by PDOT at last night’s bike safety forum.
View entire presentation here
Last night in the Portland Building, Commissioner Adams and his Bike Safety Committee heard public testimony on bike safety issues and gave a presentation titled “Bike Safety in Portland” (view presentation).
From all reports (I was not able to attend myself), the comments shared were constructive and many people thanked Adams and PDOT for being responsive to these issues thus far.
After the meeting, one attendee said, “I think things are gaining momentum.” He also mentioned that Police Officer Robert Pickett from SE Precinct made a closing statement that reassured the crowd that the Police Bureau has heard community concerns about enforcement.
Southeast Portland resident Carl Larson was in the crowd (which he noted was “good-sized but not huge”). Carl said Officer Pickett fielded many questions about citations and investigations. He also added this observation:
“A common theme throughout the testimony was that cyclists and motorists don’t know the law. Comparisons to European road manners regarding cyclists came up more than once and long-term cultural initiatives like Safe Routes to School were cited as a means of improving our legal knowledge and our road culture.”
PDOT traffic safety program specialist Greg Raisman gave a 12-slide presentation.
Along with stats and graphs — including common bike crash types and fatality trends since 1995 — Raisman’s presentation included four slides addressing how PDOT might approach four key components of traffic safety: engineering, enforcement, equipment and education.
I’ve converted the PowerPoint into a webpage. You can view Greg’s presentation here.