*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.)
- Nick Bucher: 02/02/07
- Jerry Hinatsu: 05/04/07
- Daniel Hunt: 08/21/07
- Curtis Lee Web: 10/08/07
- Tracey Sparling: 10/11/07
- Brett Jarolimek: 10/22/07
- Ricky Andrews: 11/18/07
We should never accept traffic deaths as simply collateral damage of our unbalanced transportation system. One fatality is one too many.
But, even if we can never fully prevent these tragedies from happening, we can all do something to improve the safety of our streets.
Get involved. Attend meetings. Be an advocate for safety. Question the status quo. Operate your vehicle with the highest respect and understanding of the consequences for your decisions.
And, most importantly, always be aware of your surroundings, whether your hands grip a steering wheel or a set of handlebars.