4 injured after truck smashes through bar in Boring, owner says it’s not the first time
Four people were injured after a truck smashed through a bar in Boring
By Jeffrey Lindblom
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BORING, Oregon (KPTV) — Friday night, business was usual at the Timber Pub & Grub in Boring, until a pickup truck came barreling through the front door.
The bar’s manager, Lori Washburn, said it struck several people inside.
“Multiple people called 911,” Washburn said. “Responders were here in five minutes.”
She says she quickly showed up too, and “it was a bit of a confusing scene when I got here.”
Surveillance video shows four unsuspecting guests thrown to the ground, one person suffering a broken rib.
“It hits close to home when someone gets hurt,” Washburn said. “This is the first time someone has been injured when this happened.”
The incident is still under investigation, and details about the driver are limited.
Meanwhile, one of the customers there that night ran home to grab some plywood and patch the damage right away.
Washburn said she hopes to get the busy bar open again as fast as possible as the crash put her employees out of work and the bar suffered a financial hit losing much needed weekend business.
“It’s huge,” Washburn said. “I feel bad that we had to flip it so fast, but the bills don’t stop.”
Her family has owned the bar for 16 years and in that time, vehicles have hit the bar five or six times, she said.
“[But] this is the final straw.”
She believes the reason vehicles continue to their building is because people don’t listen to the 25-mile-per-hour speed limit through their small town. She also mentioned the curve in the road outside of the bar doesn’t help either, as people often approach at highway speeds.
“People fly through here all the time,” Washburn said as she gestured to the road, “and with there being people around, it’s just stupid people can’t drive the speed limit.”
Washburn is hoping the Oregon Department of Transportation might be able to step in and help secure the safety of their patrons.
“We plan on getting in touch with ODOT on Monday to see if there’s something we can do, because it’s on the highway and we can’t just put barriers up. But, with the history, the state trooper that we talked to said that they should be able to do something.”
Until safeguards are put in place to help make sure things like this don’t happen again, Washburn has a message from the people of her small town.
“I would just urge people to slow down. You know, a couple of minutes to save someone life is the right thing to do.”
As far as insurance goes, Washburn says they’re covered, and believes the driver is too.
However, she says they don’t know the limit and are expecting a “big bill.”
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