Accident Lawyer

Date: July 31, 2009
Location: Interstate 5, milepost 230, near Eugene
Names: Beatriz Mendoza Olvera, Jay Burris, Paul Peterson, Jon Silbernagel

Oregonlive.com reports an accident in which three men saved  a driver from drowning after she drove her car into shallow water.

The accident happened at approximately 7 AM when driver Beatriz Mendoza Olvera, 44, of Milwaukie was driving south on Interstate 5 near milepost 230. She accelerated and struck the back of a semi-trailer, then slid into the center median, continuing for hundreds of feet before driving over a 40-foot embankment and landing upside down in Oak Creek. Oregon State Police report that three men, Jay Burris, Paul Peterson and Jon Silbernagel stopped their vehicles to rescue Olvera. She was taken to Corvallis Hospital for injuries and cited for not using a seatbelt and driving without a license. The driver of the semi, Jason K. Beck, 37, of St. Helens was uninjured.

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Date: June 28, 2009
Location: I-5, near Salem
Names: Azucona Garza, Jose Zendejas

31-year-old Azucona Garza of Salem was taken into custody yesterday on charges of assault, reckless driving and driving under the influence of intoxicants.

Garza is accused of hitting another vehicle with her van on Sunday, causing the vehicle to roll across Interstate 5. The car’s occupant has been identified as Jose Zendejas, 26, of Salem. He is in critical condition. After striking the car, Garza fled on foot. The unoccupied van was then hit by another vehicle.
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Date: June 21, 2009
Location: Hanley Road and Oregon 238
Type: Car Accident
Outcome: Five injuries, two serious, three minor
Names: Kenneth Chandler, Jordan Chandler, Richard Mace, Daile Prettyman, Jake Ramos, Robert Thompson

A head-on crash involving a 1928 Ford Model A injured five people this Saturday near the intersection of Hanley Road and Oregon 238.
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Date: May 31, 2009
Location: Northwest Lower River Road, Vancouver, WA
Type: Car Accident
Outcome: 1 Minor Injury
Names: Andrey Runov, Clarissa Kemrer, Kelly Ehrich

Vancouver woman Kelly Ehrich, 33, had to be transported by ambulance to Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital last night after a three-vehicle crash on Northwest Lower River Road. According to The Oregonian, the crash happened when 24-year-old Andrey Runov of Portland, headed southbound, attempted to pass a car driven by Clarissa Kemrer in a no-passing zone entering a blind S-curve. Runov slammed into Ehrich’s northbound vehicle, forcing it off the roadway. Runov then collided with Kemrer’s vehicle, pushing it off the road on the west side and causing it to roll over. Vancouver police reported that Runov was driving above the 45 mph speed limit.
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Date: May 25, 2009
Location: Northwest Wilson River Highway and Gales Creek Road, Gales Creek, OR
Type:  Car Accident
Outcome: 8 Minor Injuries
Names: Heidi Fuiten, Robert Lee Graves, Yareli Venegas, Jesus Velazquez, Kasandra Ducan

Eight people were injured in a three-car crash on the Wilson River Highway on Monday evening. According to The Oregonian, Heidi M. Fuiten, 47, was attempting to turn left on to Gales Creek Road while headed west on the Wilson River Highway when she was rear-ended by 19-year-old Robert Lee Graves in a 2008 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. The force of the collision sent Fuiten’s BMW convertible into oncoming traffic, where Jesus Velazquez, who was driving east in a Ford Expedition SUV, crashed into Fuiten head-on.
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Date: May 15, 2009
Location: Highway 126E, Blue River, OR
Type:  Car Accident
Outcome: One death, one major injury
Names: Laura Olson, Morgan Teeter

Morgan Teeter, 16, continues to recover at a Portland hospital after surviving a brutal car crash last week that killed her good friend and classmate, Lauren Olson.  According to The Oregonian, Teeter has already undergone three surgeries since the crash on Friday. Fortunately, she has been moved out of the intensive care unit and her condition seems to be steadily improving.

Both families continue to be in our thoughts and prayers.  We wish the very best for Morgan, and hope that she makes a full and quick recovery.

The Oregonian reported that students at Reynolds High School have organized a “Morgan Teeter Hospital Fund” to collect donations from community members in order to pay for Teeter’s hospital expenses. It is extremely heartening to see the community rallying together to support Morgan Teeter and her family at a time like this.

But what the Reynolds students — and the Teeter family — may not know is that Teeter’s hospital and medical bills should be paid for by automobile insurance.  There are many different possibilities for coverage: if Morgan Teeter herself has auto insurance, her PIP should pay for the first $15,000 of medical bills. Olson’s PIP may cover $15,000. Their parents’ insurance policies may provide some coverage; Olson’s liability insurance, Teeter’s UIM coverage, and their parents’ liability and UIM policies could all come into play.  And as if that weren’t enough, there are traps for the unwary in using medical coverage to pay for treatment from vehicle collisions.

Obviously, all these insurance policies can get complicated and confusing.  The Teeter family may best be served by consulting a good personal injury lawyer, who will know how to read each policy and can help the Teeters figure out what is the best course of action to get Morgan’s medical bills covered.

At Shulman DuBois, we read our clients’ insurance policies.  If the Teeter family or the Olson family decide to hire a personal injury attorney, they should be sure to ask whether any prospective lawyer they interview will actually read their policies.  You would be surprised how few lawyers do this.  In a case like this, where medical bills are sure to be astronomical, and every dollar of insurance coverage is key, it will be especially important to have a lawyer who will get into the nitty gritty details of the insurance policies and who will be able to find every possible dollar of insurance company money.