Oregon State Police survey the scene. Dayley's
bike can be seen in the upper right.

65-year old Camas, Washington resident Steven Dayley was bicycling along the same route as the Reach the Beach ride on Saturday when he was struck from behind by a man driving a pickup. Dayley died from his injuries later that night at Salem Memorial Hospital.

The collision occurred on Highway 18, a few miles east of Grande Ronde, just outside the Fort Hill Restaurant (Google Map link).

While there were hundreds of people on the road in that area due to the Reach the Beach ride, both ride organizers and the Oregon State Police report that Dayley was not an official registrant. (more...)

Hank Bersani was 61 years old.
(Photo: Western Oregon University)

Monmouth resident and Western Oregon University professor, Hank Bersani, died Saturday morning when he was struck from behind while bicycling on Highway 99W.

According to the Oregon State Police, Bersani, 61, was riding northbound and was hit by 68-year-old Marvin Ford who was operating his Dodge Dakota pickup truck in the same direction. Here's how the OSP described what happened:

"... a northbound bicyclist moved from the shoulder into the northbound lane in front of the pickup. Ford veered left in an attempt to avoid the bicyclist but the right front of the pickup struck the bicycle from behind. The bicyclist... was ejected from his road bike and came to rest near the center of the highway."

(more...)

Streetview near location of collision.

57-year old Dave Apperson, an employee at ODOT since 2006, was struck and killed by someone driving a car while he pedaled his recumbent on a rural road near Salem Friday morning.

According to the Polk County Sheriff's office the collision took place around 10:30 am on Hopewell Rode near Spring Valley Lane about 10 miles north of downtown Salem. Apperson was struck from behind by 26-year old nearby resident John Taylor, who was driving a Dodge Ram pickup. (more...)

The community is trying to understand what happened in Saturday's fatal traffic crash that resulted in the death of 47-year old Bret Lewis. In the meantime, Police investigators work on their investigation, advocates have swung into action, and family and friends grieve at the senseless loss of life.

As I mentioned in my initial report, the police statement about the crash seemed (to me at least) to go out of its way to absolve the motor vehicle operator (now identified as 48-year old James Nguyen of Beaverton) of any wrongdoing. Mr. Nguyen didn't intend to kill anyone Saturday night; but as a vehicle operator, he has an important legal (and moral) responsibility to use enough care and caution so as to not hit another person who is operating their vehicle legally (which it seems like Lewis was doing) on the same road.

To learn more about the crash and about concerns with how it was framed by police, I had a conversation yesterday with Beaverton Police Department Detective Sergeant Jim Shumway. Sgt. Shumway is the Public Information Officer who wrote the press statement about this crash. (more...)

Intersection of TV Hwy and SW Tualaway Ave.
(Photo: Jim Parsons)

Community members plan to hold a vigil for Bret Lewis*, the man who was hit and killed while bicycling on Tualatin-Valley Highway in Beaverton on Saturday.

The event is being planned by local citizen advocate (and 2011 BTA Alice Award nominee) Jim Parsons along with Hal Ballard, the executive director of the Washington County Bicycle Transportation Coalition. (more...)

View map of approximate location.

47-year old Michael Bret Lewis died in the hospital this evening at after he was struck from behind by a motor vehicle while riding his bicycle on SW Tualatin Valley Highway in Beaverton at around 6:30pm.

Police say Lewis was hit by a 48-year old man driving a Toyota Prius who was also headed westbound. The collision happened near the intersection of SW Tualaway Ave (in front an auto dealership - Google Map here). (more...)

Google Map of location

Just before 9:30 pm on Monday night, a man riding a bike died while crossing the train tracks near SE Oak and Campbell Streets in Milwaukie (about seven miles south of Portland).

According to the Milwaukie Police Department, it was a southbound Amtrak train. On KGW's newscast tonight, they reported that there were several cars waiting at the train crossing arms (which were down) when "all of the sudden, a man on a bike rode past the cars and onto the tracks." A Milwaukie police detective interviewed by KGW said the train was honking. There is no explanation at this time why the man on the bike continued onto the tracks.
(more...)

Map of location.

Two women who were crossing SE Foster Blvd at 80th Ave on foot last night were struck by a car. One woman, 23 year old Lindsay Leonard, died on the scene. The other, 29 23 year old Jessica Finlay, is in critical condition.

According to the Oregon State Police, the women were crossing Foster in a crosswalk southbound from the Fred Meyer parking lot. Here's more from the OSP: "The vehicle was travelling westbound on Foster and witnesses stated that it appeared neither pedestrian saw the vehicle approaching."
(more...)

Update: A candlelight vigil for Gordon Patterson will be held at 8pm on Thursday, September 17th at Hudson's Bay High School (map).

NE 41st and St Johns in Vancouver
(See street view at end of story)

A teacher at Hudson's Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington was killed in a hit and run yesterday around 4pm while riding his bicycle through the intersection of Saint Johns and NE 41st St in Vancouver.

The Columbian is reporting that the victim was Gordon Patterson, 60, a well-liked technology teacher at the high school.

Eighteen year old Antonio Eugene Cellestine has been arrested and booked on felony hit and run charges at the Clark County jail. (more...)

Police say this is similar to the suspect's vehicle.

The Portland Police Bureau just released a statement and photo they hope will help them find the suspect in a fatal hit-and-run case that happened on NE 122nd Avenue last week.

On Thursday, August 27th at 2:15am, 52-year old James Wagner was struck and killed by someone driving what investigators believe to be a four-door Toyota Corolla similar to the one in the photo above. The police also say that the vehicle would have glass broken out of the headlight on the passenger side. (more...)

[Updated 8/28/09: The Portland Mercury is reporting that the victim was 52 year old James Earl Wagner. The Mercury also has photos of the intersection where the crash occurred, and commentary on the difficulty of walking and biking there.]

Click for Google Map

The Portland Police report that this morning at about 2:15 am, a 52-year old man was killed after being struck by someone driving a car. The incident occurred around NE 122nd and Fremont. The motor vehicle involved in the collision left the scene.

Here's more from the police:

The Major Crash Team responded to investigate and believe this was a hit and run incident. It appears that the bicyclist was riding Northbound on 122nd when he was struck and killed. No vehicle description is being released at this time. The name of the deceased is being withheld until family members can be notified.

(more...)

Flowers placed as a memorial
near the location where
Bernick was hit.
(Photos © Dan Liu)

Last night, BikePortland news intern Dan Liu and I visited the scene of the collision that killed Cary Bernick on Monday evening.

We timed our arrival to match that of the crash itself, shortly after 5pm. There wasn't a ton of traffic. Biking up and down the Halsey/Weidler couplet (that's wonk-speak for two, one-way streets) doesn't feel exactly safe -- you have to look sharp -- but it also isn't the terrifying freeway on-off ramp I expected.

Dan and I stood for a while looking at the crash scene. It had rained heavily all day and dried out several hours beforehand. Someone had tied a bouquet of flowers to a nearby street sign with a yellow ribbon, and another bouquet was laid carefully on the sidewalk. We later learned that the flowers were placed by Bernick's wife, brother, and his brother's girlfriend. Shortly after we left, a ghost bike was chained to the same spot. (more...)

NE 106th and Weidler

This evening at about 5:30 pm, 49-year old Cary Bernick of Southeast Portland was killed while riding his bike on NE Weidler near the intersection with NE 106th in East Portland (map link).

The Portland Police Bureau say Bernick was riding against traffic on Weidler (which is one-way westbound at that location) and was "in a lane of traffic and not using the bicycle lane" when he was hit. It also appears from their statement that the man was riding on the south side of the street, opposite from the side with the bike lane. The PPB has also confirmed that the man was not wearing a helmet.
(more...)

Last night I had one of those comments that reminds me why I've devoted so much of my life to this site.

It came from "Nick's mom". Nick is Nick Moreno, a 17-year-old boy who died in the ICU on October 29th, one day after he was struck by a car while trying to cross McLoughlin Blvd. on his bike (read more about Nick in this Oregonian story).

Read her comment below:

A week before this Nick came home with injuries from head to toe because he had been run off the road by a car. Nick ended up being thrown off his bike. The driver didn't even stop. Nick ended up in the ER because we thought he had a broken ankle. Nick's friends told me being run off the road by vehicles happens all the time to them. (more...)

Here's the story from the Corvallis Gazette Times:

"A bicyclist was struck and killed by a log truck at about 7:45 a.m. today on Chapel Drive, just east of the 13th Street intersection. Edward Paul Bomber, 48, of Corvallis, died at the scene."

According to a reader who tipped me off about the story, Ed was a "good friend to many" and was also the co-owner of Northwest MultiSports, a triathlon shop located in Corvallis. (more...)