velomal
01-17-2007, 10:35 AM
On January 2nd, I was riding home from work at 5:15p.m. and was was struck by a Jeep Wrangler pulling out from Stop sign. The woman driver was pulling out from N Wygant St onto N Basin Ave. As I approached the intersection, the Jeep appeared to be coming to a stop at the stop sign. Therefore I conluded that I had time to cross in front of the Jeep as she came to a stop. As I pedalled down onto the road from the sidewalk and began to cross in front of the vehicle, (in a crosswalk) the driver accellerated without looking to the right or even directly in front of her. I was directly in front of her as she accellerated. I tried to pedal faster to cross in front of her without being struck. I did not make it across the vehicle before being struck. The front bumper of the Jeep struck the left side of my bicycle and snapped my left ankle on impact. This collision sent me hurtling through the air over my handlebars and out in the right-most traffic lane on N Basin Ave. I landed on my head and on my left hand and fore-arm. I was wearing a helmet and the helmet was cracked upon impact with the road. After landing in the street I scrambled back to the side of the street as quickly as I could, for fear of being struck by traffic on N Basin Ave. I looked over my shoulder to try to get the license plate # of the Jeep that hit, me, but the vehicle was travelling quite fast and was out of range for me to read the numbers within a few seconds. I almost thought the vehicle was going to drive off, but it finally stopped approximately 200-300 feet down the street. The next vehicle coming down on Basin Ave, was an armored truck. This vehicle stopped to block traffic so I did not get run over.
A driver of another stopped vehicle said that they had called 911. The woman driving the vehicle that struck me got out of her vehicle and walked back to the scene of the accident.
A police officer responded to the scene within a few minutes of the call. A fire truck also arrived shortly after the police officer arrived. The police officer did not bother to take a statement from me about the accident. Apparently he automatically assumed the accident was my fault. As a matter of fact, he didn't have much interaction with me at all. I do remember him directing one question towards me, though. He said something to the effect of: "So, you didn't have a font headlight on your bike, huh?". I said that I did, but it must have been knocked off on impact, which it was. The light was in the street and was still operating perfectly. I also had a blinking red tail light on my bike. I was also wearing rain paints with reflective stripes on the legs. It was dark and raining at the time of the accident.
An ambulance arrived within a few more minutes. The paramedics put me on a gurney and tried to calm me down. I was definitely in shock but remember speaking with the firemen and paramedics. I, however, have no recollection of any conversation with the police officer. He took a statement from the driver and assumed that her story was correct. He used this information in writing the police report. This report is extremely one-sided and finds me at fault. In fact, it states that I hit the vehicle. I'm not sure how this is possible since the entire left side of my bike is dented up and I have a broken left ankle.
I was transported to the OHSU Emergency Dept. by ambulance.
I had surgery on my ankle the next day and was discharged from the hospital after a two night stay. I have been out of work since the accident and probably will be for another week or two. I will not be able to put full weight on my leg for at least 8 weeks and probably will no be fully recovered for about 6 months.
Since the police officer felt that I was in the wrong by riding on the sidewalk, I would now like to explain why I was riding on the sidewalk. On Swan Island there are no bike lanes and the roads have very narrow, if any, shoulders. The traffic is mostly commercial, as Swan Island is basically a large industrial park. Every other vehicle is a tractor trailer or delivery truck. There is a sidewalk that is designated as a bike lane on Going Ave. Going Ave. is the street that all traffic accesses Swan Island on, but once on Swan Island there are no bike lanes. The Going Ave. sidewalk bike lane ends at the bottom of the hill where Basin Ave bears off from Going Ave. I was travelling on the sidewalk that runs along Basin Ave. and connects directly with the Going Ave. sidewalk bike lane. I was approximately 1/10 of a mile from the Going Ave. sidewalk bike lane when I was struck. I was riding on the same sidewalk that I have seen countless joggers and bikers travelling on in both directions in the past. Apparently I am not the only one that feels this is the only safe way to travel on Swan Island. I don't feel that travelling in this direction on this sidewalk was a violation of any law. The police officer felt that the driver was not at fault because she wouldn't have expected to see anyone travelling on the sidewalk in the direction that I was riding. It is my feeling that if I was on foot and stepped out into the crosswalk, I still would have been hit by the driver. The fact is that she did not look to the right at all. The law says that a driver has to yield to pedestrians or bicycles in a crosswalk before proceeding across the crosswalk. The bottom line is, if the driver had looked before proceeding, there is no way that she would not have seen me. I had a head light with 4 bright LED lights in it, 2 of which were blinking.
A driver of another stopped vehicle said that they had called 911. The woman driving the vehicle that struck me got out of her vehicle and walked back to the scene of the accident.
A police officer responded to the scene within a few minutes of the call. A fire truck also arrived shortly after the police officer arrived. The police officer did not bother to take a statement from me about the accident. Apparently he automatically assumed the accident was my fault. As a matter of fact, he didn't have much interaction with me at all. I do remember him directing one question towards me, though. He said something to the effect of: "So, you didn't have a font headlight on your bike, huh?". I said that I did, but it must have been knocked off on impact, which it was. The light was in the street and was still operating perfectly. I also had a blinking red tail light on my bike. I was also wearing rain paints with reflective stripes on the legs. It was dark and raining at the time of the accident.
An ambulance arrived within a few more minutes. The paramedics put me on a gurney and tried to calm me down. I was definitely in shock but remember speaking with the firemen and paramedics. I, however, have no recollection of any conversation with the police officer. He took a statement from the driver and assumed that her story was correct. He used this information in writing the police report. This report is extremely one-sided and finds me at fault. In fact, it states that I hit the vehicle. I'm not sure how this is possible since the entire left side of my bike is dented up and I have a broken left ankle.
I was transported to the OHSU Emergency Dept. by ambulance.
I had surgery on my ankle the next day and was discharged from the hospital after a two night stay. I have been out of work since the accident and probably will be for another week or two. I will not be able to put full weight on my leg for at least 8 weeks and probably will no be fully recovered for about 6 months.
Since the police officer felt that I was in the wrong by riding on the sidewalk, I would now like to explain why I was riding on the sidewalk. On Swan Island there are no bike lanes and the roads have very narrow, if any, shoulders. The traffic is mostly commercial, as Swan Island is basically a large industrial park. Every other vehicle is a tractor trailer or delivery truck. There is a sidewalk that is designated as a bike lane on Going Ave. Going Ave. is the street that all traffic accesses Swan Island on, but once on Swan Island there are no bike lanes. The Going Ave. sidewalk bike lane ends at the bottom of the hill where Basin Ave bears off from Going Ave. I was travelling on the sidewalk that runs along Basin Ave. and connects directly with the Going Ave. sidewalk bike lane. I was approximately 1/10 of a mile from the Going Ave. sidewalk bike lane when I was struck. I was riding on the same sidewalk that I have seen countless joggers and bikers travelling on in both directions in the past. Apparently I am not the only one that feels this is the only safe way to travel on Swan Island. I don't feel that travelling in this direction on this sidewalk was a violation of any law. The police officer felt that the driver was not at fault because she wouldn't have expected to see anyone travelling on the sidewalk in the direction that I was riding. It is my feeling that if I was on foot and stepped out into the crosswalk, I still would have been hit by the driver. The fact is that she did not look to the right at all. The law says that a driver has to yield to pedestrians or bicycles in a crosswalk before proceeding across the crosswalk. The bottom line is, if the driver had looked before proceeding, there is no way that she would not have seen me. I had a head light with 4 bright LED lights in it, 2 of which were blinking.