The Portland Police Bureau have issued a citation to the person who was driving their car and failed to stop in time to avoid a man who was stopped in front of them on his bicycle. The man on the bike was pulling his son behind him in a child trailer and it was crumpled under the car's bumper.

The collision happened on the evening of November 29th while a man on a bike was on SE 60th waiting at the red light on SE Division. Thankfully, the low-speed collision resulted in only minor cuts and bruises to both the man and his four year-old son. Even so, it has sparked a lively discussion about the safety of biking with children. (more...)

Photo from the scene.
(Photo: Chris Dorr)

On Thursday evening the unthinkable happened.

While waiting behind two cars at a red light on SE 60th at Division, a Portland man — with his four year-old son in a trailer behind him — was rear-ended by someone driving a car. The police haven't released many details, but I've talked with him at length. At this point, he has asked to remain anonymous because he’s conflicted about having himself and his family thrust into a public debate about biking with children.

Here's what happened...

The man was headed south from his child's preschool near Mount Tabor, at 60th and Salmon, to their home just south of Division. He chose SE 60th because it's the only traffic signal to get across Division. He was wearing a reflective yellow jacket and his trailer had a strobing rear tail-light. The last thing he recalls before impact was standing at the light, and an instinctive concern that the car sounds behind him were approaching too fast. Then he's flying through the air after being thrust up onto the hood of the car behind him, breaking its windshield, eventually impacting the car in front of him. When he came to, he realized his son was still in the trailer, which had been crumpled by one of the car's wheels.  (more...)

Note from publisher: I've long wondered how best to handle all the reports I receive about collisions. They usually do not merit a full story on the Front Page; but I think they have value for the community in exposing problem intersections, sharing experiences, and so on. Years back, we developed a Close Calls Map and data tool; but it is no longer supported. So for now, I'm going to start posting collisions here on Page Two. I hope you find them more useful than frightening. — Jonathan

——

Several readers reported a collision this morning around 8:30 am on N. Greeley at Sumner — which is right near the Adidas campus in north Portland. Here's a description from someone who was driving by:

nw entrance to the adidas campus on greeley. large black suv in driveway - could have been a right hook (purely speculative)? i passed (by car) in the opposite direction just as the firetruck/ambulance arrived. saw a person lying on the ground next to the suv and a bike in the bushes. another cyclist had stopped and was still there when i passed.

And another reader:

Saw a rider on the ground next to black Escalade w/ group crowded around. Looked serious.

Map:

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Marilyn at Cycle Oregon 2006.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Marilyn Hayward, owner of Coventry Cycle Works in Southeast Portland, is in the Intensive Care Unit at Legacy Hospital in Portland today following a collision she was involved in while bicycling in Cornelius this morning.

According to The Oregonian, the collision happened around 10:00 am at the intersection of N. Adair and 10th (about 24 miles west of downtown Portland). They are reporting that a preliminary investigation showed that Hayward was bicycling west on Adair and the person operating the Prius was driving south on 10th.

A Cornelius fire department spokesman told The Oregonian that Hayward was unconscious when they arrived.
(more...)

This morning the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) responded to what was first reported as a collision involving someone driving a car and someone walking; but upon arrival, they realized the driver had collided with a man riding a bike.

According to PPB Sergeant Peter Simpson, the collision happened this morning at around 6:59 am at 45th and Harney Drive in southeast Portland (near Errol Heights park and just north of the Springwater Corridor path). Sgt. Simpson says that 30-year-old Robert Downs was riding westbound on Harney and 27-year-old Patrick Jackson was driving his Subaru in the opposite direction and turned left to go north on 45th. As he completed the left turn, Jackson's car struck Downs. (more...)

The SUV driven by Bethany Peck.
(Photos: Oregon State Police)

A man was seriously injured after he was struck from behind while bicycling on Highway 101 yesterday. The collision occurred at around 11:25 a.m. just north of the Coos/Curry County line.

Oregon State Police say that 52 year old Marcellus Tijdink from the Netherlands, was biking southbound on the shoulder of the highway near milepost 285 when he was struck by 62-year old Bethany Peck, who was driving a Toyota 4-Runner. The OSP reported this morning that Tijdink remains in the hospital and that "he is alert and his condition is improving."

Here's more from the OSP statement: (more...)

*Scroll to end of story for major update*

Last night at just after 1:30 am I got a phone call about a "weird occurrence" on the on I-205 multi-use path just north of NE Glisan St on-ramp (map).

It turns out that someone on a motorcycle heading northbound somehow managed to end up on the adjacent path and struck a man who was riding his bike. Both people went to the hospital with what are being reported as non-serious injuries.

In that location, the I-205 path is only separated from the on-ramp by a concrete barrier wall (see aerial photo below). While bicycling through this intersection, I've often lamented at how awkward and unpleasant it is. It's not clear how this actually happened. The police have yet to release a statement about it. (more...)

Curry County DA convicted driver of
reckless driving and assault.

A man has been convicted on assault and reckless driving charges for driving his car into two women as they rode their bicycles on the Oregon Coast Bike Route last fall. The collision occurred on October 3rd, about 11 miles north of Gold Beach on Highway 101.

30-year-old Martha McClean and 26-year old Essya Nabbali were on a bike tour of the Oregon Coast and were pedaling southbound on a very narrow part of the highway known as Ophir Dike, when 62-year-old Neal Lawson struck them from behind with his PT Cruiser traveling at about 55 mph.
(more...)

My low-budget re-creation of this morning's collision
at SW Bertha and B-H Hwy. (Bike = green, car = blue.)

28-year old Jessie Belter suffered a broken leg when she was struck by someone driving a car as she rode in the bike lane on Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway this morning.

According to the Portland Police Bureau, the collision happened at about 7:50 am at the intersection of Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway and SW Bertha Blvd (map). The person driving the car was 33-year-old Nicole Poor. The police say that Poor was driving northbound on SW Bertha and attempted to turn westbound (left) on Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway. Belter was headed eastbound in the bike lane. Poor stopped at the stop sign, but then, "failed to yield to the bicycle rider," police say. Luckily, the car was only traveling about 5 mph.

Poor has been issued a citation for, "Failure to Obey a Traffic Control Device." (Asked why that was the citation if the woman stopped at the stop sign, the PPB told me, "She stopped, but should have remained stopped longer... she didn't look and see the rider.") (more...)

The bicycle involved in one of two
collisions on SW 185th Street in Aloha yesterday.
(Photos: Wash. Co. Sheriff's Office)

"On Monday, February 20, 2012, Sheriff's deputies were very busy dealing with crashes involving vehicles vs. pedestrians and bicycles." That's the opening line of a Washington County Sheriff's Office statement sent to the media yesterday. It came after there were three collisions involving vulnerable road users in Washington County that happened within a two-hour time span.

Since I've covered this beat, I don't recall ever seeing a police press statement with three separate incidents so close to each other.
(more...)