Nine Injured in Head-On Crash

Date: January 16, 2010
Location: U.S. 101 near Florence, Oregon
Names: Han Kim, David Chai, Esther King, Bin Seo, Minhye Park, Brandon Schooley, Nicholas Torres, Samantha Frese, Felicia Baldwin

In a devastating head-on crash January 16, 2010, nine people in two cars were injured, three of them seriously, according to The Oregonian.

The crash took place around 3:40 PM on U.S. Highway 101 near Florence, Oregon, as Brandon Schooley, 19, of Eugene was driving north on the highway. As he attempted to negotiate a sharp turn, his car crossed the center line and crashed head-on into a car driven by Han Kim, 25, also of Eugene.

Kim was carrying four passengers. The driver, Kim, was treated and released from Peace Harbor Hospital in Florence. Three of Kim’s passengers were seriously injured. David Chai, 25, suffered critical injuries, and Esther King, 21, and Bin Seo, 19, had serious injuries. The fourth passenger, Minhye Park, 21, was treated and released with minor injuries.

Schooley was carrying three passengers, Nicholas Torres, 20, of Eugene; Samantha Frese, 17, of Cottage Grove; and Felicia Baldwin, 17, of Cottage Grove. All four were taken to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis with minor injuries. They were released after treatment.

We send our wishes to Chai, King, Seo, and everybody involved in this crash. We hope you are completely recovered soon, with no lasting injuries.

Determining who is at fault in a car accident falls in the center of most personal injury accident cases. We typically take accident cases of people who have been seriously injured by as a result of another driver’s bad, careless, or reckless driving.

Looking at this, one may assume that Schooley was driving too fast for the curve. Speeding is the No. 1 reason for traffic fatalities in Oregon. Did you know that speeding kills more people than alcohol in car accidents?

So what are the options for Kim and his passengers? First, they need to focus on recovering from their injuries. We hope everyone gets the medical attention they need and recovers fully. To pay for that, Oregon has what is called personal injury protection benefits, or PIP. Under PIP, a driver and the passengers are covered. It pays $15,000 for medical care or up to one year, whichever comes first.

But $15,000 doesn’t pay for much, and when there are so many injuries involved….

The months after an accident are important as well. There are time limits to filing a claim if you have been in an accident. And sometimes you can’t go back to work, so you start to worry about paying medical bills and wage loss. These are all stressful things, and it doesn’t help that the insurance company won’t leave you alone, but they won’t help you either. So please, do not hesitate to contact us with questions about your car accident case or request a free copy of our book, 7 Common Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Oregon Accident Case. Our website has helpful advice, and what we don’t cover there, we will be more than happy to answer ourselves.