Dayton, OR — A man was killed and a woman was injured in an accident that involved a dump truck in Dayton, Oregon, on Thursday, March 5, 2015. The accident took place on Highway 99W, just south of McDougall Road, around 10:00 in the morning.
Local reports have identified Matthew Childress and the man who was traveling north on 99W when he crossed into the oncoming lanes of traffic and crashed into a dump truck heading south.
Childress was not wearing a seat belt and was partially ejected from his vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Christine Schneible, a passenger inside his vehicle, suffered serious injuries and was taken to Willamette Valley Medical Center. Raul Gutierrez-Torres, the driver of the dump truck, was not injured.
The accident is currently under investigation. The reason for the crash has not yet been found.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary
We still don’t know exactly what caused this accident, so I couldn’t speak to it specifically. But I’ve seen similar accidents in the past and can say that a driver has a responsibility for their passengers, and if a passenger is injured because the driver wasn’t exercising caution on the road and driving safely, he can be held responsible for it. All drivers have an obligation to their passengers, and if those passengers are hurt because they fail to live up to that, liability for an accident can fall on them.
— Grossman Law Offices
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