Careless Drivers Face Stiffer Penalties with Vulnerable Vehicles
This recent OPB story shows how a tragedy can sometimes result in preventing future harm to other Oregon motorists. We've all driven through rural parts of the state where a tractor or other heavy piece of equipment needs to use the road to get from here to there. It slows traffic, and is a bit inconvenient, but farmers have a job to do, and we eat the food they provide, so we oblige. Some motorists do not, and there is a provision in the traffic code that stiffens penalties for careless drivers involved in collisions with "vulnerable road users." Like many terms in statutes, this one has its own definition. In this case, the definition applied only to those vehicles "without an enclosed shell."
Nathan Gourley was delivering hay in a hay stacker vehicle when a careless driver struck his vehicle, killing the young Gourley. Because the cab of the hay stacker was enclosed, the stiffer penalties did not apply. Now, because of his parent's advocacy in the Oregon Legislature, the law extends to all vulnerable vehicles.
