at SW Condor).
(Photos: PPB)
Thursday morning at about 7:44, Multnomah County Judge Kathleen Dailey was riding her bike to work in the bike lane on SW Terwilliger Boulevard (map of collision location). As Dailey crossed SW Condor headed northbound, a person operating a motor vehicle pulled out in front of her and Daily hit the left front fender.
According to the Portland Police, Dailey was traveling at what she says was “a pretty good clip” of about 25 mph prior to the collision. Here’s what they say happened next:
“A Mazda CX-7 driven by Cynthia Ferrell was stopped on Condor, waiting to make a left turn on to Terwilliger Blvd. Ms. Ferrell did not see the bicyclist and pulled out when there was a break in traffic. Judge Dailey was unable to stop and collided with the Mazda, impacting the left-front fender and door.”
Ferrell (the driver) was cited for Failure to Obey a Traffic Control Device (which comes with a $323 fine). Judge Dailey was transported to the hospital and sustained some serious, but non-life threatening injuries.
Judging from the police account of the crash, and from reader emails, this seems to be a situation where the person in the car failed to properly estimate the velocity of the person riding the bike. Reader Barbara S. shared her thoughts:
“My guess is that the car driver under estimated the speed of the bicyclist going downhill and thought he/she could pull our in front of him. At least that’s my experience with this intersection on my daily commute to OHSU.”
Anyone else observe this phenomenon at SW Condor and Terwilliger? Should there be a “Watch for Bicyclists” sign at the intersection?