[R.I.P. Nick]
I’m posting this from SE 28th and Stark, just a few blocks from where Nick was hit. There are also flowers, candles, a photo of Nick enjoying a big glass of wine, and a note from his family.
Ghost bike installed for Nick
Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)
Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.
RIP. No one deserves to die like that.
Ride safe, pay lots of attention, and just assume that every motorist out there wants to kill you.
Oh, and LIGHTS LIGHTS LIGHTS!!
In addition to LIGHTS LIGHTS LIGHTS, don’t forget HELMETS HELMETS HELMETS
How come at 28th and Stark instead of right at 26th?
Jeremy, I was using wi-fi at 28th and Stark. Rest assured, the ghost bike pictured above is at 26th and Stark.
We placed it where Nick’s body came to rest after the collision.
Thanks goes to Carl Larson for stepping up and getting this done…and to Robby at The Recyclery for the paint and the bike and the beer.
Just a note: the bike is temporarily chained to the street sign on the Southeast corner of 26th and Stark. Once we get a big enough cable, it’ll be up against the tree pictured in the photo, with a “a cyclist was killed here” sign.
Is it locked to the tree? It appears to be in different positions in the two photos, were they taken before it was secured?
We need to replace the ghost bike on SW Broadway where Kristine was killed.
Everything that has been put there for her memory has been removed by someone. Someone who obviously doesn’t care much.
We should actually put a big sign there since it is such a high profile spot……..
Who here that works for the city can help me get a sign high on the existing pole there?
The anniversary is coming up soon….
didn’t ther used to be a ghostbike website? I remember it had a map to all fatal incident sites in the city. Combine that with all non-fatal locations, and it could serve as a guide for future traffic planning projects. I hope Nick’s death could lead to a safer Stark St.
Dabby,
The Bureau of Maintenence supervisors in charge of signs and pavement markings are Derreck Brooks and Kirstin Byer. They can be reached through the main number, 503 823 1700. They are likely to be at their desks around the beginning, middle and end or the work day. At other times, you will probably need to leave a message.
As supervisors, they carry out policy but don’t have the leeway to make it. If what you want falls outside the policy in place right now, you might be better off talking to someone in the Commissioner’s office.
“Stuff” doesn’t always flow downhill but it does move faster in that direction. 😉
Dabby – I was responsible for the first ghost bike installation on SW Broadway where Kristine was killed. I checked it regularly and it lasted about 6 months +/-before someone vandalized it by tacoing the rear wheel; it was removed shortly thereafter, I presume by BOM. I agree that it needs to be replaced.
DRIVERS – See the world from a more wide angle view than the windshield. Watch for cyclists comming off sidewalks, etc. Be more aware in an ever more visually overloaded environment.
CYCLISTS – Ride like you are as vonarable as we say we are. Follow the same rules of the road as cars. Have GOOD brakes. Dress bright. Assume you may not be seen. Be extra carefull if comming into an intersection off of a sidewalk, as motorists tend to be looking for pedestrians, who move slower.
As a driver and avid cyclist, I try to the view the world from the others view. I have almost hit cyclists who were not playing by the rules, both in my car AND on my bike. Neither drivers or cyclists should ever pretend the road is just theirs and that all the arificial boundries made of paint on the road are absolute!!
And remember the ten-percent rule. At least en-percent of all humans are self centered and care less about others. That includes folks in cars, on foot, and on bikes. So watch for all of those. Wanna see that ten-percent on bikes, do the Seattle to Portland ride (I have loved all 13 I have done, but the bozo on bike ratio is alarming!!) Be Safe – Mr Tankagnolo Bob
First of all, I just want to take the opportunity to say that from what I knew of Nick, he was a great guy. He was intelligent, talented, compassionate, and funny.
From what I hear, he did have lights on his bike, which were knocked off by the impact of the collision. He was not wearing a helmet. I do think it’s imporant to wear a helmet for those frequent cases in which they do help, but in Nick’s case, it wouldn’t have saved him.
I have heard that the driver, besides speeding, also did not have his headlights on. Anyone who cycles or walks a lot in Portland can tell you that drivers in this city are getting worse as the population grows. There is less and less concern for those who aren’t in another motor vehicle. It seems to me that if the Portland Police want to save lives and, at the same time maybe raise some fund for public coffers, they could plant themselves by crosswalks and intersections ticketing those who run red lights, ignore cross walks, cut off cyclists and use bike lanes…
How about ghost HELMETS?
One thing that I find very consistent in the responses to all of the bicyclist deaths in the five years I’ve lived in Portland is that no one ever suggests that the cyclist had any responsibility for what happened. We all know cars are big, fast, and potentially deadly, and yet how many people do you see riding around without helmets? How many of the kids who were tragically killed were wearing one? Were any?
It’s impossible to say for sure if a helmet would have saved Nick (or would not have, as another person did), but it MIGHT have. And a helmet certainly would have saved some of the other people killed by cars in town in recent years.
No one seems to want to emphasize that he was riding without a helmet AND was reckless enough to turn into the path of a car. He was 110% careless, and he paid the price. And frankly, it’s miraculous that that doesn’t happen more often.
The point is that if people arent willing to acknowledge that the responsibility for safety lies with the cyclist first and foremost, then there are just going to be more accidents like this. Wear a HELMET, even if it messes up your perfectly messed up hair. Yield to cars, even if you think you have the right-of-way (because it doesn’t really matter if you do–the car is still 100 times bigger). Be careful! Take responsibility, and stop pretending that cyclists are just helpless victims. This is not Smalltown, USA. It’s a city with lots of traffic and plenty of dangers. Act like it.
Mr. Wilmot,
I don’t know what you have been reading in regards to your statement “that no one ever suggests that the cyclist had any responsibility for what happened.”
Just the other night, Dawn was almost killed in a bike/car wreck, where they had both been drinking, they say she ran a stop sign, and it is shared blame. It was also fully stated that she was not wearing a helmet.
In Nick’s wreck, while the blame surely is on the witnessed speeding of the car, with no headlights on,and some on Nick they say, it was fully clarified that he was not wearing a helmet. Most Every report I have come across has stated this. It is also known that in no manner would a helmet have helped him out.
I am actually very curious to know where you get your information from, and why you would use it to continue to tarnish the death of a local cyclist.
And, while I already know how you are going to respond to this point, I must say it again.
Helmet’s on adults are not required by law, or by morals. Helmet’s are a personal choice.
Yes, it is good to hear sometimes how a helmet saved someone’s life, or even sometimes how it didn’t.
But, it is still a personal choice.
I also wonder where you get off calling his actions “110% careless”, and “he paid the price”. And “reckless enough to turn into the path of a car.”
(By the way, if a car is going fast enough, it is impossible to judge it’s speed, especially with no lights if that is the case, and when it is going to arrive at your intersection, even when three or four blocks away. It could be a matter of seconds, especially in what I hear was a Jaguar)
Do you even realize that his family has been coming to this site, reading these comments?
In effect, as fellow cyclists, we are all his family, and he should be treated as such.
Of course it is good to be safe. Being safe is a skill. A skill to be learned.
But would you like to know what the greatest skill there is to have,to survive on a bike, on the city streets?
The thing that is going to save you a hundred times before your helmet ever has to?
Assertiveness, taking control of your part of the road.
In a city full of predators, we cannot be sheep.
In conclusion, while I agree that more people should wear helmets, there is a time and a place for everything.
And this is neither the time, nor the place, for some of your comments.
Do you even realize that his family has been coming to this site, reading these comments?
wait, I just remebered.
We are all his family.
I apppologize now for my long winded comment.
My brain got the best of me.
It also appears my mac did some of it’s own creative editing. Sorry.
Mr. Wilmot makes a number of valid points.
Numerous posters have pointed out what they have “heard”. So, how could a cyclist who is paying attention to the road not see and HEAR a car coming his way? Esoecially one that was allegedly speeding and could be heard blocks away?
I’ve “heard” he was wearing an iPOD at the time.
It is interesting that many people point that the driver has a number of past driving transgressions. And it may be possible that they were driving safely at the time. However, it is a reach to to say that the driver must have been reckless due to past events. Unless, of course you wish to make the same assumption that a rider who does not wear a safety device (helmet) might take additional risks or be a reckless rider. And we don’t know for certain if the rider had lights or not. Again, assumptions in both cases. You can have your cake…….
As a cyclist, I do not cede my safety to others. It is ignorant to not wear a helmet, to listen to an iPOD and to to think that others are looking out for you.
And when I drive, I am constantly amazed by how cavlier ad unaware many cyclists are. I have seen far more cyclist blow stop signs than cars.
I am not saying this is not tragic – I’ve got friends at Noble Rot. I’ve got friends who have been hit. However, it should be a warning to cyclists everywear that your safety is in your own hands. Never assume others are looking out for you. Beleive it or not, sometimes it is your own fault. I know that is a concept this town struggles with sometimes.
Yes, it may be a matter of principle, but that will not save your life.
Thanks Dabby,
It hurt to read the remark by John Wilmot about Nick being 110% careless.
I am also a bike rider and it is amazing to me that there are so many people, both drivers and bikers that are careless. We live on one of the bike routes in Portland and many times people go speeding up the street and bike riders don’t have helmets. Bike riders coming out of the side streets without stopping or slowing down to look.
No one should judge what the others are doing. It is a personal choice. Yes, I wish he would have worn his helmet more, Yes, I wish he was still here. All of my, his dad’s, sister’s, family and friends wishing isn’t going to bring Nick back to us.
We have been comforted by the letters from the people that were there to take care of our son at the scene of the accident. It does bring comfort to know that he was not alone in his last hours.
Nick’s mom
Mom,
When I wrote in response to Mr. Wilmot’s comments, I was a little nervous about how it would come across. Sometime passion gets the best of me, and I seem to be very negative when making a point.
Reading your response put that all aside.
Thank you very much for your kind words, and your obvious strength, while dealing with such a tragic loss.
Yours Truly,
John “Dabby” Campbell
Next Thursday, Feb.15th 4:30-7:00
We will be gathering at 26th and Stark Street, where Nick lost his life to a speeding motorist.
Make a face to face statement to motorists about traffic safety. Cylists can gather on both sides of the intersection with signs asking drivers to slow down and take care to drive safely through our neighborhoods.