Sandy man totals patrol vehicle

Karl McDermed’s motor home strikes officer’s car while officer was aiding motorist with flat tire on I-84 westbound

By Mara Stine

The Gresham Outlook, Feb 13, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

ADVERTISEMENTS

A Sandy man sideswiped a sheriff deputy’s patrol car in what law enforcement officials are calling an accident that underscores the importance of being aware of emergency vehicles — and a law designed to protect those behind the wheel.

Multnomah County sheriff’s deputy Ken Yohe, 37, of Sherwood, stopped at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11, to help a motorist with a flat tire on westbound Interstate 84 about 3 miles west of Multnomah Falls. Nearly 40 minutes later, a 40-foot motor home driven by Karl Lee McDermed, 66, of Sandy, struck Yohe’s vehicle, said Lt. Jason Gates, a sheriff’s spokesman.

Yohe, who was in the driver’s seat at the time, was treated for neck and back pain at Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center and released at about midnight. He is expected to fully recover, Gates said.

The patrol vehicle, however, is totaled.

Yohe had parked the vehicle with its emergency lights on at an angle a few feet in the right lane of traffic, Gates said. The angled positioning funnels motorists into other lanes, as well as provides a buffer for the disabled vehicle.

In such situations, Oregon law requires motorists to slow down and move to the left. If it’s unsafe to merge, motorists should slow down or even stop. State legislators enacted the law about two years ago after a series of crashes in which law enforcement officials were injured or killed while conducting roadside traffic stops.

Witnesses to Sunday’s crash reportedly told deputies that McDermed tried to merge his 1998 Beaver motorhome into the left lane but was unable to. “The problem is that while attempting to do so, he should have slowed down,” Gates said, adding that the motorhome was traveling an estimated speed of 50 mph during the collision.

1 | 2 Next Page >>