A total of eight people were taken to hospitals after a three-vehicle accident on Tuesday afternoon on Highway 97 about seven miles south of Biggs.  According to Oregon State Police Lieutenant Patrick Shortt, two cars were stopped in the northbound lane for construction when a pickup truck struck the rear end of one of the vehicles at an approximate speed of 45 to 50 miles per hour.  The driver of the pickup told OSP troopers that he was looking and speaking to his son in the right front passenger seat at the time of the accident, had been aware of traffic ahead of him was slowing but unaware it had stopped.  The driver of the car the pickup hit was taken by Life Flight to Portland’s Emanuel Hospital for a damaged pacemaker, while a passenger in that car, the driver of the pickup, and five juveniles in the truck were all transported to Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles for evaluation.  The driver of the pickup received a citation for following too closely and careless driving.