Once again, a semi driver heading north on SE Grand has been going too fast, and missed the left turn onto the Morrison bridge ramp, tipping the vehicle over onto the bridge sidewalk. I’ve personally seen four of this type of crash at this location in the last decade. As far as I can tell, there hasn’t happened to be a pedestrian injured in any of these incidents.
The latest was on 8-7-17, about noon. I asked one of the Portland Police officers if the driver would be ticketed for reckless driving. He said, no, the driver is young, and just starting his career. “What purpose would it serve?” said the officer. “He’s already going to pay for the damage” “We can’t issue a ticket because we can’t find that he did this intentionally. He wasn’t DUII.” I asked if rolling your truck on a turn wasn’t evidence of reckless driving, or driving too fast. “He says a car cut him off. If we find a bicyclist under the trailer when we lift it up, then we’ll charge him”.
So there you have it. Tip a 40-ton vehicle onto the sidewalk? It’s not reckless driving. It is just, as the officer said, “an accident”.