From the Oregonian News Blog:
Milwaukie police are searching for a vehicle that hit a bicyclist about 7:40 p.m. Tuesday on Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard just north of River Road (Google map) and kept going. The 18-year-old male bicyclist from Oregon City suffered minor injuries.
The suspect vehicle was described as a 1996 to 1999 dark green Suzuki Sidekick. The vehicle’s passenger-side mirror was broken off and recovered at the scene, and the vehicle probably had some body damage on its right side, police said.Anyone with information is asked to call Milwaukie police at 503-786-7500.
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Will the police be sending out a bulletin with the description of the vehicle and possible damage to the vehicle to all the auto-body shops in the area? It seems that might be a good way to find this driver … when he/she shows up to get a new mirror and auto-body repair, the repair shop will already be on the lookout for him/her.
It is very strange, but when a messenegr got hit last year by a car doing a estimated 80 + in the school zone at 19th and Killingsworth, and hit a messenger, there was no search, no attempt at finding the driver.
I personally found the driver myself accidentally one day, and the police refused to look into it, after a partial confession, and the extreme look of guilt in his eyes
But, we have seen that the Oregon City, and Milwaukee police have had a number of bicycle related hit and run’s, and everyone of them appears on the news, searching for the car.
Is this another obvious case of the Portland Police not even caring for some of the citizens that pay for their salaries?
I aplaud the Milwaukee police for searching for this driver,
and at the same time lamblast our local, Portland “POLICE” (as they are referred too) for dropping the ball on the protecting the transportation option that is both the best, and the largest increasing, in the Portland area.
Wake up Portland Police, and learn a lesson from our neighbors to the south!!!
Today I heard Lars Larson talking about a driver that hit a cyclist at night. He said fortunately the cyclist wasn’t seriously injured. He went on to say that it was the cyclists fault because the cyclist was:
1) wearing dark clothes
2) riding with no lights
3) riding the wrong direction on the street
I don’t know if this is the same incident or not.
You shouldn’t run over cyclists in any event, but if he had no lights and dark clothes at night then that is not too bright. No pun intended!
Hey, I’ve got a simple rule: don’t drive over cyclists no matter what they’re wearing, Lars. And I’m disinclined to believe what Lars Larsen has to say about the conditions of a crash he didn’t witness, or frankly, about anything else.
I agree that the cyclist should have had lights and should have been riding with traffic and not against traffic. There is no prohibition of dark clothing while cycling at night so that is irrelavent.
The only thing is, if that had been a pedestrian crossing the street they would not have had to have lights, and the car driver would have been obligated to see the pedestrian and not hit him/her.
I don’t think the person driving the car should be relieved of any responsibility for hitting the cyclist just because they didn’t have lights. What direction they were riding in doesn’t matter either, you take up the same amount of space whether you are riding with or against traffic. You should be able to something as big as a person in the road in front of you. I am tired of “I didn’t see him” being a valid excuse for car drivers.
pics of the car/bike crash dabby is reffering to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/revphil/archives/date-posted/2005/10/16/
or if that url is too long: http://tinyurl.com/y4m23w
drew was messed up, this was a few days later I believe.
Actually, SKiD, as long as we’re discussing legal “shoulds”:
– cyclists are required to have a front white light and a red rear reflector or light at night
– cyclists are required to obey most traffic laws applicable to motor vehicles, such as riding on the correct side of the road
If a motorist collided with you, and that driver was disobeying traffic law, wouldn’t you think that they are responsible for the wreck if you were doing everything legally? It works both ways. On the other hand, if in the case of this cyclist (riding w/out lights on the wrong side of the road) if the driver were intoxicated or violating a traffic law such as due to speeding, then the driver is also at fault.
I certainly wouldn’t bike with dark clothing and no lights at night, much less on the wrong side of the road, unless I had a death wish.
It sure would be a lot easier to advocate for safer motor vehicle driving if there were not so many idiotic cyclists. The refrain from motorists most of the time is “you cyclists have a death wish anyway” or similar. Yeah, I know, it’s not rational to group all cyclists together, but one thing I can’t do is change human nature.
organic brain please reread my post. I think you missed “I agree that the cyclist should have had lights and should have been riding with traffic and not against traffic.”
What I was getting at is that it does not excuse the car driver from identifying a person in the road and avoiding hitting him.
It doesn’t work both ways. If I t-bone a car with my bike the occupant of the car is not likely to die, or even be seriously injured.
You are one step away from blaming the cyclist for the accident, or thinking that he deserved to get hit for riding without lights and in dark clothes.
Am I the only person who thinks that people driving cars need to pay more attention to the road?
Hey, check it out! The auto driver turned herself in:
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_101306_news_hit_run_turn_in.36359e5f.html