Portland, OR — A garbage truck ran over a pedestrian while making a potentially improper turn in downtown Portland on Monday morning, March 16, 2015. According to police, 57-year old Scott Busch lost his leg after he was hit by a garbage truck that was making a turn from Fifth Street onto Morrison Street.
This happened at about 6:00 a.m. this morning and Busch was rushed to a hospital, but lost his leg as a result of the accident. Police said that Busch was crossing at Morrison Street (it looks like he was in a crosswalk) while Eric A. McChesney was driving a garbage truck south along Fifth Street.
As McChesney approached the intersection with Morrison, he tried to make a right turn, despite there being a sign that says “No Turns” — which you can see below in the interactive map. The truck ran over Mr. Bosch and he was taken to a hospital in serious condition.
Later, officers cited McChesney for failure to yield to a pedestrian and also for failure to obey a traffic sign. This is still being investigated. The reason that right turns can be made at that intersection, it appears, is because a MAX train occupies the right-hand lane, and turning would mean that vehicles would potentially be driving in front of a moving train.
Map of the Accident
View from the Road
Commentary:
Whoever this truck driver was working for (I presume he was employed by the owner of the truck) is going to have to answer some tough questions. Beyond the charges that the driver is facing, this employer should also be scrutinized because, at the end of the day, they’re responsible for the drivers they entrust with their vehicles. If I’m not mistaken, the sign clearly says “No Turns,” so why did this truck driver decide to turn? Is there anything else going on behind the scenes that we’re not seeing in the standard police reports?
People are already getting upset about this accident and many are crying out against the truck driver, calling for legal action. But, if you’re familiar with commercial vehicle accident cases, you’ll know that even when something appears to be black-and-white in terms of who’s at fault, it usually isn’t.
Imagine that this driver was working for a larger company. To put things bluntly, it’s not exactly “good for business” when your truck drivers are on the road, hurting people and causing accidents. In fact, it’s very expensive and can cost future business. As such, most companies with a fleet have a legal team set aside for this very scenario, ready to investigate and gather evidence so that they can build a case that protects their driver. It’s important to remember that most people don’t have the resources to defend themselves against allegations of negligence, but trucking companies do and they often launch their own investigation. One helpful thing to do is have a separate, third-party investigation done as well so that all the facts are preserved and hopefully new ones can be uncovered.
Contrary to popular belief, a mere police report won’t be enough in court to prove that someone broke the law or was negligent. Police reports can be proven wrong and they aren’t even iherently admissible in court, you have to prove them up first — which is a legal term for saying that there’s a special way it must be presented to the court, otherwise a jury or judge will never see it.
— Grossman Law Offices
