Q1: Do I have to file an Accident Report with the Oregon DMV?

In Oregon you do need to report a motor vehicle accident within 72 hours to the DMV when: Damage to any vehicle is over $2,500 (even if your vehicle was the only one in the crash); Any vehicle is towed from the scene; Injury or death resulted from this accident; or Damages to anyone's property other than a vehicle involved in this accident is more than $2,500. If you do not file a report when required, Oregon law requires DMV to issue a suspension notice. If you were in an accident and the damages were less than $2,500, you can report to DMV if the other party doesn't have insurance. Be sure to clearly note on the accident report that it doesn't meet mandatory reporting criteria.

Q2: What does my Oregon motorcycle insurance cover?

Oregon minimum insurance coverage Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability includes:

• $25,000 per person;
  
• $50,000 per crash for bodily injury to others; and
  
• $20,000 per crash for damage to others property
• $25,000/person and $50,000 per crash of Uninsured Motorist Coverage

Q3: What is Oregon Personal Injury Protection (PIP)?

This insurance coverage is mandatory for all auto insurance, but not motorcycle insurance. It is possible to have PIP benefits for a motorcycle but you would have to specifically ask your insurer for the PIP coverage and pay for the additional coverage. If you do not have health insurance, I highly recommend paying for the addition of PIP benefits as it will not increase your monthly insurance costs significantly while providing real benefits: healthcare, dental, and wage loss coverage. With PIP coverage in Oregon, if you are injured in an auto, bicycle, or pedestrian accident, your auto insurance provides a minimum of one year and $15,000 in no-fault medical coverage. In addition to medical coverage, your personal injury protection insurance provides wage loss coverage and loss of essential services for up to $30 a day.

Wage Loss ORS 742.524 (b)

As part of PIP coverage, if the injured person is usually engaged in a remunerative occupation and if disability continues for at least 14 days, 70 percent of the loss of income from work during the period of the injured persons disability until the date the person is able to return to the persons usual occupation. This benefit is subject to a maximum payment of $3,000 per month and a maximum payment period in the aggregate of 52 weeks.

Oregon Senate Bill 411 extends this time for personal injury protection to 2 years (new law went into effect on January 1, 2016, effective on policies issued or renewed on or after that date). Therefor, having PIP coverage can be a huge help in recovering after a crash, and also, if you do add this coverage, it is a good idea to increase the minimum coverage to a level that would be helpful to you and your family for 2 years.

If you do not have nor want PIP coverage, there do exist other forms of insurance coverage types to give you similar coverage.

Q4: What if it was Hit and Run, Uninsured Driver, or Under-insured motorist?

Uninsured Motorist, Underinsured Motorist (UM /UIM) ORS 742.502

Oregon insurance law requires minimums for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $25,000. This Oregon insurance law also changed under SB 411 effective January 1, 2016 allowing for, "insurance stacking." Insurance "stacking," allows injured motorists to add their uninsured motorist coverage on top of the at - fault driver's liability coverage so injured you can get your total insurance coverage defined as the total amount of all coverage available because you will be able to "stack" your UM/UIM coverage on top of the at-fault party's bodily injury liability (BI) coverage.

Increasing your UM and UIM insurance coverage from the minimum requirement is a very good idea, consider this a way to protect yourself from dangerous drivers who may also be uninsured or just under-insured and can even help you in the event of a hit and run.