission in the U-Haul truck had a defect which can cause a sudden forward acceleration. The case was complicated by the Defendant's destruction of the truck's transmission after Plaintiff suffered injuries, and by Defendant's attempt to avoid discovery of documents, for which the court imposed sanctions.

American Red Ball Transit Co. Tractor-Trailer. A family of four was driving home at night on Highway 38 after visiting family over the Thanksgiving weekend. The father stopped the car when they came upon landslide debris covering both lanes of the roadway. He began to back the car in order to turn around, when Defendant's on-coming tractor-trailer bounced through the landslide debris and veered into the family's lane. The truck struck the family's car and drove it spinning backwards, off the road, and over the bank into the Umpqua River. The mother and two children were drowned. The claims were settled for $1.5 million.

RV Collision: Wrongful Death. Our firm prosecuted a claim on behalf of the editor-in-chief of the San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune, his wife, and their daughter, who were killed when a 30-foot Ultra motor home left its eastbound lane on SR 46, east of San Luis Obispo, California. The motor home crossed the double yellow dividing lines, two westbound lanes, and crashed into the family's Volvo sedan. A policy limit settlement was reached having a total present value of $1.3 million.

Uninsured Motorist.  The firm obtained a policy-limits settlement for a man who was injured when a car driven by an uninsured motorist ran a stoplight and broadsided another car. Rescue workers labored fifteen minutes to extricate the man from the wreckage. He suffered a severe pelvic fracture and internal injuries, including a ruptured bladder and separation of the urethra, resulting in permanent partial sexual dysfunction.

Eugene Chemical Works Truck. A Eugene Chemical Works truck driving east on Highway 58 near Pleasant Hill crashed into the rear of a car and pushed it into the oncoming lane, where it was struck by an oncoming vehicle. Our client suffered partial paralysis, requiring a wheelchair and regular nursing or attendant care. A medical expert prepared a life care plan for trial, detailing future medical and nursing needs and expenses. A home economist prepared an analysis of the additional economic loss from her inability to perform the routine chores around her rural home. The claim was settled for $1.925 million.

WDI Co. of Oregon, Inc., Tractor/Semi-Trailer. A young college student was killed when his vehicle was struck head-on by a long-haul diesel semi. The truck driver had fallen asleep, permitting his truck to veer across the centerline of Highway 58. Our investigation indicated that the truck driver was guilty of over driving and had falsified his driver's log showing the number of hours worked before the collision. The driver had also previously been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and was not medically qualified to drive the truck. The case was settled for $850,000.

Rose Logging, Inc., Log Truck. A sixty-foot-long loaded log truck illegally parked in a center turn lane obstructed the view of other drivers, causing a motorcyclist to be struck by a turning car. Neither driver could see the other until it was too late to avoid the collision. The motorcyclist suffered severe injuries to his leg. After a week-long trial, the jury assessed damages against the trucking company in the amount of $561,467.85.

Ron's Oil Co., Tanker Truck. When a tanker truck crossed the center line, crashed into a woman's pickup and rolled into a coastal stream, investigators from two police agencies, DEQ, EPA, and a federal HAZMAT team converged on the scene. We worked with the law enforcement agencies to reconstruct how the tanker truck collided with the pickup. Based on the accident reconstruction, analysis of physical evidence at the scene, and close inspection of the pickup stored at our warehouse, the District Attorney indicted the driver for criminally negligent homicide. The driver plead guilty, and the civil case settled for a confidential amount.

Emerald Express, Tractor-Trailer. A ten-year-old girl died when a loaded tractor-trailer tipped over on a curve and slid across the highway, head-on into the oncoming car. Our investigation indicated that the truck driver kept two sets of logs in order to drive more hours than the law permitted. Experts in the fields of accident reconstruction, professional truck driving, and truck fleet maintenance analyzed the logs, the physical evidence, and the lack of supervision by the employer truck company. Discovered documents showed that the trucking company had prior knowledge of misconduct that contributed to the preventable collision. The case settled after depositions.

Emery Trucking. As an Emery Trucking rig drove south on I-5, one of its wheels broke off its axle and careened across the freeway, striking a mother of three. She suffered a head injury with severe brain and spinal cord damage. Several experts analyzed why the wheel broke. They included a metallurgist, an engineer, and a former fleet manager with expertise in truck maintenance. These experts determined that the wheel had not been properly inspected and maintained and had cracked from fastener to fastener, leaving only the center plate of the wheel attached to the trailer axle as the rim flew off. The claims settled for a confidential amount.

Field Burning:  Multiple Collisions on I-5. The Court appointed our firm to serve as lead counsel regarding all claims   involving over 40 vehicles arising from field burning related collisions on Interstate 5 south of Albany, Oregon. There were seven deaths and many individual claimants. All cases ultimately settled through a coordinated settlement process in state and federal courts.

Cosco Child Car Seat: Quadriplegia. A family was driving over a Cascade mountain pass, with their three-year-old restrained in a "booster" seat child restraint. An oncoming car lost control in the volcanic grit left by the highway crews, crossed the center line, and struck the family car nearly head-on. The child suffered an injury of the spinal cord near the top of her neck, which caused her to be permanently paralyzed below the head. The adverse driver settled for her $2 million liability insurance policy limits. Working with another law firm, we then brought a claim against the child car seat manufacturer and retailer, which settled for a confidential amount.

Agency/Negligent Entrustment. A woman was attending a garden show in Grants Pass at the Josephine County Fairgrounds, when she was struck and run over by a John Deere utility tractor. The tractor driver was uninsured. We prosecuted an action against the driver, as well as the vendor of the tractor who had a booth at the garden show. The central issue was whether the vendor was liable for the driver's conduct under agency or negligent entrustment principles. Through an exhaustive investigation of attendees at the garden show, we established facts supporting the agency case and won a summary judgment motion on those issues. The claim settled through mediation.

Wrestlers Injured, Killed: Van Hits Defective Guardrail. Injuries and deaths of University of Oregon wrestling team members occurred when their van went through a defective guardrail in the state of Washington. Issues involved human factors, highway design, safety engineering, and other fields. All cases were settled.

Southern Pacific Railroad Crossing Collision: Wrongful Death. Wrongful death claims resulting from a railroad crossing collision involved issues of railroad practices, complex legal issues regarding federal preemption, and human factors.

Payne Transport Company. This case involved claims for wrongful death of four passengers who died when their auto was struck by a truck. The case settled after two weeks of trial. The case was tried with Edward Moriarty of Jackson, Wyoming, as a result of an order consolidating the cases for trial. We represented an adult passenger.

White Top Transport. Major personal injury action on behalf of tow truck driver struck by White Top Transport truck at a highway construction site. Complex reconstruction, medical, and federal regulatory issues. The case settled for a confidential amount.

AJAX, Inc. Trucking Rig. An AJAX, Inc. truck ran into a construction zone at high speed, striking a pickup truck that was stopped in accordance with a flagger's instructions. The driver of the pickup truck was killed. The case settled for a confidential amount.

Manson Milk Transport Tanker Truck; Dari Gold. We represented a mother and two children struck at highway speeds by a milk transport truck. The case involved complex issues relating to control over Oregon-based trucking corporation. One child suffered severe traumatic brain injuries, with medical issues involving neurology, neurosurgery, psychiatry, psychology, and neuropsychology. The case settled for a confidential amount.