The Traffic Division of the Portland Police Bureau have officially assigned an investigator to get to the bottom of the hit-and-run incident involving a bike and pickup truck I reported on last week.
On May 9th, Dustin Kent was riding on the path over the Columbia River when he says a full-sized Nissan pickup somehow gained access to the path and tried to run him over. Kent claims he was forced to jump over the path’s railing (and onto the shoulder of the freeway) to avoid being hit.
Word about the official investigation came just this morning from Traffic Division Commander Mark Kruger. He said he’ll keep me posted on any developments. The Traffic Division has a solid record of successful investigations and I’m sure they will get to the bottom of the incident.
Dustin himself is also working on the case. According to this comment he left on Friday, he has tracked down a witness who saw the truck on the bike path and hopes to contact her for more information.
The Portland bike community wants to help Dustin get a new bike. He had just started commuting to work when this incident occurred and his bike was mangled when the truck rolled over it. Plans are underway to help him get a new one.
Concerned reader Tyler Robertson put out a plea on his blog and Cyclepath Bike Shop in northeast Portland has also come forward to help get Dustin back on the road.
Stay tuned for more developments on the case.
Cyclepath rules… Does anyone know specifically what they’re doing for Dustin?
I recognise this a dreadful sweeping generalization; but I always thought the titan was an unhealthily agressive vehicle…. >_>
It’s rather horrifying to know this kind of thing could happen here in Portland. I’m going to be keeping up with it and wishing the investigators luck with getting this guy… I hope they throw the book at him.
Dustin, my heart goes out to you; seriously.
I wonder how such a vehicle would ride on the path. It seems to me that the path wouldn’t be wide enough for a motor vehicle (especially with the light poles). I know the turn at the south end is very tight also. It’s very strange. Must have taken some fancy driving
The scary thing is something very much like this happened this past year in NYC, a driver mistook the bike path (separate fromt he road) for the west side highway and killed a cyclist. The driver was drunk. He was caught and charged with vehicular homicide although initial charges were not as severe.
When incidents like this happen the only explanation I can think of is that its on purpose. Think of it, there is no way a driver (who is not entirely drunk) can really get onto a separate bike path without realizing from the bumps are jars that he\’s left the road. And in many cases the paths don\’t seem wide enough for a full sized sport ute unless the driver is smashing through stuff on either side — which should obviously notify the driver that he\’s left the road and he should stop, not try to continue on his course.
As a cyclist whose had the cops basically take the drivers word on things and walk away, not doing spit when I got run off the road by a box truck or attacked by a motorist with a bottle, I am worried of any police investigation that doesn\’t seem prosecuted with zeal. The local police may be better on this case, but I see this as shaping up as another run of \”cyclist hit, driver not charged\” which seems to be epidemic in our country in just about every state, everywhere. What will it take to treat drivers who use their cars like machine guns more seriously in the eyes of the law? a thousand struck cyclists? Ten thousand? How many people got to get injured or heaven forbid kille,d before drivers start getting charged for what is usually either malice or negligence or a combination of both?