"This is precisely why the BTA, WPC [Willamette Pedestrian Coalition] and I are calling for a vehicular homicide law. There ought to be some higher level of consequence when you use a deadly weapon to kill someone, even if you didn't do it on purpose.
-- Ray Thomas, lawyer
Yesterday, Multnomah County Senior Deputy District Attorney Chuck Sparks released a report (PDF here) on the fatal TriMet bus crash that killed two people and injured three others while they walked across a street in downtown Portland on April 24th.
According to the report, the lead police investigator found that "the driver was entirely at fault in causing this crash," but, after looking at all the evidence and hearing from 33 witnesses, the Grand Jury opted to not bring criminal charges against bus operator Sandy Day.
On the surface, this seems outrageous: Ms. Day drove her vehicle through a crosswalk without being able to see whether or not someone was in it (due to a blind spot). While Ms. Day clearly did not have criminal intentions, she violated a traffic law and her negligence to clear her blind spots resulted in the death of two people. (more...)
The ghost bike that served as a memorial to Tracey Sparling, the 19-year old art student who was struck and killed by a cement truck on W. Burnside back in 2007, will become part of a permanent shrine in St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in downtown Portland.
The bike will be installed along with a plaque in the Portland Bicycle Shrine that the church dedicated last year. A ceremony will be held in conjunction with the event this Tuesday (4/13) at 5:30 pm. (more...)
According to The Oregonian, the family of Tracey Sparling -- the 19-year who was killed when a cement truck turned right into her in October 2007 -- has filed a lawsuit against the trucking company.
Here's more from The Oregonian:
"The suit was filed Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court against the driver and his company. The suit accuses the driver of negligence for not yielding the right of way under Oregon law and failing to use his mirrors and control the vehicle owned by Rinker Materials."
Michael Hall, Dean of Student Services at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, has received a community award from the NW Examiner for his role in creating awareness and promoting bike safety in the wake of two tragic deaths last year.
The death of 19 year-old PNCA art student Tracey Sparling, followed by the death of PNCA alum Brett Jarolimek in a span of less than two weeks last October sent shockwaves through the close-knit school.
According to the NW Examiner, Hall reacted by going above and beyond his duties to not only support the student community, but to help them cope and become more aware of bike safety. (more...)
On Monday, the city of Portland installed a bike box in the SE corner of W. Burnside and 14th streets in downtown Portland -- the same intersection where Tracey Sparling was killed nine months ago.
This is the eighth bike box the City has installed in the past four months since the first one went in at SE Hawthorne and 7th. (more...)
In a respectful and poignant outdoor ceremony, St. Mary's Cathedral in Northwest Portland held their first-ever Blessing of the Bikes on Sunday.
The service opened with a hymn and continued with a series of prayers and intercessions meant to recognize and celebrate the contribution of cyclists to the community.
A large wooden cross was carried out into the courtyard and a bicycle was placed atop a table at the base of the cross. A small, yet sincere crowd of about 40 or so people had gathered under blue skies to hear the rites and take heed of the blessing. (more...)
About 70 Portlanders took part in the Ride of Silence last night.
After a brief speech by BTA executive director Scott Bricker, the crowd rode from the North Park Blocks, made a loop through downtown, went over the Broadway Bridge, then up MLK Jr. Blvd., and ended at N. Interstate and Greeley.
(more...)
In the April issue of Adventure Cyclist magazine, technical editor John Schubert writes that "poorly designed" bike lanes were to blame for the recent deaths of Tracey Sparling and Brett Jarolimek.
In, Portland's Agony: Two cyclists died as a result of poorly designed traffic-control devices, Schubert uses his monthly Cyclesense column as a pulpit to slam PDOT bicycle coordinator Roger Geller and find fault with the current direction of bikeway design in the most bike-friendly city in America (the article is not available online, but you can download a PDF here -- posted with permission from Adventure Cyclist Magazine.) (more...)
The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) has made its decision on whether or not to issue traffic citations in the October fatalities of Tracey Sparling and Brett Jarolimek.
Rinker Cement Company truck driver Timothy Wiles has been issued a citation for violation of ORS 811.050, "Failure to yield to rider on bicycle lane," in the October 11th crash that took the life of Tracey Sparling. (more...)
I just spoke with Multnomah County District Attorney Chuck Sparks. Sparks has completed his investigation into the collision that took the life of Tracey Sparling at W. Burnside and 14th in downtown Portland on October 11.
Sparks said he will not file any criminal charges in the case.
Here is the conclusion from the full report and memo made public by the DA's office today:
(more...)
Last night, as part of a nearly $6 million surplus budget allocation process, Portland's City Council approved $200,000 to fund bike safety improvements at 14 intersections.
These improvements include new, colored bike boxes and bike lanes at intersections found to be dangerous and in need of immediate treatment by Transportation Commissioner Sam Adams. The safety measures were fast-tracked in light of two fatal collisions and one serious injury collision back in October.
Adams' transportation policy staffer Roland Chlapowski says the $200,000 includes some "contingency money" that would be used if the current projects on the table end up costing more than expected. On the other hand, he said that, "If we don't use up that money we'll probably be able to squeeze more projects out of it."
Chlapowski also said that he is working on a large, more policy-oriented package to take to City Council in the next few weeks. I'll have more on that soon, but you can expect it to include potential new equipment regulations for city trucks and several recommendations around community policing and the policy and practices of the Police Bureau.
Don't forget to join us for the "We Are ALL Traffic" rally tomorrow (11/17).
There are rides being led to the rally from various locations throughout the city. Here is the list:
(more...)
Please consider gathering before Saturday's rally at one of the all-too-many sites around town where people have been killed while bicycling or walking, and then riding or walking with the group to Waterfront Park. All processions will be timed to arrive at Salmon Street Springs by 11:45am.
The list below also includes sites that haven't yet been spoken up for. If you would like to lead a ride from these sites or others not listed, please email eleanor dot blue at gmail dot com. The list will be updated throughout Thursday and Friday.
Please wear a black armband for mourning, red if you've been injured. Armbands will be available at these gatherings and at Waterfront Park, but you're encouraged to bring your own.
Downtown:
North:
NEW* Legacy Emanuel Hospital -- In honor of Bob Verrinder
Walk only, leaving at 11am from 2801 N Gantenbein
Northwest:
Northeast:
Southeast:
* SE 37th and Taylor -- In memory of Matthew Schekel
Gather at 11, ride at 11:15
* SE 72nd and Woodstock -- In honor of a worker injured when woman drove onto sidewalk
Gather at 10:30, ride at 10:45
* SE 42nd and Frances (***change: was at Gladstone) -- In memory of a child killed while crossing the street
Gather at 11, ride at 11:10
NEW* SE Belmont and 34th In memory of Curtis Lee Webb
Gather at 11, ride at 11:15
NEW* SE 26th and Stark -- In memory of Nick Bucher
Gather at 11, ride at 11:15
NEW* 600 SE 49th -- In memory of Noah Cardamon
Gather at 11, ride at 11:15
*SE 11th and Stark -- In memory of Daniel Hunt
Ride leader needed
*SE Foster and 115th -- In memory of Jerry Hinatsu
Ride leader needed
Outside Portland:
McLoughlin Boulevard in Milwaukie -- In memory of Daniel Frank
Meet at 10:25 at the Bike N' Hike parking lot just South of Fred Meyer on the Northbound side of SE McLoughlin Blvd. (15080 S.E. McLoughlin, in Milwaukie) - Leave at 10:40
Portland-based lawyer Bob Mionske, a former Olympian who writes a monthly legal column for VeloNews Magazine, has added yet another voice of concern over what he sees as a bias against bicyclists at the Portland Police Bureau.
In his most recent VeloNews column, A fatal bias?, Mionske goes in-depth on four cases that he says are "textbook incidents of anti-cyclist bias."
Three of the four cases are from Portland collisions that happened in the past month. (more...)
One of the major questions the community is grappling with after the deaths of both Tracey Sparling and Brett Jarolimek is; why were the truck drivers not given a citation for failure to yield to a bicycle in a bike lane?
The law (ORS 811.050) seems clear:
"A person commits the offense of failure of a motor vehicle operator to yield to a rider on a bicycle lane if the person is operating a motor vehicle and the person does not yield the right of way to a person operating a bicycle, electric assisted bicycle, moped, motor assisted scooter or motorized wheelchair upon a bicycle lane."
*PLEASE NOTE: This post was updated on 11/18/11 to reflect an additional person who was killed. Ricky Andrews was not officially recorded by the City as a bike fatality and I only learned of his incident recently. - JM
Just for the record, I want to acknowledge that six seven people have been killed in Portland this year while riding bicycles. For reference, this is the most bicycle fatalities ever recorded in one year in the city of Portland. (Last year we had zero, in 1997 and 2001 we had five.)
Below are links to my coverage of each of them (Note: Two of the six deaths did not include a motor vehicle. One was bike-on-bike and the other was a bicyclist running into a telephone pole.)
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