Oregon’s roads can be treacherous in the fall and winter months. Whether you are driving along the overcast coast with its slick roads or in the mountains and high desert on snowy roads, Oregon’s roadway hazards are as high as its accident rates in the fall and winter. Reduced visibility and dangerous driving conditions are primarily to blame for the spike in auto accidents and auto accident injuries this time of year. Oregonian drivers need to be especially careful commuting and traveling during the colder months and their short days.
Dwyer Williams Cherkoss PC recently settled a personal injury claim stemming from a complicated multiple-vehicle car accident. This accident occurred on a day when it had been raining heavily. There were puddles of water all over on the roadway where this accident occurred. A man driving an east-bound vehicle lost control of his car after skidding in the standing water. He rolled several times before his car came to rest in the westbound lane, blocking traffic in that direction. At the same time as the driver of an east-bound motor home stopped to ask the first driver if he needed assistance, a third driver came around a bend in the road, saw the blocked lanes, and quickly swerved in an attempt to avoid hitting either of these vehicles. Despite swerving, this third driver was unable to completely avoid the collision. She drove into the side of the motor home before her pickup truck came to rest in the opposite lane of traffic. She was sitting in her car, stunned by the accident, when she was rear-ended by a fourth vehicle.
Not surprisingly, this driver was seriously injured by the two moments of impact. In the first moment of impact, her forehead struck the steering wheel and she was knocked out. In the second moment of impact, when she was struck from behind, her head flung backward and smashed out the rear window. Ambulances transported her to the nearest Emergency Room where she received treatment for her accident-related injuries, but on the way she slipped into unconsciousness several times.
This driver was diagnosed with chronic neck pain, persistent headaches, and nerve damage to her hands. There were many insurance companies involved in this multiple-car collision and all argued about which impact caused which of this driver’s injuries while individually denying liability for her injuries. The driver’s own car insurance claimed that her carpal tunnel injury could not have been caused by the accidents. She contacted Dwyer Williams Cherkoss PC because she knew that she needed the counsel and guidance of an experienced and competent Oregon auto accident injury lawyer.
After carefully reviewing our client’s medical records we agreed to have our client undergo an independent medical examination (IME) requested by her insurance company. The physician who examined her during the IME determined that the carpal tunnel syndrome was a direct result of this multiple-car accident and the two moments of impact that our client experienced. This physician further recommended that our client have immediate carpal tunnel surgery on one of her wrists but unfortunately, by this time, our client’s medical benefits through her own insurance had been fully paid out.
Dwyer Williams Cherkoss PC successfully negotiated a policy limits settlement with one of the involved insurance companies that covered our client’s accident-related medical injuries including the recommended future carpal tunnel surgery. We simultaneously convinced our client’s insurance company to waive its right to Personal Injury Protection (PIP) reimbursement. Our client was thrilled with the final settlement offer that we were able to secure for her and with her selection of Dwyer Williams Cherkoss in this complicated auto accident injury claim.