Man in serious condition after bike/car crash in Southeast Portland

That is what happens when a cyclist yet again violates the law. I hope the lawless bike rider has to pay for the damages he/she caused.

\”KOIN-TV is reporting that witnesses say the man on the bike “blew through the intersection”, and KGW-TV is running a headline of, Bicyclist running red light strikes truck.\”

WTF is going on! This is INSANITY. Seriously, I can\’t believe it (well, I can which makes me even more misanthropic).

So I guess the story about a guy surfing on the hood of some drunk\’s car will get a blurb and this story will get a good five minutes of lead coverage.

Great first comment. As the news site directing traffic here sure has brought out some interesting people.
I hope he heals up good and this is the last I hear of bike and car collisions for a while.

i see other cyclists run red lights all the time and always know that it\’s just a matter of time before one of them has a crash like this. i really hope that this guy is ok, but it\’s hard to have sympathy for someone who rides so carelessly.

Topher:

I don\’t think the facts are in yet about who had the right of way. As the article said:

\”Parman says preliminary statements gleaned from two witnesses (and from the driver of the truck) is that the motor vehicle had the green light (both streets are signalized). Parman says that fact is “still under investigation” and that his traffic investigation team is compiling evidence and talking to the witnesses.\”

And for what it\’s worth, I had no idea signalized was a real word. This site is informative AND educational.

Sad news. I hope a speedy recovery for him. I also hope in the future more stop signs are reconfigured to give right of way for cars/bikes traveling on the bike boulevards.

Because people in cars never run red lights.

Now that this bike vs. car thing is under a microscope every bike moving violation that causes a crash is going to get press.

I have to wonder how many stories per day would be generated if the focus were DUII\’s in cars.

Amen Topher.

Bad timing, dude.

Hope he recovers fast and well though. Poor guy.

I live right at the intersection. I was at school today and didn\’t see it. But I very often see cyclists coming down from Mt. Tabor at a high rate of speed to the stoplight at 50th and Lincoln. Most brake if they get the red light (I can hear their brakes squealing all hours of the day and night), but not all do. Just be careful out there folks. I know from experience that it sucks to have to lose all your potential energy to stop on that downhill. But it doesn\’t suck as much as going to the hospital.

Unfortunately I see bikes blow through stop lights on Interstate everyday. I\’m not sure where they are rushing off to. My time on the bike is often the best part of my workday.

I think we all have seen cyclists blowing through red lights as if they don\’t exist.

Still, I remember the last time we had a news item like this; it turned out that the \”witnesses\” didn\’t actually witness anything, they just assumed (incorrectly) that the cyclist blew through a light, when in fact, the driver hit the cyclist because the driver lost control of his vehicle after going into diabetic shock.

Of course, it\’s entirely possible that the cyclist in today\’s incident blew a light, but I\’m going to refrain from assuming that the story is accurate until all of the facts come out.

Stop it stop it STOP IT!!!!

PEOPLE blow stop lights; bikes and cars just do what they\’re told. Can we stop with this stupid nonsense? Steve and Topher, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

Dang… that\’s too bad… hope you\’re all right bro… Good Vibes
((((( )))))

Hope he\’s ok, but that\’s the chance he chose to take, right? No one is reporting that he was forced to run the red, are they?

I hope the person who hit him gets some counseling.

I also live about a block from there, and came home today to see the intersection blocked off. The truck was still there, but the injured party had already been taken away.

I\’m interested to hear more details because the glass that\’s all over the place isn\’t even IN the intersection, it\’s slightly more north on SE 50th.

Like Andrew mentioned, I also see bikers blow through that light coming down from the park almost every single day. I\’m actually surprised there hasn\’t been an accident here sooner.

Blowing through a red light (allegedly) , probably going pretty damned fast downhill, with no helmet???? That\’s just insane. He\’s lucky to be alive.

Preliminarily, no helmet and ran stoplight (allegedly). If more people would just ride just a little sensibly, maybe we would have fewer of these incidents. Trust me, I deal with a lot of morons in cars and trucks every day. The difference is that I follow the rules of the road, wear a helmet and expect every vehicle to do the wrong thing. You\’ve got to be careful out there. Furthermore, everyone including myself, needs to wait until all of the facts come in to make a final judgment. Just because a cyclist gets hit, doesn\’t always mean that it is the driver\’s fault. It often is, but not always.

even those of us who will roll with caution through a stop sign in a residential neighborhood will think twice about blowing a light on a busy street.

I live on woodard and have to cross 50th all the time- it is a busy arterial with heavy fast traffic. C\’mon folks use some sense.

I hope the guy recovers- getting hit sucks.

Come on?!
\”Bicyclist running red light strikes truck.\”

More like \”Truck strikes light-running cyclist.\” Because I am sure that when a cyclist strikes truck, the truck probably combusts from the force of the impact.

All sarcasm aside, I hope the guy is all right. Hopefully this has knocked some common sense into the guy. I mean, I\’ll run an uncontested stop sign, but I\’ll at least stop and look both ways for a red light.

I was at that intersection after the crash. An officer was directing traffic around the fire truck and a lady on a bike blew right through while he was motioning cross traffic through. She almost ran right into a car that had the right of way. Kept on going. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AFAIK, the cyclist ran into the vehicle, not the other way around. He blew the red and smacked right into the the vehicle.

I, too, hope the driver is offered (free) counseling.

True, I have to say the last part of your comment made me actually LOL, which doesn\’t happen often on these here internets.

I hope this guy recovers okay. I also hope he and everyone else who doesn\’t wear a helmet will JUST PUT ON A GODDAMNED HELMET ALREADY. Otherwise they should have to forfeit the right to a speedy ambulance ride.

Yeah, if you look at the Oregonian\’s site, they have a video clip of the police talking about it. They also include a shot of the truck, with the side clearly bashed in, and the window of the cab broken (behind the passenger door). The cyclist clearly ran into the vehicle.

Sounds like the biker ran the light. We don\’t absolutely know, but that\’s what it sounds like.

I\’m as bikey as bikey gets, but I\’m not going to just automatically jump to the defense of someone who pretty clearly fucked up. I\’m empathetic, and hope that he heals fully and quickly from his injuries, but nevertheless he fucked up.

I just saw the coverage on the news, they showed the bike. He\’s got a child seat mounted on the back. Man, I really hope you don\’t pull that shit when you\’re riding with the kid.

Be careful out there folks.

Judging from all the rubes out there that are now on bikes, if this is true it doesn\’t surprise me. I see people doing some crazy things, mostly without helmets on and the obvious air of fair weather cyclists.

coral #23:

Actually, that does not prove anything. I\’m not saying it didn\’t happen the way they say it did, but the fact that the bike impacted the side of the truck does not prove one way or the other who had the right of way. It indicates who entered the intersection first, is all.

There is no clearly in this case, unless you\’re bringing some agenda into this story.

Much of this is illusion. As PDOT pointed out, with increasing numbers of both cars and cyclists on the road, the accident rate has remained flat. That means that while people are obviously still breaking laws left and right, they are still conducting themselves more safely than in the past.

First I hope the guy in the hospital ends up physically alright and the other is emotionally all right. I can\’t imagine being in my car and hitting someone or being hit by someone on a bicycle. Just a no win for anyone.
This was just an accident! They happen everyday! The news outlets in this town should be ashamed of themselves. If this is lead news why isn\’t it followed with a list of all accidents that happened in the state? Really ridiculous.
Bottom line…Everyone regardless of their vehicle should be driving/riding as safely as possible, and if you are on a bike please wear a helmet!

Sorry to hear about this crash.

On a side note, that intersection needs traffic diverters

Am I the only one who rides a 25 year old steed that, while well maintained, still tends to act up at the worst moments?

I schnapped a front brake cable coming downhill near the RQ a few months back. Hyundai lady was all WTF as I tried to explain what brought me to a crashing halt on her back bumper.

No money, guns or lawyers required.

But still. Flashback and whatcouldabeen skipped the ticker when I read this.

You haters need to de-clinch and do an archive search of local automotive deaths in the last week to get some perspective.

Riding is safe. Driving is a gamble.

peejay #26 said: \”the fact that the bike impacted the side of the truck does not prove one way or the other who had the right of way. It indicates who entered the intersection first, is all.\”

Are you suggesting it was possible the cyclist came to a complete stop at the light, then took off with such speed that they did such damage to the METAL truck and busted out the window? Come on 😉 The cyclist was -clearly- at fault. The footage of the truck as well as the 2 eye witness reports (as well as the driver\’s). No cyclist that I know of could take off from a stop sign and within a few feet have reached a pace that would do that kind of damage to an automobile.

Andrew #10:

\”I know from experience that it sucks to have to lose all your potential energy to stop on that downhill. But it doesn\’t suck as much as going to the hospital.\”

Very true. Talk about potential energy lost.

Fink (#17) – we *do* have fewer of these incidents. Despite a doubling in the number of cyclists in the last 5 years, the \”accident\” rate has remained steady. Cycling is safer, despite the occasional story like this one.

doug (#22) – what?!? Forfeit the \”right\” to a speedy ambulance ride? Should we do that for everybody who does anything considered by someone to be unwise? How about for the guy who falls off a ladder because he was standing on the step above the one that says \”don\’t stand above this step\”? Does he lose the right to a speedy ambulance ride too?

—

I hope this guy recovers quickly and fully, and that the truck driver is still able to continue driving (presuming the truck driver was not at fault)

Child seat red light runner? It seems like it unfortunately requires serious injury to get some people to stop blowing lights and stop signs. I almost get hit frequently by other cyclists running stop signs on Lincoln as I cross. It\’s such a ridiculous habit, it makes me ashamed to be close to them when they misbehave.

peejay #26

All I was stating that it was clear the cyclist had run into the truck, not that the truck hit the cyclist (like previous incidents).

coral # 34

Which means what, exactly?

I saw the crash and saw the driver of the truck pace and fret after. I felt so sorry for him and of course for the cyclist. It was tragic for both parties, but an unforgettable lesson on the import of wearing a helmet for my daughter, who was with me, and just this week ventured out on her first urban bike trip sans a parent. She is now afraid to get on her bike and I didn\’t sleep at all last night for worrying about the outcome for both cyclist and driver. I can\’t get the image of him bleeding and fighting for his life out of my head. I hope he pulls through this.

So what did you see Lisa? Did the cyclist run the red? Or did the cyclist have the green?

I love how all you arm-chair junior police investigators and part time pedantic semanto-nazis start your subtle infighting as soon as the story breaks. It\’s the same, tired, well worn banter of bullcrap about what exactly an \”accident\” is and who \”hit\” whom and what constitutes \”hit\” vs. \”strike\” and all that bs. What a bunch of f-ing rubes…

Jonathan, it really is time to go to a reputation based system for comments here. Everyone has a verified login, everyone gets rated by fellow members for the quality of their posts and possibly require a photo (face shot), so people have to be responsible for their words. Otherwise you just continue to fuel the political fire of the anonymous. Oh, and keep up the good work.

one of the issues here beneath all of this blame game is the why the cyclist blew the stop sign in the first place. As a stop sign blower myself, there are practical reasons for doing so and is not simply b/c as a cyclist I have an innate desire to disobey \”the man\” and piss motorists off.

Let\’s remember some simple physics here and realize that stopping and starting is where cyclists exert the most energy. In order to conserve, I often treat stop signs and yields instead. In this manner, I am both cautious of traffic around me but am also able to make bicycling as easy, and accessible as possible.

Anyway, I hope the gentleman is okay and that people would consider his health more than his guilt.

It wasn\’t a stop sign, it was a red light. New theory please…Preferably, one that also explains why drivers are weak, but cyclists who can\’t stop and go are strong.

I saw the bike flying and only then looked up at the light, which by that time was red. Can\’t say who was in the right, and as i am a witness am probably not supposed to say. But it could easily have been green or yellow when the truck went through. I am sorry to hear the cyclist\’s condition, as per TV news, has worsened to critical.

Thanks Lisa. Since it\’s unclear what happened, I\’ll still refrain from assuming too much about what did or didn\’t happen.

Nevertheless, Lisa, I would suggest that another lesson to be learned from this, in addition to the importance of wearing a helmet (which may be of questionable value in a high-speed impact), is the importance of observing the traffic signals.

Yep. I am so glad there were other witnesses, as what I saw was totally inconclusive. Be safe.

Jeff @ #39 wrote:

\”…I love how all you arm-chair junior police investigators and part time pedantic semanto-nazis\”

AHAHA! Godwin\’s Law proves true yet again:

\”As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.\”

Lt. Parman told me yesterday that investigators are likely to never really know who had the green light.

he said the witnesses will have the final say.

Given the notorious unreliability of eyewitness accounts, that spells a big fat \”only two people know what happened, and one of them is in critical condition.\”

Is the bike rider a Nazi?

to Jeff #39- Wow, you are slinging some hateful attacks and name calling. It\’s our system of laws and irregular application of them that has made all cyclist feel defensive about the way they are treated on the road and in the media. There is some major bias out there against bikes. The issues that you decry are exactly the issues we need to discuss as a community.

Anyway, when it comes to driving on the roads, there is no such thing as \”accidents\”. They are collisions. The word accident implies that there is no guilty party and there always is.

Also, enough with the knee-jerk platitudes from the pro-helmet crowd. Adults are capable of making there own decisions about what level of safety and preparedness they live and die by. We all know that wearing a helmet will not prevent collisions, in fact the real solutions is to ride safe and defensively. For myself, I wear a helmet when I am going \”sport riding\” and intend to have a high rate of speed. I do not wear a helmet when commuting and for grocery trips etc when speed is not an issue. Wearing a helmet is and should be a personal choice, lets not condemn others for not living up your own ideas about safe riding. Perhaps we should outlaw base jumping, sky diving, underwater diving, mountaineering, traveling to 3rd world countries, eating Cheetos, riding motorcycles, having furniture with sharp edges and on and on… Lets all live in plastic bubbles with padded furniture, helmets on and seatbelts on the recliner.

Riding/commuting in Portland is better and safer than anywhere else I\’ve ever been. Bike lanes everywhere, bike boxes and a general awareness of bikes by car drivers. 98% of car drivers I encounter are respectful and good natured. Lets keep making riding in this city even better.

I personally love the fact that this guys bike had a child seat on the back of it…I hope his wife TEARS him a new one when he get home…if that seat would have been occupied, this story woudl have had a much different ending I\’m afraid…