Man on a bike hit from behind on SE Stark

This just in from the Portland Police Bureau (emphasis mine):

“At 2:58 pm East Precinct officers were dispatched to the area of SE 147th Av/Stark Street on a bicyclist hit.

Officers arrived and determined that the bicyclist was hit by a vehicle driven by 23-year-old Lance Waddy. Waddy and the bicyclist were both traveling eastbound on SE Stark Street when Waddy struck the bicyclist from behind. The bicyclist, a white male adult, was thrown an estimated 138 feet. He sustained serious non-life threatening head injuries and transported to hospital.

Waddy was cited for Reckless Driving, No Insurance and Driving While Suspended. He was cited at the scene and released.”

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

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.

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Joel H
Joel H
15 years ago

\”… into a pit of angry tigers.\”

Joel H
Joel H
15 years ago

Wait, 138 feet? Seriously? How fast was this guy going?

gabriel amadeus
15 years ago

138 feet is a long ways. Not familiar with that part of stark, but dang. Hope he pulls through.

Myra
15 years ago

He shouldn\’t have been riding in the street! I suppose you bikers will all cry that Waddy doesn\’t have the right to drive recklessly without a license or insurance. Well, you don\’t have licenses or insurance!

glenzedrine
glenzedrine
15 years ago

I\’ve ridden most of the east part of Stark, and it\’s not somewhere I\’m likely to ride often. I think Halsey is a much better choice. Still, if someone wants to ride on Stark by all means go for it. 138 feet? That\’s insane!

SkidMark
SkidMark
15 years ago

Was he wearing a helmet? Because he deserves his head injury if he wasn\’t.

There, saved all you trolls some typing.

wsbob
wsbob
15 years ago

Human cannonball on Stark Street. What fun. If the landing was asphalt or some other hard surface, I don\’t understand how someone even survives, being thrown 138 ft. The guy was injured, so at least the PD has its criteria for investigation. Can\’t wait to see how this one turns out.

Troll love… . Ease up SkidMark, or maybe, just change your underwear?

Kt
Kt
15 years ago

I saw this news report on KGW\’s site, and thought the same thing: 138 feet? Holy cow. The driver had to have been speeding, at the very least!! What kind of impact force would it take to throw an adult man 138 feet?

Hope he pulls through– whether he was wearing a helmet or not.

I\’m curious about what led up to the impact…

wsbob
wsbob
15 years ago

Is page two where these kinds of stories are going to be located from now on? Never would have noticed it except for the \’Recent Comments\’ listing.

Icarus Falling
Icarus Falling
15 years ago

Myra,

You typed \”I suppose you bikers will all cry that Waddy doesn\’t have the right to drive recklessly without a license or insurance.\”

The obvious response to that is \”He does not have the right to drive without a license or insurance, whether he was driving recklessly or not\”.

The law states very plainly that you must have a license and insurance to drive a car.
There is no such requirement to ride a bicycle. Obviously. Oh wait, you know this, don\’t you?

At this point, after reading your (snore) blog, and other comments here, it is amazing to me that you even know how to type.

Honestly.

Oh well, I guess it is true.

Ignorance is bliss.

I hope the biker is doing well.

Adams Carroll (News Intern)
15 years ago

\”Is page two where these kinds of stories are going to be located from now on?\”

yes. probably. i\’ve been sort of conflicted about how to deal with all the reports i get about bike-involved crashes. they\’re not exactly news (we\’re all just traffic remember and sometimes we bang into each other) unless there\’s some extenuating or interesting circumstance (or unless it\’s a very serious injury or god forbid a fatality).

what are your thoughts?

wsbob
wsbob
15 years ago

Editor Jonathon Maus, re; the location of stories related to collision incidents on pg 2; These stories needn\’t necessarily be located on the main page, but it\’s probably very important that visitors to the blog know exactly where they\’ll be.

While on one level, people riding bikes for transportation on public streets are as you say \’just traffic\’, because of the markedly expanding role they represent in the overall transportation picture, they\’re also an indicator of how the relationship between people riding bikes and people driving cars, together on the street, is shaping up.

People interested in how that relationship is shaping up will probably be interested in studying these kind of incidents very carefully, to learn what happened, why, what reasonable things could have been done to keep them from happening, or reduce the trauma they produce.

Adams Carroll (News Intern)
15 years ago

thanks for that feedback wsbob. i agree that there is some valuable education that can be gleaned from sharing news of bike-involved crashes.

i think I\’m leaning in the direction of putting them into their own category and running the \”Latest crashes\” in the sidebar.

thanks,

troll control
troll control
15 years ago

#10
Don\’t feed it please, it will die. Its blog
is about as entertaining as deciding whether the toilet paper should roll from the front, or the back. All seriousness aside, I think the Harpy is seizing itself on a popular topic that it really doesn\’t know anything about,or care,just to make a name for itself.

Klixi
Klixi
15 years ago

Not to go off on a tangent here, but I already predict this will turn into a huge pro-helmet declaration by many. If this cyclist wasn\’t wearing one they\’ll say \”see had he worn a helmet he would\’ve been fine\”, and if he was wearing one they\’ll say \”see he would be dead if it wasn\’t for his helmet!\” They can spin it either way and beat all the non-helmet wearers over the head with it.. pun!

I\’m just, as a non-helmet wearing rider, getting tired of everyone telling me why to wear one. :p

Back on topic, I hope the cyclist recovers. Glad to hear his injury isn\’t life threatening… 138 feet, just wow.

Toby
Toby
15 years ago

#14
I agree completely, I scratched my name on its cave wall once, and have been tempted to throw some gristly mutton at its hairy feet whenever it defecates over here, but feeding strays always guaranties their return. Oh, and TP should roll from the front!

Jonathan, I think a separate spot would be good. I might never have heard about it if someone didn\’t mention it on your forum, yet I don\’t really need lots of negativity thrown in my face every time I check your blog on page one. Sorry, never really seem to remember their\’s a page two. Of course, who\’s to say I\’d remember there was a separate spot?

Thanks!

Dr. Benjamin
15 years ago

\”what are your thoughts?\”

Get a Page 2 RSS feed going! And maybe start feeding a few of your other things? Job postings, etc.?

As for \”Traffic vs. Traffic\” going on page two- yes. Totally.

Cruizer
15 years ago

Toby, #16, you\’re hilarious! Great imagery — and I agree about the TP!

Joel H
Joel H
15 years ago

Thanks for continuing to post these, Jonathan. I hope you get new information on the recovery of the cyclist or from the police. I\’d really like to know why Waddy wasn\’t arrested.

Matt
Matt
15 years ago

I know the bicyclist who was hit. He rides a lot and always wears a helmet while riding. From what I hear, he will be okay save for a few broken bones. Apparently, the driver was speeding (duh – 138 feet is pretty damn far). For the record, he also drives and does have both a license and insurance.

Toby
Toby
15 years ago

I was on my way out the door when I posted previous and totally neglected my original intention.

I would really like to learn more as it develops, as has been stated already, 138 feet, WOW! My prayers are with the victim and sympathies surely not with the driver at this time. I\’m glad the driver was at least cited at the scene.

Matt
Matt
15 years ago

I just got an update on my friend. He\’s in the hospital still, but the prognosis looks okay. Sounds like he has some broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and a concussion. Apparently it\’ll be a long recovery, but he\’s expected to recover fully.

Pete
Pete
15 years ago

Thanks for the update Matt. Let him know our thoughts are with him and wishes for a speedy recovery.

Toby (#16): funny stuff!

scoot
scoot
15 years ago

Thanks for the update, Matt (#22). Glad to hear he\’s going to be okay. When he\’s recovered enough, and if he remembers, see if you can get him to post here about his experience flying.

Matt
Matt
15 years ago

Another friend who gave me the update said he\’d be bragging about this in 6 months… I\’m sure he\’ll love to tell the story 🙂

concerned cousins in Eugene
concerned cousins in Eugene
15 years ago

This is the information that has been given to his very large extended family. We hope he will be laughing about this in six months, but from the list of injuries, this may not be totally realistic.

\” The driver was going 40 miles and hour, looked
away and then lost control of his car. His car is also totaled.
Steve\’s head hit the windshield and then he was thrown 138\’. He has 12
broken ribs, a broken scapula. His veretabrae around the spinal cord
are ok but 20 of the 50 little spurs from the vertebrae are broken. He has no head injury, a slight collapse of 1 lung and a bruised lung. He is in a lot of pain. They are waiting to confer with the orthopedic doctors to see what they can do about all his broken ribs. He has no paralysis.\”

Your best wishes and thoughts are appreciated.

wsbob
wsbob
15 years ago

Concerned cousin/eugene, thanks for the injury run-down. Definitely some good news there despite the obvious bad. It\’s remarkable that the rate of speed of the motor vehicle (assuming 40 mph is on the level)could project a human body that far. 12 broken ribs; that\’s almost as bad as James Chasse getting jumped by cop thugs, except in this instance, there was a survivor.

Klixi, it won\’t be me telling you to wear a bike helmet, but doesn\’t the following excerpt from concerned cousin\’s post suggest something to you about the possible benefit of wearing one?:

\”\” The driver was going 40 miles and hour, looked away and then lost control of his car. His car is also totaled.
Steve\’s head hit the windshield and then he was thrown 138\’. He has 12
broken ribs, a broken scapula. His veretabrae around the spinal cord
are ok but 20 of the 50 little spurs from the vertebrae are broken. He has no head injury,….\”

steve
steve
15 years ago

wsbob-

It was you telling some one to wear a helmet. You just typed it out for the world to see. Thanks.

Can you add an addendum about how it is best not to speed while ignoring the road in front of you? Best not to drive while uninsured and without a license? I know you can find it in ya.

Robert Dobbs
Robert Dobbs
15 years ago

@Myra #4

Gotta be pretty dumb to go crap on a bike blog thread about a cyclist that was put into traction by a speeding driver w/o license or insurance, while spending most of your free time being a ***deleted by moderator — personal insults are not tolerated***:

***deleted. … please do not share personal information ***

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_ruess/

http://andrew.ruess.us/

http://digerati-corp.com/

http://andyverse.net/

Also – A registered democrat that drives an Armada? Talk about a closet case!

Welcome to the internets, Andy. You\’ve earned it.

[Note from Editor: Mr. Dobbs, please refrain from using the comments of this site as your launching pad for personal attacks. I am growing tired of comments that do not offer anything constructive to the issue at hand. Thanks. ]

Robert Dobbs
Robert Dobbs
15 years ago

***Personal information of Mr. Ruess has been deleted***

wsbob
wsbob
15 years ago

steve...***Personal insult deleted by Editor****

And no, I don\’t tell people to wear a helmet, but I do advise everyone to be aware of the protection a helmet can offer them, so they may decide for themselves which situations to wear one in. What kind of person would read about this collision, how the guy on the bike\’s head hit the windshield, and still decide not to wear a bike helmet if they\’re thinking of riding in a similar situation?

The presence of related laws should be enough to get the message across to motor vehicle operators that they are prohibited from driving without valid license or insurance. Of course, many of these people operate motor vehicles anyway. If they\’re choosing not to abide by the laws, they\’re unlikely to listen to advice that they follow them.

By the way, if anyone knows the speed limit out there on SE 147th Av/Stark Street, that might be interesting to know. It must be at least 25 mph. If it was 35 mph, the driver, at 40 mph wouldn\’t have been speeding excessively.

Paul Tay
15 years ago

DMV should revoke DL. Judge should sentence the jerk to bicycle driving for LIFE. Some sort of ankle bracelet that sends a signal and makes a really ANNOYING wail if moving faster than 25 mph.

Here in Tulsa Municipal Court, traffic court, judges NEVER ask how the jerks w/o DL and liability got to court. How are they leaving? They shore AIN\’T taking the bus.

Forseti
Forseti
15 years ago

Wow, Robert Dobbs, excellent work at exposing the militant bicyclist-hater Andrew Ruess! ***Personal insult deleted*** you are, Mr Ruess.

Your self-loathing must be magnified exponentially each time you reflect on the fact that Portland will be Andrew Ruess-free long before it will be bike-free. Hope you drive real carefully around those bicyclists from now on, Mr Ruess, because if anything were to happen it would be much easier to prove intent with respect to you than it would the average motorist.

Also – you\’ll probably be hearing about my comments from the folks at McLoughlin Computers.

Cruizer
15 years ago

Robert Dobbs @ 29
How do you know it\’s Andrew Ruess?

Robert Dobbs
Robert Dobbs
15 years ago
jj
jj
15 years ago

it would appear to me that that is a reply/comment from andrew ruess to myra/oregonamazon/bikefreeportland, not proof that myra=andrew ruess.

Kt
Kt
15 years ago

Myra is a real troll… I made the mistake of going to Myra\’s blog once, that was a stupid thing to do. I could feel my IQ dropping.

Back on-topic, Thanks, concerned cousins, for giving us the run-down on the injuries. What a scary experience! Hopefully, he\’ll heal up just fine, and quickly.

Lesson: when driving, PAY ATTENTION.

Duncan
Duncan
15 years ago

cited and released? WTF batman?
I am sorry but that sort of behavior needs a perp walk.

Russ
Russ
15 years ago

Robert:

So are you saying \”Myra\” is Andrew, or his wife Shana?

Andrew Ruess
15 years ago

Hello all. I\’m Andrew Ruess. I do not have a clue as to who the hell is Myra.

I would like to thank Robert Dobbs for calling me or provoking someone into calling to likely accuse me of something. Here on the intarwhebs, as he pointed out, \”I\’ve earned it.\” I do not make myself hard to find; a quick Google search will reveal almost anything you would like to know about me. Including my cell phone numbers and the business I run, Digeratius.

However, I am not sure what I\’ve earned and why. I do not think stupid people doing stupid things, like Lance Waddy, is very humorous. Lance Waddy is a moron who should be locked up. The rules are here to protect people like us from people like him.

Apparently being a democrat (committee chairperson for district 4309) and owning a large vehicle makes me a closet-case that hates bicyclists. If you can show me a way to transport my wife and two great danes in a more cost effective manner I would love to hear it. Also make sure your solution is capable of towing a service trailer that weighs about 4k pounds. I\’d be happy to pick one up.

I am also a computer dweeb that runs a computer dweeb business. I guess that means I hate bicyclists again. Especially the three employees that bike and/or walk to the office. And my requirement that my service fleet average more than 30mpg. And the fact I\’m evaluating the Miles electric vehicle for business use.

Some other things that indicate I\’m a bad person: I just had SolarCity install panels on my personal residence, meaning that the summer months will leave me with a carbon neutral or negative footprint, and will likely do the same thing for my office building next year. I also drive a Nissan Altima Hybrid as a primary vehicle, mostly for business activities.

Maybe Robert is upset that I believe bicyclists are one of the many solutions to solving a lot of society\’s problems. However I do believe a more measured, safety-oriented approach is warranted… like having bicycles wear license plates and making sure bicyclists are properly trained. You know, like motorvehicle drivers. Mandating helmets isn\’t a horrible idea in my opinion either; no different from a seat belt and we all seem okay with that decades later.

So, Robert, if you have problems with a pretty green guy running a pretty green business, please make sure you keep posting my telephone number around online and calling me a dweeb. I really appreciate it. Thanks! =)

Russ
Russ
15 years ago

Andrew,

Thanks for posting and welcome to Bikeportland! I don\’t know why Robert Dobbs thought Myra was you, but he did find you linked to the troll via a comment linked to her:

http://twitter.com/andrewruess/statuses/865821899

As you can imagine, people who visit or regular this site are a bit sensitive to getting run over by cars and trucks – go figure.

Andrew Ruess
15 years ago

Hi Russ:

Thanks for finding that. I had no idea how I got involved here, especially with telephone calls.

Oh, and Christopher Heeps, maybe not call me in the future if you aren\’t going to tell me what it is about.

And Robert? Good job. Pat yourself on the back. Welcome to the intarwhebs.

Carl
Carl
15 years ago

(Robert Dobbs and fellow witchburners, you owe Mr. Ruess an apology. Disgusting.)

I feel incredibly safe riding a bike in Portland. I know that it\’s getting safer and safer ever year despite increased coverage of incidents like these. That said, my frequent decisions to not wear a helmet (I\’m a careful bicyclist!) are certainly called into question by stories like these where there\’s likely nothing the cyclist could\’ve done, careful or not, to avoid being hit.

Still, be careful out there. No reason not to.

jack
jack
15 years ago

Andrew Ruess once turned me into a newt

…i got better

Forseti
Forseti
15 years ago

I apologize Mr Ruess.

SkidMark
SkidMark
15 years ago

Re: licensing bicyclists

At what age do you license a bicyclist?

If there is a an age restriction, how do you bike somewhere with your children?

If you are extremely poor and/or homeless how do you pay for it, or get a license without a home address?

Are we going to criminalize children and homeless people, chasing them down for not having a license plate?

Cycling needs to be promoted to children, licensing stands in the way of that. So does punishing someone for simply riding a bike down the street.

Cycling needs to be accessible to EVERYONE, licensing stands in the way of that.

Graham
15 years ago

I think the witch hunt came about because in post #4 by Myra, she had, in the \”Website\” field, a link to a twitter comment – attributed to Andrew – that said something negative about cyclists (the twitter link is now dead, apparently). Myra\’s posts usually have, in that same \”Website\” field, a link to her very bike-unfriendly blog.

I had the bad feeling that, just because Myra\’s comment linked to a twitter with Andrew\’s name on it, someone assumed that they must be one and the same person. However, that\’s a big assumption, and there\’s obviously no grounds for it – you can put any web site you want in that field. And really, there\’s not even any certainty that the twitter comment actually came from Andrew. Or, for that matter, that the guy posting above is really Andrew (though that seems a valid assumption).

It\’s all assumptions, few of which are solid enough to warrant harassing someone.

Personally, I never use my real name, and never assume I know who I\’m talking to. And I mostly try to be nice, unless I\’m talking about the Oregonian, or bike-harassing traffic cops. Or bad drivers. Or CRC developers. I might be forgetting someone…

Anyway, this xkcd cartoon pretty much says it all regarding internet arguments: http://xkcd.com/438/

So yeah, welcome, Andrew. And kudos on a level-headed response to what seems to be an unfounded attack. Also, \’gratz on going carbon-neutral/negative!

Mick
15 years ago

I \”follow\” Andrew Ruess on Twitter and in my experience he is neither a troll nor an ill-tempered individual. I was shocked that Robert Dobbs had \”found\” otherwise. Obviously, Mr. Dobbs has been proven wrong.

Now, will the apologies be as heartfelt and lengthy as the vituperation towards Mr. Ruess?

Mick
15 years ago

Also, Jonathan, I\’m disappointed that you would edit whatever insults that Dobbs directed at Andrew but still allowed multiple phone numbers to be posted. That\’s a real WTF!

[Editor\’s note: Hi Mick. I\’ve had time to re-read this comment thread and I\’ve deleted many passages in comments that I felt were inappropriate. Thanks for your feedback.]

Adams Carroll (News Intern)
15 years ago

\”Also, Jonathan, I\’m disappointed that you would edit whatever insults that Dobbs directed at Andrew but still allowed multiple phone numbers to be posted. That\’s a real WTF!\”

Mick. FYI I emailed Andrew directly to ask what the heck this thread was all about. He has no problem with his email and business phone number being listed. I deleted his mobile number at his request.

i sort of regret not just deleting this whole thread to begin with.

i really don\’t like to squash any direction comments take, but its threads like this that make me want to start just deleted everything and really getting more stern with folks.

Please everyone, can we stick to the issues and only delve into personalities when they have a direct and important tie to the story?