cand Hawthorne yesterday.
(Photos: Christopher Perez)
The collision on the transit mall downtown wasn’t the only bike-involved crash yesterday. Reader Christopher Perez was the first person on the scene of a collision on SE Hawthorne about two hours before Richard Krebs was struck while crossing SW Morrison.
Perez witnessed the collision and provided a detailed account and photos on his Flickr page. Here are some excerpts from what he saw (emphasis mine):
“Both east bound lanes of traffic are stopped due to construction on the east side of Hawthorn at SE 12th. At 10th, both lanes of traffic provide a break for cross traffic.
On the north side of 10th, a silver Hundai see’s [sic] her chance to cross the intersection and proceeds very quickly through two lanes of traffic that effectively block any view of on-coming cyclists.
Just prior to this, a young man on a newly rebuilt bike passed me on the left and reentered the bike lane about a 1/2 a block ahead of me… He was the fastest of the group of riders, of which I was now second in lead of.
I watched as the silver Hundai started across the intersection and saw she did not look up the road to the west to see what traffic conditions were. I saw how the bicyclist continued to ride rather quickly into the intersection.
I shouted very loudly “NO!”
The cyclist hit the Hundai on the right front fender just behind the tire. I watched as his front rim turned and watched as he went over his handlebars and as his full body hit the windshield.”
man in black is the one who
was involved w/ the crash.
Thankfully, the man on the bike did not sustain serious injuries (unless they’ve flared up overnight). Perez reports that, after rolling off the car, the man, “suddenly leaped up, cursing and gesticulating wildly.” Perez also noted a few “bottom line” observations that are worth sharing here:
The automobile proceeded through the intersection with no regard for on-coming bicyclists in the bike lane.
The bicyclist proceeded east up Hawthorne with no regard to cross traffic.
Both were traveling rather more quickly than I would have felt comfortable traveling at.
Hawthorne from the river to SE 12th during the PM commute is always a tricky area traffic-wise; add in all the construction and you’ve got the recipe for crashes. Best advice is to keep speeds reasonable and always expect that the other vehicle does not see you.
— View a few more of Perez’s photos here.