With gas prices topping $4 a gallon, which are predicted to rise to $7-10 in two years, it’s a equally good bet that we will see more rickshaw passenger accidents in the state of Oregon. While Portland is certainly a bike friendly town the rickshaws we now see on downtown streets will face the inevitable of getting in car accident. The rickshaw passenger will equally face unknown challenges of this newest Oregon transportation form of bicycle travel.

Most rickshaws in Portland are being used to ferry tourists. Any tourist injured in a rickshaw car accident in the state of Oregon will soon find that there likely is no pip (Personal Injury Protection) on the rickshaw to pay their medical bills such as is the case with being a passenger in a cab or while being ferried on a bus.

A rickshaw is a form of common carrier transportation so the best bet it that your own pip would pay your medical bills and of course money can be gotten from the at fault car insurer.

You certainly can get a money settlement if you are thrown from the open bed of a pickup truck in Oregon and Washington. You can get money for pain and medical bills even if you are not wearing a seat belt. Current Oregon law dings you 5% on an injury claim if you are not belted in as required by Oregon law.

The 5% ding penalty for not wearing a seat belt won’t apply if there was not a seat belt available for you to wear. Serious injury like a head injury, broken leg and/or broken arm can occur if you as a passenger are thrown from a pickup or truck bed in Oregon or Washington.

The Columbia Gorge is renown worldwide for windsurfing because of the high winds. The Columbia Gorge wind can be particularly high which can cause injury. Businesses can be held accountable for money damages if someone is injured and the business had prior notice of the high wind and failed to take adequate and reasonable precaution.

One wind injury case we currently have is of a client who was going through a revolving door at a hotel near the Portland Airport. PDX Airport has many hotels along the Columbia River Floodplain and each year gets great gusts of wind.

Revolving doors do not particularly go with high winds. Most hotels will close off revolving doors during peak high wind times. This client was going through the revolving door of a hotel during high winds when multiple window panes dislodged from the moving doors causing her to be injured. We expect a court settlement for approximately $22,000 because the hotel failed in its duty to prevent harm to her as a patron of its business.

High winds can break glass and cause serious injury. So on any high wind injury case its best (in my opinion) to get the background research complied by a skilled injury lawyer who knows this area of negligence law.