Oregon Injury Attorney Blog

The Oregonian reports that a safety sweep of 245 commercial trucks entering Oregon resulted in removal of 37 trucks and 40 drivers for "critical safety violations" for the trucks, and other safety violations involving the drivers. If this were a valid sample of all the trucks in Oregon, you could say that about 15% of commercial trucks in Oregon have some "critical safety" problem. That is alarming. Even more frightening is the fact that three of truck drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.

This week, the US Department of Transportation is hosting a conference to discuss the growing problem of distracted drivers. The trucking industry is fighting to keep in cab computer use out of any regulations. The trucking lobby's argument is that the screens are bigger, and the trucker pulls over to use the computer. My favorite quote in the article comes from a trucker, an honest trucker:

“We’re supposed to pull over, but nobody ever does.”

Other Links

Federal Highway Commission Truck Safety Research

Truck Safety Coalition

Public Citizen Auto Safety Campaign

The Daily Astorian recently reported on the multi-car collision in Clatskanie that sent one driver to the hospital in critical condition. The collision may have been caused by a motorist who was swerving to miss a deer. The Oregon State Police issued a press statement giving motorists tips on dealing with animals in the road:

• Stay Alert. Avoid driving with other distractions.

• Slow Down to increase your reaction time.

• Scan Ahead and watch for movement along roadsides.

• Look for more animals after you see one animal - they often travel in groups.

• Brake. Don'ts Swerve.

• Be ready for animals to change direction.

• Be watchful and obey traffic signs, including wildlife warning and speed limit signs.

At night:

• Watch for shining eyes.

• Use high beams to improve visibility when there's no oncoming traffic.

• Slow down on blind curves.

• Pass with care.

If you hit an animal:

• If you cannot stop in time, it is usually safer to hit the animal than to swerve. Swerving may land you in the path of another car or off the road in a ditch.

• Pull over and call the Oregon State Police or 9-1-1 to report the accident.

As we know, there's a health care reform debate raging in Washington, D.C. Along with it comes a lot of information, some true, some not. Everybody agrees on one thing: there is a problem, and something has to happen.

My clients often deal with access to care issues. It's less and less that a client comes in to see me with the option of getting care through a private health plan. We've had more than one experience where a disabled client seeking Social Security disability benefits is more concerned about Medicare coverage than the actual disability benefit itself. To say that these issues sometimes involve issues of life and death is no overstatement.

Reuters recently reported on a study that concluded 45,000 people die each year in part because they do not have health insurance that would provide access to proper care. This is more than drunk driving deaths and homicide combined.

A few interesting trends: It's getting worse. The article cites an older study showing an increase in the number of uninsured Americans. Also, there is less access. In larger cities, public hospitals and clinics are shutting doors are limiting available services.

Check out this NPR story about a medical "camp," and the number of people who showed up looking for care care.

This comes up a lot during the initial consultation with my clients.

Social Security Disability Insurance, also called "DIB" is a disability insurance benefit. You earn this benefit through wage withholdings paid to the government. Those withholdings are like insurance premiums. If you pay enough premiums over the required length of time, then you are "insured" for disability. Your benefit is then calculated based on your prior earnings.

Supplemental Security Income, or "SSI" is a disbility benefit, but it is also based on financial need. A SSI applicant must prove disability, but also must meet income and resource thresholds.

Resources refers to things you own. If you have too much "stuff," you are not qualified. I think the reasoning is that SSI is a benefit of last resort, and if you really need to, you can sell off your assets to subsist. Some things are excluded when counting resources, like a house, household goods and a car used to go to doctor appointments.

Income is just that, income. Depending upon your circumstances, Social Security will offset your income against the set SSI benefit rate. There are a lot of rules and policies that apply to how this offset is calculated. Also, it's handled at your local Branch Office.

Many of my clients will have "concurrent" claims, which means that they are appealing denials of SSI and Disability Insurance benefit applications.

Here's some helpful links to the SSA website:

Understanding SSI

Getting Social Security Disability Benefits

The Oregon State Police released some statistics on traffic fatalities over the Labor Day Weekend. For only the third time since 1970, only one person lost their life on Oregon highways this holiday weekend. This is a sharp decline from the 11 deaths that occurred one year ago. There were also less drunk driving arrests. Last year, police arrested 87 people on suspicion of DUII, and this year, 72.

It's hard to know if these numbers show any trends. It may be the silver lining to higher fuel prices or the recession. Certainly, drunk driving arrests are down, especially with increased enforcement. Still, many are calling for a second look at the DUII laws.

Other Relevant Links:

Governors Highway Association

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety article