If you are injured and the adverse driver is an under aged adult in the state of Oregon or Washington a good injury lawyer would investigate. The reason they would investigate is to see whether there are any special laws dealing with the youth driver is required to have an older passenger. In Oregon, drivers 16 years of age must have an adult passenger in certain situation and during certain times.

I just read in the NY Times that motor vehicle accidents with under age drivers are on the decline. Perhaps this is because of the state legislatures’ move nationwide to restrict young driver in their driving before age 18. In Oregon driving restrictions do apply and even common law tort law may be involved since parents are always responsible for the torts of their children.

From my experience in handling injury cases- probably thousands over the last 16 years- I believe that underage driver do cause more accidents and they are usually more serious high impact accidents than adults. In the end a proper investigation as to whether the driver was driving up to the bar required by law will be important to maximize the recovery you may get since it would turn into an aggravated liability case if the underage driver violated the law when driving.

If a workplace injury involves death or serious injury in Oregon and Washington an investigation should be made early on to figure out whether a third party independent injury claim for money damages can be brought in face of the current prohibition against bringing a claim against the employer because of workers compensation and labor and industries prohibitions.

Injuries at workplaces like construction sites can be serious- death, broken arms, broken legs, broken backs, crush injuries. Current law in Oregon and Washington does not allow employer suits by employees as this was set in place by the legislature when the workers compensation statutes were signed into law. An experienced injury lawyer can by a factual investigation determine if a money damage claim can be brought all the while the injured party could still get paid their benefits under the workers compensation system.

On job injuries or death estate claims can be brought even if the injured/deceased party was on the job if the at fault party is someone other than the employers like a co-worker, contractor, general contractor or any other third party.

Cell phone use and texting messages while driving is leading to more serious car accidents nationwide and in Oregon state and Washington state.

Recent improvements and the spread of electronics like cell phones, text messaging, car DVD players and computer keyboards and printers in cars are leading to more car accidents nationwide. In my case load I certainly see the trend of these electronics making their way into automobiles. Driver use of electronics is certainly causing more accidents and a good car accident injury lawyer will do the leg work to assure that he gets all the evidence to prove his negligence case if the car crash involves cell phones or other electronic devices. These devices can distract drivers from paying attention to the road conditions and other drivers.

It is important for an injury lawyer to find out if the at fault driver was using a cell phone while driving. This is because a jury will usually award money damages for pain and suffering if it can be demonstrated that the at fault driver was callus enough to risk other’s health and welfare by driving and using pda devices like cell phones and text messaging. I just read an excellent article about this increasing problem in the February 12th, 2008 edition of the NY Times called “High-tech Invitations Take Your Mind Off Road.” The Times reports the NHTSA is finding that 80% of car crashes and up to 65% of near car accidents are caused in some measure by driver distraction.

In handling air bag cases and serious injury head on crash cases I see a trend that perhaps auto manufactures might be held liable for crashes involving modification they make to cars to help drivers use the pda devices while driving. I can also foresee punitive damages and more successful liability claims against drivers who drive and talk on their cell phones, use pdas while driving, laptops or use other electronics like GPS systems to help them navigate.