(Photo © Jonathan Maus)
As I said in October 2013 and on and more recently on May 22nd; the intersection of NW Broadway and Hoyt is dangerous by design and if the City of Portland doesn’t do something to make it safer for vulnerable road users, I’m afraid the next post I’ll write will be about a fatality.
On May 30th, just eight days after our previous story about this intersection, I received an email from reader NH about yet another right-hook.
Here’s his version of what happened:
The bike lane was very crowded with two lines of bicycles coming down the ramp from the Broadway Bridge near the post office. A white pick-up with Oregon plates travelling next to the cyclists flipped on her right-hook blinker but seemed to be going just a bit too fast to stop and yield before turning. She tried to thread the needle between two groups of cyclists by speeding up a bit. A guy on an e-bike had to slam on his breaks to avoid getting smashed but still crashed into the bed of the truck.
The driver looked like she was going to take off after the accident but a group of folks on the sidewalk across from Bud Clark Commons saw the accident and were yelling pretty loudly at her. I rode up along her driver’s side and she slowly opened the door. She did not apologize at all and it took a minute for her to even ask if the biker was OK. I asked her why she turned right, and she said something like “I thought he was going to stop.” I asked her, how long she had lived in Oregon and she said for “quite a while.” I then told her she does not have the right of way when turning right through a bike lane; she has to yield. She said, “I didn’t know that.” I was shocked and suggested that she read up on the driving laws, particularly those about rights of way.
A flagger at the construction site asked if the cyclist wanted a police officer but the cyclist declined. He was limping but said he was OK and his bike seemed alright despite the crash*. There has to be cameras at Bud Clark and the Post Office that would have captured the accident.(*Please note: If you are comfortable requesting a police response, we highly recommend you call them out. This helps ensure the crash will be accounted for in databases that determine where projects are funded and built.)
This very heavily used bicycle route has been known as a safety hazard for many years. We should temporarily prohibit right turns by auto users before any more innocent people get hurt.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
Never miss a story. Sign-up for the daily BP Headlines email.
BikePortland needs your support.