Here’s something you don’t hear about very often. In fact, I don’t recall this ever happening…
According to the Portland Police Bureau 50-year-old Donna Leslie was biking south on NE 15th this morning at about 7:15 am and was involved in a collision when she attempted to cross NE Weidler (map). 49-year-old David Kennedy was driving his car eastbound and police say he had the green light prior to the crash.
Leslie, a City of Portland employee who works in the Portland Parks & Recreation Bureau, was transported to the hospital via ambulance. The extent of her injuries are unknown at this time but police say they’re not expected to be life-threatening.
After hearing about this crash on Twitter, we followed up with PPB Spokesman Peter Simpson. Simpson said responding officers interviewed witnesses and conducted an investigation. “Multiple witnesses told police that Leslie was riding her bicycle southbound on 15th Avenue and failed to stop at the red light at Weidler,” Simpson shared with us via email. Based on this, officers issued two citations to Leslie: one for Careless Driving (with a crash, ORS 811.135) and one for Failure to Obey a Traffic Control Device.
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The citation come with presumptive fines of $435 and $110 respectively. If you’re curious how someone could get a “careless driving” citation while biking, check the language of the statute (emphasis mine): “A person commits the offense of careless driving if the person drives any vehicle upon a highway or other premises described in this section in a manner that endangers or would be likely to endanger any person or property.” Police cited Leslie at the scene because they don’t suspect any possible criminal charges and the case is not being forwarded to the District Attorney.
NE 15th is a key bike route through the Lloyd District that connects the Broadway corridor and northeast neighborhoods to the Lloyd District and destinations south of I-84. Just one block south of where this collision happened is where PBOT is slated to make has made major biking and walking upgrades to improve access to NE Multnomah.
It’s extremely rare for an injury collision involving a bike and auto user to result in citations for the bike rider — especially when the offending road user is also the only one that was seriously injured.
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org
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