Bike safety advocates at a memorial gathering
earlier this evening for Austin Miller.
(Photos: Jim Parsons)
earlier this evening for Austin Miller.
(Photos: Jim Parsons)
About 15-20 bike safety advocates held a brief rally tonight at the site of yesterday’s fatal bike/bus collision on SW Farmington Road just west of Murray Blvd.
Participants held signs and placed tea lights and flowers at a ghost bike that has been erected for 15 year-old Austin Miller.
A commenter named KTesh left this poem for Austin:
I stood there
alone
in the rain
staring at the sad image
of a bicycle
that marked the tragic end
of a life too short
alone
in the rain
staring at the sad image
of a bicycle
that marked the tragic end
of a life too short
Anger
frustration
and fear
that someday
one might mark
where I fell
frustration
and fear
that someday
one might mark
where I fell
I cannot stop riding
but I feel the loss
of all those who
were cut down
and pray that
someday
somehow
the slaughter
will end
but I feel the loss
of all those who
were cut down
and pray that
someday
somehow
the slaughter
will end
For Austin
Thanks for being prompt on this story, Jonathan, especially since you\’re dealing with the NAHBS-related server issues.
I stood there
alone
in the rain
staring at the sad image
of a bicycle
that marked the tragic end
of a life too short
Anger
frustration
and fear
that someday
one might mark
where I fell
I cannot stop riding
but I feel the loss
of all those who
were cut down
and pray that
someday
somehow
the slaughter
will end
For Austin
*KTesh* powerful words, i totaly think the same. we are all connected.
take care all,
Joe
Hope the necessary and appropriate actions are taken after the investigation, we don\’t need another \”blind spot\” excuse. Prayers to the friends and family.
Thank you to all of you who went out and who worked on the ghost bike.
I think the ghost bike and rally are a useful and good thing to take place. Those of us who read this blog and other cycling sources are all too aware of what is happening out on the streets. Some of that emotion needs to flow out from us and into the community to keep us from blowing and to increase awareness in the non-cycling community that we are out on the roads and need everyone\’s help to stay safe. Osmosis.
Take a little extra time to ride carefully my friends…
I stopped by here on my lunch break, but there was a news crew filming.
I\’ll go back tomorrow, and hopefully have a moment to pay respect to a fallen cyclist.
First off I want to say that Austin and his family are in my prayers. This is a real sad and tragic event. I ride through that intersection on a daily basis when I commute to work on my bike. I believe it is a VERY dangerous intersection. Drivers aren\’t paying attention like they should. I have witnessed peds and cyclists almost get hit. Hopefully this will make a few more drivers aware of the situation there. I am just sorry and sad that this had to happen for people to OPEN their eyes. One last thing to those cyclists that take that extra minute to be safe I would like to say THANK YOU!!! Not every cyclists is wreckless!!! 🙂
My thoughts are with his family. This is so, so sad.
The reports I read state that both right side wheels went over Austin. The only way that could happen is a frontal, or very close to frontal impact. There are no blind spots in front of a bus. There may be no excuse for the bus driver on this wreck.
I want to extend my thoughts and prayers to Austin\’s family. I graduated from A&C just as he was entering it, but from what I saw he was a very talented individual. I recently lost my little brother to a woman who thought it was more important to text message while turning left than to watch the road. Tragedies like this happen too often and something needs to be done to prevent it.
If there is anything I can do for Austin\’s friends and family please let me know.
Missed the rally, but I was waiting at that intersection at 4:45PM on 2/13, heading S on Murray–my usual bike commute, in time to see the 4:45 Trimet bus, same one that struck Austin, sail through the intersection and roll into the bus pull-over, on Farmington. At that pace, being so close to the curb, if another cyclist had dropped over the curb from the MUP (as Austin probably did), it\’s likely that the collision would have been repeated. Bus speed at pull-over appears excessive to me, but as \’just a cyclis\’ what do I know…?
I am an ACMA student & knew Austin. He was a very bright kid and very talented. He was so excited to be our opinion editor on the Savant, the school\’s newspaper, as he had written an opinion column the year before. Everyone on Savant loved him; he was our collective little brother.
God bless you.
I was a close friend of Austin\’s. It\’s beautiful to see all that had been done since such a devastation. However, unfortunate that something of such magnitude occurs, before we finaly see to come together as a community.
Also unfortunate to see that Austin\’s ghost bike was removed last week.. anyone know anything about this??
According to Fred Hansen of TriMet, the bus that hit Austin had reached 16 MPH and was decelerating when he was struck. The driver did see Austin, but not in time to react.
We (the WashCo BTC)were granted permission to place the memorial there temporarily and the board decided to remove it the night of his memorial service.
It will be back on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 for the \”Ride of Silence\” at 7PM, along with ghost bikes for the 8 others who have been killed on Washington County\’s Roads since 2005.
UPDATE:
I rode past the location of Austin’s crash today (May 18, 2010). And not a DAMN thing has been done to make that intersection safer!