Drunk Driving and DUI

This is a real story about one of our real drunk driving accident clients.  All names of individuals have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty alike.  But names of insurance companies are real, and the details of what happened have not been changed.

“Matt” was driving in front of a friend in SE Portland when he stopped behind a line of cars at a red light. His friend, “Brittany,” stopped behind him – he was leading her toward his new house – and then she was rear-ended and her car was pushed into his car!

The driver who rear-ended Brittany was a drunk driver. In fact, Matt and Brittany learned later from the police that this was his third drunk driving offense (making it a federal crime) and that his alcohol blood level was .36! Obviously he was charged with DUI.

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This is a real story about one of our law firm’s real drunk driving accident clients.  All names of individuals have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty alike.  But names of insurance companies are real, and the details of what happened have not been changed.

“Arnold” was driving near Salem when a drunk driver veered into his lane. Arnold attempted to avoid the driver, but was hit on the driver’s side at about 60 mph. After the impact, which sent the drunk driver’s vehicle up into the air, Arnold was shaky and weak. He went to the ER the next day for extreme pain in his shoulder and leg.

The man who hit Arnold was cited by the police on several charges: DUI, hit and run, reckless driving, and reckless endangerment.

Arnold sought legal guidance for several reasons, including ongoing pain and the desire for wage loss compensation. He had been training for a new job at the time of the accident – a job he was not able to continue due to pain after the accident.

By the time Arnold found our firm online, he was having trouble sitting or standing for long periods of time. He was not able to walk around for longer than a few minutes, and was having trouble sleeping. The first thing we did for Arnold was get him a recommendation for a good medical provider in his area to continue needed treatments.

Despite ongoing pain, Progressive attempted to settle Arnold’s case very soon after the accident for $3,000. This, according to attorney Sean DuBois, is not nearly enough for the injuries, pain, and suffering of this client.

Shulman DuBois LLC is currently working with Arnold through his medical treatment, and then will be speaking to Progressive about a more reasonable settlement.

All traffic accidents are regrettable under any circumstances and even more so when someone gets injured. Thousands of Oregon drivers are unfortunate enough to be injured every year, and hundreds are killed in accidents that are caused by everything from poor road conditions and appalling weather to medical conditions or texting while driving. However, Portland personal injury lawyers for victims of drunk drivers feel very strongly that driving while under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) is perhaps the most negligent act any driver can take. Portland law enforcement agencies are also clamping down on those people who think it’s all right to drink, do drugs, or both, and then get behind the wheel.

Many people think that if they are tested for DUII and their blood alcohol level is under the legal limit of .08%, then they haven’t got a case to answer. More and more, however, Portland police are looking at the circumstances under which drivers can be charged with DUII. In the case of a 47-year-old Portland man who registered a blood alcohol content of .07%, he went to court to fight his DUII charge. The police were able to testify that they had witnessed the man continuously swerve into the oncoming traffic lane and that the man in question failed all three field sobriety tests. After a two-day trial in Multnomah County Circuit Court late last year, the jury quickly and unanimously found the driver guilty of DUII. Read the rest »

It’s not just cars that have shock absorbers. The human body has built-in shock absorbers in the form of cartilage, located throughout the body to protect bones and joints from wear and tear. The bones of the spine are stacked one on top of the other, and each joint is held together with small ligaments. The cartilage between each of these joints is what makes the back flexible. Without them, the spinal cord would be fused, and it wouldn’t be possible to bend, reach up, run, climb or twist in any of the motions that we use to swim, throw a ball, dance, or any one of a thousand things we do every day. In the spinal cord area, these pieces of cartilage between the various vertebrae are called discs, and Portland personal injury attorneys know that a bulging disc, particularly in the lower back area, is a common occurrence after a rear-impact car accident.

 What is a bulging disc?

When a piece of cartilage in the back is protruding either to the side of the spinal cord, or backwards, the injury is referred to as a bulging disc. While this type of injury is more commonly found in the lower back, they can also occur, quite painfully, in the neck, particularly in cases where the victim has suffered whiplash. People who have been injured in a car or motorcycle accident, or those who have fallen awkwardly, would be vulnerable to this type of spinal cord damage.

How do bulging disks occur during accidents?

The lower back is normally shaped in a smooth S-curve. When the body is involved in sudden and violent deceleration, such as frequently happens in car accidents, the spine is flexed forward and tremendous stress is placed along the lower spine in particular. Wearing a seat belt actually does little to prevent this type of injury (but Portland personal injury attorneys advise to always, always wear one when traveling in any vehicle), because when the body is forced forward, it pivots on the seat belt, adding abnormal force against the spine. When the cartilage can’t withstand the pressure, it pops out of place. In such cases, the injury is often referred to as a slipped disc.

Bulging Disc Symptoms

There are major differences between a slipped or bulging disc and a back muscle strain, even though the symptoms may start out the same. Both are exceptionally painful, and the sufferer will experience decreased mobility. Where a slipped disc is involved, the patient will often feel sharp or shooting pains that travel down from the back into the leg, perhaps all the way down to the ankle and foot. They may also feel a sense of numbness in a lower limb, or a sense of weakness. In most cases, a medical practitioner will advise bed rest and an analgesic. If these are successful in making the pain go away, then it’s extremely likely that a slipped disc is not the culprit. If, however, symptoms persist or worsen, a closer investigation will be required.

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At a chemical and biological level, alcohol is a depressant. Many people are confused by this statement, because they often experience a “high” after they have been drinking and feel the effects. Alcohol provides this “high” because it has depressed those other parts of the brain that keep us in balance: the rational and logical parts of our brains so that our common-sense, caution, and fear are suppressed, along with our spatial and coordination faculties. All of these affects on our brains can negatively influence our ability to drive safely.

There is a well-established and known risk of alcohol impairing driving skill, which is of course why there are drink-driving laws. When a person affected by alcohol ignores the reality of their condition, and chooses to drive anyway, the public is at greater risk than is reasonable. And as such, the law provides for legal action for accidents that results in personal injury or property damage caused by a drunk driver.

Law pertaining to the sale and supply of alcohol and alcohol related offences is state-based, which is why there are differing bar-open times in the various states, different sales tax regimes and varying drink-driving blood alcohol limits between the states.

Oregon laws for driving under the influence of intoxicants can be found in both Statute and Common Law.
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According to the Oregon State Police troopers on Tuesday, three people died during the 2011 Labor Day weekend. Historically, at least since 1970 when they began keeping track, the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) has found that an average of 7 people die in drunk driving related accident son this weekend every year.

Labor Day weekend in the second deadliest holiday weekend of the year, with the 4^th of July weekend coming in first. Because of the holiday, more people drive while impaired by alcohol and this causes reckless driving, serious accidents, and sometimes fatal crashes.

We would first like to applaud the Oregon State Troopers for their dedication to preventing drunk driving accident this year – which likely contributed to the low number of deaths from DUII. Second, we would like to offer our condolences to everyone who lost a loved one this past weekend. One of the alcohol-related crashes involved a motorcycle, and one involved a truck.

There were also several arrests made, as alcohol consumption rises on the holiday weekends and the law enforcement agencies work to keep us safe on the roads.

According to the OSP’s “Preliminary Post-Labor Day Holiday Weekend Statistics” there were 70 DUII arrests, with the highest numbers in the cities listed below:

Central Point Area Command – 9
Portland Area Command – 8
Springfield Area Command – 7
Salem Area Command – 5
Bend Area Command – 5
Klamath Falls Area Command – 5
Albany Area Command – 4
The Dalles Area Command – 3
Coos Bay Area Command – 3
St. Helens Work Site – 3

If you were injured in a drunk driving accident this past weekend, you should start trying to learn about your legal options. Hiring an attorney might be helpful, but at the very least you should consider learning more about Dram Shop notices, statutes of limitations, and working with car insurance adjusters to get all your damages compensated.