A bicycle rider has died in a collision with a box truck driver in North Portland – UPDATED

A man has died after being involved in a collision with a truck operator while bicycling on North Interstate Avenue this morning.

It happened around 9:00 am at the intersection of Interstate and Farragut (map). The initial police statement said the man “may have been on a bicycle.” I was able to confirm that by going to the scene this morning.

From what I saw it appears the collision was a classic right-hook. The operator of a large, white (unmarked) box van was driving northbound on Interstate and then turned right onto Farragut. The bicycle rider also appears to have been going northbound prior to the collision. As of 10:20 am the bicycle was still lodged completely underneath the truck — toward the rear and just in front of the rear axle. From east of the collision I could still see the bicycle’s white front light blinking.

Interstate in this location is relatively narrow due to the presence of a center-running MAX light rail line. In the northbound direction there is one standard vehicle lane directly adjacent to an unprotected bicycle-only lane. The bike lane is five-feet wide.

Here’s the Streetview image of the intersection where the collision occurred:

I’ve ridden in this bike lane many times over the years. It’s the main route from my home in the Piedmont neighborhood to Portland International Raceway. I can share from experience that, like nearly all of Interstate Avenue, this stretch of the road feels quite narrow and stressful when on a bike.

This is the first fatality of a bicycle user in Portland in 2017 (there were five last year).

The identity of the rider has yet to be released. We’ll share more details as they come in.

If anyone has more information about this collision, please contact us.

UPDATE, 2:28pm: Police say the deceased man was 53-years old. His name will be released Tuesday. The truck operator was 38. As is usual, the truck operator has not been cited because the case has been forwarded to the District Attorney’s office and decisions about any possible traffic violations will be pending the DA investigation.

UPDATE, 2/8 at 1:20pm: The bicycle rider killed has been identified as 53-year-old Alan Izi Marsan, last known address in Southwest Portland. The truck driver has been identified as 38-year-old Vinay Junior Singh of Northeast Portland.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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