Hannah Davison was riding her bicycle home from work on September 10th when she was involved in a collision. Someone driving a car collided with her at the intersection of North Skidmore and Borthwick and the impact left Davison with multiple injuries. The driver didn’t stop, and while police have impounded what they believe is the suspect’s car, they still haven’t tracked down the man who was at the wheel.
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Now Davison faces a tough recovery and steep medical bills to cover the treatment of her various injuries which include: broken facial bones, a fractured shoulder, cracked vertebrae, multiple lacerations, and so on.
She’s created a GoFundMe campaign with the hope of raising $30,000.
And that’s just the start. Davison told KATU-TV in a segment that aired last night that her bills have shot up to $65,000 and counting.
Davison’s collision was first reported on Twitter where user @blutarp posted a graphic photo of her receiving medical attention from first responders.
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Best wishes to Hannah for a full recovery.
I would like to suggest the the Portland police handle hit-and-runs thusly–that for 90 days thereafter each one, there be no police time or resources devoted to automobile theft. Drivers don’t deserve their property protected to any greater degree than they show regard for the lives of other road users.
Here’s why that’s a poorly thought out idea: People on bicycles have hit pedestrians and failed to stop a time or two. Should police completely ignore bicycle theft too then because of the actions of a few?
Wait, you mean PPB actually does something about bicycle theft? Will wonders never cease.
http://bikeportland.org/2015/09/08/police-shut-notorious-slabtown-stolen-bike-chop-shop-158221
Yes I’m sure everyone who owns a car also commits a hit and run on a cyclist. Come on be real.
It seems to me that drivers of stolen cars are much more likely to be using them to commit crimes, driving unsafely, etc, than people driving cars they own and have to be responsible for. And if a driver of a stolen car did hit someone, they would be vastly more likely to hit and run than someone who owns the car.
Scott’s reply is alot less inflamatory then what I was going to write. Thanks for that.
🙂
I wish this didn’t have to happen. This is why we need socialized health care, but that’s a topic for another blog. 😉
Get better soon, Hannah!
Someone in her age group could have qualified for ACA-subsidized health plans for about $50 a month. Not to mention it is federal law to be enrolled.
At some point, people have to take responsibility for themselves. Hanna just got a rude awakening into adult responsibilities.
It’s even worse when you look at the difference between the cost of coverage and the cost of the tax for not having coverage – for a single person is the greater of 2% of income above $10,150 or $325 per year.
I’m glad I’m not the only person who thought of this. Even the cheap plans with a max out of pocket of 10k would be better than nothing. Catastrophic insurance is an absolute must for everyone. I don’t know how many people I’ve talked to who smugly say, “Eh, I’m young, I don’t wanna pay $60/paycheck (or whatever it is) for insurance.” And to them I say, anyone, at any age, can have something horrible happen that can easily turn into 100k+ of medical bills.
She indicates in the text on the Go Fund Me site that she does have insurance. Your comment is victim blaming, and is completely inappropriate.
Has insurance, but if I read correctly, has not waited to see what is covered by that insurance and what is not covered. Insurance matters can take time to resolve. This request seems premature. Why not wait for the final answer.
Insurance or not, the fundraiser will certainly help cover lost wages.
You’re right, Scott! Too many people forget that in addition to health insurance, they should also have short and long-term disability. If you’re involved in a crash or some other event that causes you to miss work because of injury (or have an illness!), it’s essential to have health insurance, but how will pay for everything else? I’m gonna sound like someone from the HR department here, but most your employers will have their benefits open enrollment in just a few weeks. In addition to health insurance, make sure you sign up for disability insurance.
+1 aka “paycheck insurance” Your average group long term disability premium is ~$245 per year, depends on your income.
If you have to choose between Short Term Disability or Long Term, choose long term. You can probably scrape by for 3-6 months before LTD kicks in.
its not victim blaming in the least, its a reminder about risk management while operating a bicycle in traffic.
Nobody needs to be taught a lesson by being hit by a car. I agree that health insurance literacy is an important issue, but this is the wrong venue.
So then is this the venue in which we should be enabling personal finance and health insurance illiteracy by supporting panhandling?
dental and/or reconstructive surgery is expensive and not necessarily covered by ACA policies.
Broken collar bone, broken vertibae, and facial abrasions.
No reconstructive surgery or dental work required for these injuries.
>She has survived with multiple lacerations to her face and upper body, 6 fractures to her eye-socket, 2 severed arteries in her face, a break in her nose, 3 fractures in her shoulder blade and a crack in her vertebrae.
“Someone in her age group could have qualified for ACA-subsidized health plans for about $50 a month. …” George H.
That’s $600 a year. A lot of money for some people. A lot. And if they don’t have the money? Sure, I know: get a better job, or, get a job. Or, you’re a bum.
I hope Hannah Davison has a lot of money, or really good insurance of some kind. Even with that, she’s going to be hurting for a long time.
I wish Portland would create some meaningful connections to its bike infrastructure. Skidmore provides a safe and comfortable way for people on bikes to move between NE and N Portland and access the commercial streets in Kenton, along Interstate, Mississippi, Williams, MLK and Alberta. Skidmore needs continuous bike facilities added between N Interstate Ave and NE 7th. If buffered/protected bike lanes were added, the Concord, Michigan and Going greenways would become interconnected with safe crossings of Interstate, Mississippi, Williams, Vancouver, MLK, and 7th. Combine this with some real safety improvements to 7th and a new bride over I-84 and the whole inner eastside is starting to have some connectivity. As it stands now, people on bikes will continue to use Skidmore because it provides the necessary connections in N/NE Portland, but these people will continue to be endangered by reckless drivers passing too closely.
I hope Hannah receives the money and care she needs, and I hope the City takes notice and patches this enormous hole in its bicycle network
I’m really surprised Skidmore hasn’t received any infrastructure attention…especially where Hannah’s assault happened. I keep saying it, Skidmore between Interstate and MLK has become a racetrack. Kill the parking! buffer the hell out of it with bike lanes and above all, get some damn speed enforcement on it.
Skidmore west of Interstate is a greenway – shared space.
Skidmore east of Interstate has bike lanes to the Michigan greenway, which connects north to Going via Blandena.
West of Interstate is the Concord greenway.
That “connection” along Blandena is garbage and noone should use it!
@ Mississippi-Skidmore has 4-way stop, Blandena nothing
@ Williams and Vancouver: Skidmore has signals, Blandena has nothing AND is offset so cannot use it the same way eastbound vs westbound
@ MLK: Skidmore has a traffic signal, Blandena has a crosswalk with a double-threat condition on MLK northbound and southbound!
@ 7th: Skidmore has a signal, Blandena nothing
So, beginning from the west, Skimore starts out as greenway (this is good) and becomes a nice wide bike lane east of Interstate (also good). At Michigan Ave, the bike lane abruptly disappears so people on bikes cannot take advantage of the 4-way stop sign to control traffic. IF the bike lanes continued on Skidmore, people on bikes could travel along one road and take advatage of safe crossings with signals at Williams, Vancouver, MLK and 7th.
As it stands now, PBOT directs people on bikes to go north on Michigan one block, jog back west 1/2 block, then another block north to Blandena. Once on the PBOT “bike facility”, people on bikes are left to their own devices to cross Mississippi without a 4 way stop. Then they must get on to Vancouver without a signal, merge across the motor vehicle lane and turn left on Going (note that you have to do this totally differently traveling westbound). Next you come to Williams, again, no signal. Travel few more blocks to MLK, 2 lanes of traffic southbound and 2 lanes northbound, State Highway, fairly high speeds; does PBOT provide a signal? Nope! Just work your away across to the median, is about 8 feet wide and you hang there until you dare to cross the rest of the street (remember, there is an existing signal 1 block south on Skidmore that connects to the bike lanes and greenway further west, also on Skidmore). Finally, You come to 7th, traffic control here, either (its on Skidmore!)
Blandena has to be THE SORRIEST EXCUSE for a bike connection PBOT has ever come up with! Put Bike lanes on Skidmore now and create a safe, navigable, and meaningful bike connection!
Bike lanes aren’t required to continue riding on Skidmore rather than on the apparently even worse ‘preferred’ alternative.
Buzz,
That is technically correct, but without them, I have been subjected to honking, tailgating, dangerous passing, yelling, etc. And Hannah was involved in a hit and run. Skidmore will continue to be used by bikes because it provides a real connection and safe crossings of busy arterials, collectors and commercial streets. I am calling for PBOT to wake up and realize this, and complete the bike infrastructure along Skidmore so that the ride along Skidmore is as safe as its crossings
Best wishes for a speedy recovery of her health and finances.
I’m curious about how well uninsured driver insurance is working for her in this case (or if she had no car insurance.) Is she able to get anything from the insurer of the vehicle with the driver in hiding?
(Am I the only one troubled by the word “accident” on her gofundme page?)
If she owns a car and has a car insurance policy, the Personal Injury Protection (PIP) should provide coverage even if she was on her bike. PIP coverage is mandatory in Oregon.
I talked to my insurance agent and also to the Senior Policy Analyst for the Insurance Division of the State of Oregon with regard to uninsured motorist coverage while operating my bicycle. Basically, there is no coverage from your automotive policy for this event, except for the Personal Injury Protection, which is only $15,000. Total and complete bullshit. I was looking to upgrade the coverage on my policy for just such an event as this one. I did it anyway, but uninsured/underinsured/hit-and-run will only cover me if I’m operating a motor vehicle.
I talked to my insurance agent and also to the Senior Policy Analyst for the Insurance Division of the State of Oregon with regard to uninsured motorist coverage while operating my bicycle. Basically, there is no coverage from your automotive policy for this event, except for the Personal Injury Protection, which is only $15,000. Total and complete BS. I was looking to upgrade the coverage on my policy for just such an event as this one. I did it anyway, but uninsured/underinsured/hit-and-run will only cover me if I’m operating a motor vehicle.
Can’t you increase the PIP from the minimum if you want to? Because you can certainly do this with liability coverage.
No one’s going to like this, but cars should have to log the driver into a black box so that when a car is identified as being involved in a hit and run it is easy to identify the person who was at the wheel once the car is found. ‘
Of course, the penalties for hitting stuff that’s right in front of you need to be greatly enhanced while also making sure the penalty for hit and run needs to always be bigger than the consequences of sticking around and rendering aid.
I like it.
Anyone using the roads should have to do this. Why should there be an expectation of privacy?
why are we still not holding people accountable for their vehicles?
if it wasn’t stolen then you should receive the citation for any law broken and be responsible unless you find somebody else to take the blame…
no need to ID the driver when the owner is responsible…
gun owners get blamed for leaving their weapon where people can use it to kill, we should have the same responsibility for other deadly weapons like cars…
Yes! If we can send someone a bill for a toll road their car has been driven through, or hold them accountable for parking fees and tickets, surely we can hold them responsible elsewhere as well.
Higher standard for criminal convictions than civil penalties/fees.
If you hit someone and leave your car behind, they should get to keep your car.
We can’t give people speeding tickets for their vehicles without identifying the driver. That’s crazy. I’m not even talking criminal convictions, just fees levied against the vehicle involved. Don’t want to pay the fee? Fine, just surrender the vehicle.
Fortunately, some of the people that own motor vehicles, and drive motor vehicles, have money or insurance to cover consequences of collisions. Unfortunately, many don’t.
Who all will ultimately be paying the bill for this particular collision, remains to be seen. People going bankrupt due to high medical bills doesn’t sound good, especially on a large scale. Arising from a collision, the medical bills of just one person amounting to $65,000, is alarming to say the least.
A car is not a weapon no more than a bike is.
A baseball bat is not a weapon any more than a xylophone mallet.
Neither a car nor a bicycle can be considered a “deadly weapon” because they are not designed to be weapons. But either one could be considered a “dangerous weapon” if used in that fashion. It doesn’t take rocket surgery to guess which is more dangerous.
And yet, it is so good at killing people.
I find it ridiculous that 9 percent of Oregon drivers are driving without insurance and that nationwide it’s 12 percent. I know three people who’ve been struck by uninsured motorists – two with permanent disability.
What’s ridiculous is that you only need to prove that you have insurance once every two years – when you renew your license plate and registration.
Here’s my suggestion: have an app on your phone or a bar-coded insurance tag that you have to scan before you are able to buy gas. (Maybe allow the purchase of one gallon to “get you home” in case you “forgot” the proof of insurance.) Add that to B. Carfree’s suggestion above that your drivers license has to be logged into your vehicle before you can start it.
You do realize that as soon as you start implementing these kinds of things, you will have folks claiming that it is holding the poor back from driving and getting to their jobs.
Lester,
people WILL say that and to a large extent it is true! But that doesn’t mean the CIty and State should not crack down HARD on uninsured sdrivers! IMO, it just means that they need to redouble efforts to make alternative transportation viable. Dedicated bus lanes, carpool lanes, longer hours for transit, more frequent bus run times, more coverage, more options like uber, better bike nad ped infrastructure, etc. How to pay? Gas tazx, parking fees, increased vehicle registration fees (proportional to weight/fuel efficiency), increased DEQ fees (alos proportional), stiker to use studded tires within City limits, increase taxes on surface parking lots, etc.
If one is looking to injur or kill, doing it in a car is the best way to avoid prosecution. If you stay at the scene, drive for a living….or are over the age of 60, most likely the DA will let you go home with maybe a ticket.
That’s how it is. Bikes just being reckless you know…should known better. That’s what car driving folks think.
In a post Vision Zero Portland, is this incident being treated any differently than it was in the past? Otherwise what is the point in having a Vision Zero program. I thought one of the advantages of Vision Zero would be that maybe there would not need to be a protest every time someone gets seriously injured, just to bring about needed infrastructure change, enforcement prioritization, or a proper investigation.
Yes, now the Portland Police are including this at the end of their press releases:
“The Portland Police Bureau is committed to working with our partners in government and the community to create safer streets and work towards reducing, and eventually eliminating, traffic fatalities as part of Vision Zero.
To learn more about the City of Portland’s Vision Zero effort, please visit: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/40390“
I am Hannah’s mother and just so you all know she DID have insurance but they will only cover a very very small amount . She was in the hospital for 6 days and had to have surgery along with extensive future care that will include skin grafting…Health insurance is NOT what you all think it is! there are limits to what they will pay for AND when it the result of another the hospital will go after the max they can! Educate yourselves!
Well said. Thank you for posting this.
I would urge some of the commenters above who got this so very wrong to donate like I did.