In this episode of #PersonalInjury101: Collisions in Oregon, Partner Shaun Callahan discusses the critical steps drivers should take following a motor vehicle collision and explains how Oregon's laws differ from those in neighboring states.
From documenting the scene and preserving evidence to understanding Oregon's insurance requirements and fault-based system, Shaun breaks down the factors that can significantly affect a personal injury claim. He also explains how liability, insurance coverage, and timely legal guidance can play a critical role in helping injured individuals access the resources, support, and legal protections available to them after a collision.
At GLP Attorneys, we are committed to helping individuals and families navigate the aftermath of serious collisions with clarity, compassion, and trusted legal advocacy. Our goal is to simplify the legal process, answer your questions, and help you focus on what matters most, your recovery and moving forward.
What should I do if I have been in a collision in Oregon?
Picture yourself in the following situation. You've just been in a crash in Oregon. You check yourself out and nothing seems dire. Do you know what to do next?
Here's what I recommend. First, always call 911. Officers can get all information, driver's license and insurance cards from the other drivers involved. But the reality is, 99% of the time, the police will not come to your crash. And even if they do, they often won't do a report. So you must get this information yourself. You should also take photos of the damage to all the vehicles involved and of the general scene. Get any witnesses names and contact information as well. In short, you need to be your own crash investigator.
Why is it so important to get the other person’s information after a crash, and to file a collision report?
It's important to get all the information about the other drivers involved in the crash for two reasons. First, you need to know who hit you so that you can get your damages to your car and yourself covered. One common misconception is that all you need is a person's insurance information. This might be true sometimes, but ask yourself what happens if the insurance doesn't treat you fairly and refuses to pay for your damages?
In our system of justice, if the other side refuses to pay for your damages, your only recourse is to file suit against the actual person that hurt you. This brings up another common misconception, and that is that your claim is against the other person's insurance company. This is technically wrong and can lead to lost claims. Your claim in a crash is against the individual or corporation that acted negligently.
Those actors, in turn, pay for an insurance contract under that contract. The insurance company agrees to pay for damages that the person or company causes up to a set limit. But the only way of enforcing your claim if you are being lowball, is to file suit against the actual individual or corporation that wronged you. Suing their insurance will be ineffective and won't get you anywhere.
Second, in Oregon specifically, you are required to file a collision report within 72 hours of the date of the crash. This collision report will ask you for information about the people and vehicles involved in the crash. Now, if you're watching this and thinking, oh no, I didn't do that. Don't worry. Just get the collision report filled out and filed as soon as possible.
If you do not fill out the collision report timely, the State of Oregon can and will suspend your driver's license even if you were not at fault. I have gotten a number of calls from people who only reach out to an attorney after they've received a notice of a license suspension. Do not let this be you. Call an experienced attorney who is dedicated to personal injury law as soon as possible after a crash.
I've even seen cases where the state of Oregon has requested that Washington State suspend a person for failure to file a collision report. While these issues are fixable, it's much better to be safe. Hire an attorney and comply with the law up front.
What is Oregon’s “Modified Comparative Negligence” system?
Oregon has what we call a modified comparative negligence system, in which a person is barred from recovering their damages if they are more than 50% at fault for their injuries. So what this means conceptually, is if a jury decides that you are more than 50% at fault in an incident, you get nothing. If you are 50% or less at fault for the incident, you get your damages, albeit reduced by your share of the fault.
This is very different from the Washington system, for instance, which we call a pure comparative negligence system. In this system, even a person who has 99% at fault can recover for their damages, but the amount they receive will be reduced by their percentage of fault. The modified comparative fault system in Oregon creates a perverse incentive for insurers and defendants to try and fight a person's case where they probably should not.
For instance, in Oregon, insurers and defendants will fight very hard to try and create fault on the part of the plaintiff, even if that is highly questionable, because they know that if they can just get a jury to put more blame on the plaintiff, that they can escape paying the plaintiffs damages, even if those damages are huge.
What is important to know about Oregon’s insurance laws?
Like most states, car insurance is mandatory in Oregon. However, Oregon takes us one step further and has a poison pill in place to encourage compliance with the law. If you get in a crash in Oregon and do not have car insurance, you are not allowed to recover for your general damages. This means that you get nothing to compensate you for your pain and suffering, inconvenience or permanent disability.
You can still recover for your economic losses, including your wage loss and medical bills. But overall, this is a pretty big loss and it means that many people are left hurting and disabled with nothing to compensate them for their loss. The problem with this is there are many legitimate or understandable reasons why a person might not have coverage at the time of a crash.
Sometimes vehicles are mistakenly removed from coverage. Other times, a person might have forgotten to pay their insurance bill on time, and the coverage will lapse. Fortunately, the law does provide for some limited exceptions. We have been successful in getting justice for our clients in these situations before, including in a case where a sweet old grandma who had always paid her insurance by paper check on time, had her check get lost in the mail, and then didn't receive the warning notices from her insurance for over a month.
In another case, a man who had more than 20 vehicles on his auto policy was driving the one vehicle that had somehow slipped through his policy when he was rear ended at significant speed. A great personal injury attorney will investigate these and see if they apply to your situation.
What should I know about Oregon’s personal injury protection (PIP)?
One great feature of Oregon law is that PIP insurance is mandatory, PIP which we say as PIP stands for personal injury protection and is a coverage that pays for your medical care up to a set amount. The great thing about PIP is that it will cover your medical bills regardless of fault, so it helps people get the medical care they need. While insurances are still hashing out who is at fault.
In Oregon, the minimum amount of PIP a person can carry is $15,000 for medical bills. The other great thing about PIP insurance is that it covers more than just medical bills. In fact, even with a minimum PIP policy, in Oregon it can cover up to $700 per week in wage loss and can even pay for household services like cleaning your home or maintaining your property while you're injured.
There is some nuance with PIP benefits, however, and a good attorney will set up the PIP claim and deal directly with your insurance to make sure that you get the benefits that you paid for.
What is the damages cap for wrongful death in Oregon?
One troubling thing about Oregon law is that the state still has a damages cap for wrongful death. What this means is that if you or a loved one dies in a collision, in Oregon the most your family can recover for your pain and suffering is $500,000.
Now, your family could also recover the cost of your last medical bills and funeral expenses.
However, in wrongful death cases, these are oftentimes minimal, especially in cases where death happens instantaneously. GLP Attorneys is fighting to overturn this law under article one, section ten of the Oregon Constitution. If you have a loved one who's been killed in Oregon, call GLP Attorneys and see if we can help.
GLP Attorneys is Here to Represent You in Your Personal Injury Case
GLP Attorneys are here to help you navigate your personal injury claim after a motor vehicle collision. We want to ensure that while you are healing from car collision injuries, you also feel financially secure.
If you have been involved in an automobile collision, please call 800.273.5005, or email our personal injury attorneys at for a free initial consultation. One of our skilled attorneys will be able to tell you whether you might be able to collect damages under Oregon law.
