Portland pays $1M to settle raceway entry suit

Insurers for the city of Portland have paid a Ridgefield, Wash., couple $1 million to settle a lawsuit filed after the man was pinned between a trailer and a toll booth at Portland International Raceway.

Ron Anderson had recently retired and was pursuing his passion for drag racing.

On Aug. 27, 2010, he went to the raceway entrance to pay for a card that would allow him to compete the next day. The 63-year-old man was crushed between the toll booth and the trailer of a pickup truck driving through.

The Oregonian reports (http://is.gd/Lp8r0x) the settlement was paid this week. The city owns the raceway. Ron and Gayl Anderson also won settlements totaling $350,000 from Ron Anderson's insurer and the pickup driver.

Anderson suffered 16 fractured ribs, a broken arm, a collapsed lung and a long-term brain injury.

Portland Parks & Recreation spokesman Mark Ross says the city is taking six steps to improve safety at the raceway entrance. Seattlepi.com/AP