Charley Gee testifies in opposition to HB3119
On Wednesday I testified in opposition to HB3119 in the Transportation Policy Committee of the Oregon House of Representatives. HB3119 would allow the widespread testing of autonomous vehicles on Oregon's roadways. I support autonomous vehicle technology and the safety it will bring to our streets. However, HB3119 is not the right way for Oregon to open the state up for testing. The bill would allow manufacturers to specify where they could operate these vehicles while at
Pedestrian traffic deaths surged in 2015
Pedestrian traffic fatal crashes increased by at least 10% in 2015 and low gas prices are to blame in a report released by the Governors Highway Safety Association. The report finds that distracted driving, distracted walking, and alcohol are also contributors to the increase. Buses also killed a disproportionate number of pedestrians. "In a related issue, the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents city bus drivers, estimates that roughly one pedestrian is killed every 1
Oregon road deaths increased in 2015.
Road deaths in Oregon rose 27 percent in 2015. Experts with the National Safety Council blame Oregon’s continued recession (which has resulted in more miles traveled by people). From Oregonlive: "The economy did a pretty good job of masking the ongoing safety issues on the road," said Ken Kolosh, who heads the National Safety Council's statistics department. "They're becoming more obvious now with the increase in fatalities." The 446 deaths reported in Oregon last year is th
Portland Kaiser Permanente executive gets off easy for hit and run
David Norelius, the COO of Kaiser Permanente Dental Associates, was sentenced to pay a $100 fine and serve two years probation for striking a pedestrian in April of 2015 and then fleeing first in his car and then on foot when his car broke down. He had a suspended license at the time of the collision. After the crash one of Norelius' lawyers contacted the victim and she "said she received a message from a lawyer indicating Norelius was a "person of means" days after the acci
Elon Musk: Cars are death machines
Tesla founder Elon Musk told a recent conference that non-autonomous cars being driven by human beings are "death machines" and that people should not be allowed to control such dangerous machines. Musk also recognized that city driving is the most difficult for his inventions to navigate. "That kind of slow, city driving is the environment that self-driving cars have the most problems with, said Musk. When driving between 15 and 50 miles per hour, cars tend to run into unex
Maclean's: Entitled distracted drivers the most dangerous people on the road
Maclean's had an in depth and informative article on the menace they call more dangerous than drunk drivers: distracted drivers who feel entitled to do what they want behind the wheel. Some choice quotes: "[Cpl. Chris Little has seen] the telltale texter (head down, stopped on a green light) is the least of it. Little, an officer with Strathcona Traffic Services in Strathcona County, Alta., has pulled over drivers brushing their teeth, applying makeup, even reading a novel.
London to require big trucks to have side view windows to avoid collisions with bicycles and pedestr
After eight bicyclists were killed by big commercial trucks in London last year, the city is considering requiring new windows be retrofitted into truck doors to allow drivers to see other road users that may be sitting lower than they are, especially in bicycle lanes. The law being considered is, not surprisingly, controversial. Commercial truck operations, no matter where they are, have always resisted safety measures. Charley Gee is a Portland personal injury attorney. He
How insurers use driver monitoring devices
Claims Journal has a interesting explanation on how the new technology of driver monitoring devices (the little computers that plug into your car and record your every move) assist in adjusting car crash cases. "As an example, when an accident happens, the information is transmitted back to LexisNexis. The information is then used as a first notice of loss (FNOL). A message alerts the carrier of the insured’s accident. The carrier can then reach out to the insured and send he
Seattle to add warning signals for bus drivers
Seattle is installing "blind spot" alarms on their buses that will alert bus drivers that a pedestrian is in their "blind spot". I put blind spot in quotation marks because on a commercial vehicle, or any vehicle, there should never be an area that the driver cannot see. If there is, then the vehicle is designed or equipped negligently. Buses and trucks frequently hit pedestrians and bicyclists when turning because they fail to see the smaller roadway user. The types of ala
French Road Safety Ad Shows How Lives Are Shattered Due to Dangerous Drivers
French advertising agency La Chose Group released a new commercial they created for the DSCR (France's road safety agency the Road Circulation Security Delegation). The ad, called Shockwave, is a terrifying reminder that behind every collision caused by inattentive, distracted, or unsafe drivers, is a trail of shattered dreams and hearts as the victims' loved ones cope with the catastrophic repercussions. The ad ends "behind the victims of a car crash are victims of life. R
