PREVENTABLE AUTOMOBILE CRASHES AREN’T “ACCIDENTS”
The Oregon Driver Manual (2014-2015 edition) says, regarding “accidents”:
The common term for crashes, wrecks, and collisions is “accidents.” However, the word “accident” is misleading. If you crash because you were distracted, tired, or not driving defensively, it is a preventable crash, not an accident. Because true accidents are rare, this manual generally uses the words crash, collision, or wreck.
We at Schauermann Thayer Jacobs Staples & Edwards PS couldn’t agree more. As trial lawyers who represent victims of preventable automobile crashes, we make it a point to try to always remember to “call it like it is”, especially when arguing our clients’ cases to juries and arbitrators.
If a driver chose to pick up his or her cell phone and look at a text while he or she was driving an automobile, and rear-ended the car ahead, that was not an “accident”, that was a “choice” that led to a preventable crash.
If a driver chose to keep driving when the first warning signs of drowsiness began to show while he or she was driving an automobile and crossed the centerline and hurt or killed innocent victims in another vehicle, that was not an “accident”, that was a “choice” that led to a preventable crash and tragic outcome.
Beyond cell phone use, driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs, and driving fatigued, there are many types of less obvious behavior that must be avoided to prevent highway injuries and deaths, like eating, drinking, smoking, applying makeup, driving with defective equipment. etc. In the many years we have represented victims of highway negligence at Schauermann Thayer Jacobs Staples & Edwards PS, we have pretty much seen it all.
When behind the wheel of a car, we all have one primary responsibility – to drive.
Anyone who allows themselves to be distracted from that primary responsibility is unnecessarily putting the lives and safety of others at risk. Anyone who does that has to accept that they will be held accountable for their negligence in doing so.
About the Author
William K. Thayer
Bill Thayer is one of the founding partners of the Schauermann Thayer Jacobs Staples & Edwards law firm. Bill is licensed in both Oregon and Washington, and actively practiced law from 1980 to 2021. He is now "of counsel" with Schauermann Thayer and serves as an arbitrator when appointed by the courts or litigants. During his more than 40 years of active law practice, Bill advised and represented clients in personal injury and wrongful death claims and litigation, including automobile collision, motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian injury and death cases, dog bite cases, construction site injury claims, and a myriad of other types of injury and death claims. While many claims were settled through negotiation or mediation, Mr. Thayer litigated, arbitrated and/or tried to verdict many cases for his clients. He continues to occasionally be appointed by courts and other lawyers to serve as an arbitrator of tort claims. Bill enjoys writing as one of his varied recreational interests when he is not working.
