Tigard, OR — Two highway workers were injured in the Tigard-Metzger area after a semi-truck lost control on I-5 and crashed into them. The accident happened on Friday morning around 1:00 a.m., September 5, 2014.
Police are saying that a semi-truck driven by Kenneth Graven was headed north on I-5 that morning when he lost control near the Carman Drive exit. Graven’s truck skidded across the interstate, hitting two construction trucks belonging to two highway workers. The men were painting stripes, the news reports said.
The semi-truck completely blocked the northbound lanes after it came to a stop and the two highway workers were both taken to a hospital with non-critical injuries.
The truck driver, Kenneth Graven, was slightly injured and later received citations from the Oregon State Police for reckless driving. Apparently, the accident also caused diesel fuel from the semi-truck to spill, and a fire department had to clean it up.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary:
In general, on-the-job injuries are usually covered by a workers’ compensation program, especially if you work for the government or the state. However, this accident doesn’t seem like it was caused by anything work-related, per se, but instead was caused by an intervening third party. I’m talking about the semi-truck driver who lost control and hit these workers. So what does the law say about that kind of situation? Well, workers’ compensation is always available as long as the accident happened while the victim was on the job, think of it like a safety net. But, when a third party is introduced to the scenario, they bear their own liability. That means that the intervening third party (or the company that hired him) is liable for his actions and anyone injured has two claims to file: one with workers’ comp and one against the negligent third party.
— Grossman Law Offices
