(Photo by @long_ter on Twitter)
There has been another collision involving a bicycle rider in Portland. And this time it was at the same intersection where Alistair Corkett lost his leg just a few weeks ago.
We first heard about today’s collision via a text message at 11:25 am. Then someone posted a photo of the scene to Twitter. We have yet to confirm any details with the Portland Police Bureau, but KGW has just reported that, “Fire officials said the cyclist was taken to a nearby hospital with a broken leg.”
From the photo we can tell that the man who was riding his bicycle came to rest on 26th south of Powell. The Portland Police are reporting that the person who hit the bicycle rider was driving a Jeep Cherokee. That’s all we know at this point and we’ll update the story as we can.
This collision comes at a time when some in our community are feeling scared to hop on their bikes and others are getting angry and frustrated that our local leaders are not doing more to make biking as safe as possible.
A day ago I mentioned to our news editor Michael Andersen that if there was one more high-profile collision involving a bike rider we would hit a tipping point. That has now happened. It’s time for Mayor Charlie Hales and Transportation Commissioner Steve Novick to get engaged and reassure all Portlanders that they are working to make streets safer.
Back in October 2007, after a rash of collisions and two fatalities with weeks of each other in downtown Portland, former mayor Sam Adams called a press conference and held an emergency meeting of advocates and other leaders. I’d like to see Novick and Hales do something similar.
UPDATE 2:30 pm: Latest from PPB:
37-year-old Peter Anderson is being treated at a Portland hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Preliminary information indicates that the driver, 25-year-old Noah Gilbertson, was driving eastbound on Powell, approaching 26th Avenue. Anderson was stopped on 26th, northbound, and began to cross Powell when he was struck by Gilberton’s Jeep Cherokee.
UPDATE 3:50pm: PPB has ticketed the driver in this collision for Careless Driving w Injury to Vulnerable Roadway User.