The Portland Police Bureau’s Major Crash Team responded to a serious collision involving a bicycle rider today just after 11:00 am.
It happened at the intersection of SE 82nd and Henderson, just a few blocks north of Flavel. The police say someone driving a car southbound on 82nd and a woman bicycling eastbound on Henderson collided with each other. The bicycle rider is being treated for what police refer to as,
“serious life-threatening injuries.”
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Police are conducting a full investigation. Here’s a snip from their official statement:
The investigation is in its early stages and at this time officers believe the driver of a Honda Pilot drove south on Southeast 82nd Avenue as the bicyclist traveled east on Southeast Henderson Street. The bicyclist and Honda collided at the intersection of Southeast 82nd Avenue and Southeast Henderson Street. The driver of the Honda remained at the scene and is cooperating with investigators. There have been no citations issued or arrests made at this time.
This is a “T” intersection. Henderson does not continue eastbound across 82nd, except for a commercial driveway.
This location is also just one block north of where a woman was killed while bicycling in July 2016. Lydia Johnson was in the bike lane riding eastbound on Flavel when she was the victim of a right-hook from someone turning a box truck onto southbound 82nd.
We’ll share updates on today’s crash as they come in. If anyone has information about what happened please get in touch.
If you want to help make 82nd better, the 82nd Avenue Improvement Coalition is hosting an event this Wednesday (10/17) where they’ll share their vision and moderate a panel discussion.
UPDATE, 10/16 at 2:40 pm: The woman has died.
UPDATE, 10/18: Police have confirmed the woman who died is 52-year-old Pamela Seidel of Portland. A commenter below said she was homeless and was fondly remembered by nearby residents.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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I don’t know the condition of the intersection right now, but in Google Earth the stop sign non Henderson is bent down as if it had been hit by a car. There is also a truck parked too close to the intersection, making the stop sign very difficult to see.
It’s a T intersection, so the person on Henderson would have to yield to people on 82nd. The stop sign isn’t really needed here.
I drove by last night, and the stop sign is on a newish-looking pole that seemed quite vertical.
Google maps shows the stop sign at Henderson had been damaged… The picture at least shows it bent at a 45 degree angle towards the sidewalk, sort of hides it. Wonder if that sign was still damaged and if that might have been a contributing factor in this crash?
The related posts below this article brought up the case of Lydia Anne Johnson, who was fatally right-hooked by a truck only a block to the South at 82nd/Flavel in 2016. Whatever happened with that case? It didn’t get near the coverage of the earlier right hooks that took the lives of Tracey Sparling and Kathryn Rickson.
Hi JohnR,
Yes you are right that this happened just a block away from where Lydia Johnson was killed in 2016. I don’t know what happened with her case but I would like to find out. And yes you are right that it didn’t get the same amount of coverage as those other fatalities. There are many reasons for that. Thanks for reminding me about it. I will consider looking into the case further and reporting back if I find anything.
These investigations are a waste. Unless the driver is drunk, the outcome is always the same, except for the occasional failure to yield citation.
Well, investigations are not a waste to victims who sue for money to pay for hospital bills, loss of work etc etc.
She passed away
Coming from a little side street onto 82nd, wouldn’t you already know you had a stop? Would you need a sign to tell you?
You’d think… but then if it were that simple, why have signs along 82nd at all?
I think once we dip our toes into the sign waters we have to accept that the absence of a sign (or a damaged sign that can be mistaken for no sign) has meaning. I know when I approach an intersection I look first for any signs cross traffic must obey, before looking for my sign.
So this is another tragic story of someone hit and seriously injured (possibly killed) by a motor vehicle; I don’t want that to be overlooked in our discussions of STOP signs that may or may not have been damaged or visible or whatever speculations we want to make. However, the other thing I think we should not overlook is the snippet of police statement included above. I realize it is only a snippet, and don’t know what the rest of it might contain, but at least in this small piece there are two notable things missing: 1) any comment on helmet usage, and 2) any presumption of bicyclist guilt by way of commentary such as, e.g., “…it appears the bicyclist failed to stop and crashed into the Honda…”
This is a horrible thing to have happened, but unless there is a lot more to the initial police statement, what is included above represents a big improvement over how these incidents have been reported in the past.
wait, so now some of you WANT stop signs? I get so confused…
You are confused.
I don’t think anyone is saying they want a stop sign, but rather that Schroedinger’s Stop Signs are a bad idea.
UPDATE, 10/16 at 2:40 pm: The woman has died.
According to the PPB, “This is the 29th traffic related fatality investigated by the Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division’s Major Crash Team in 2018. “
I don’t know why they continue to publish that misleading number.
Note that they say it’s the 29th “investigated”… not that it is the 29th traffic fatality. Also worth noting is that I go by the official tally that PBOT uses and that number is currently at 27. I track this number very closely. Check the tracker here.
The woman’s name was Pam. You probably won’t hear much else about her and this accident. She was homeless (not a drug user). I just moved to the area and our neighbor takes care of Pam’s dog. She kept an eye on our neighborhood and could be heard singing every day as listened to her headphones. There was a small memorial service in front of Les Schwab for her the night she died.
Thank you for sharing this J. Police have confirmed. 52-year-old Pamela Seidel. I am adding this to the post now.
🙁
Also:
Suspicious Death Investigation Underway on Bike Path Near NE 122nd Ave and NE Siskiyou St – One Person Deceased. https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=189423
Not necessarily a bicyclist.
I wish they wouldn’t call it a bike path.
You’d think that an official police spokesperson would be better with language. We get a lot of misinformation from the police due to the way that they word their statements.
There is also this from last Thursday. Elderly man killed in a marked crosswalk, at a signal, legally crossing to get to QFC. This is on the part of the East Burnside High Crash Corridor that did NOT get any improvements out of the last two rounds of investment. Even though it is one of the first ten high crash corridors, we are still waiting. Road Diet needed….
https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=189416
The Oregonian is reporting that the woman was travelling on 82nd Ave and that the Honda driver was also travelling on 82nd and collided with the woman at the intersection of Henderson. Right hook or was she travelling on the sidewalk?
“The woman was riding her bike just after 11:00 a.m. on the 7300 block of Southeast 82 nd Avenue when police said she collided with a vehicle at the intersection of the major road and SE Henderson Street.”
http://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.ssf/2018/10/cyclist_involved_in_se_portlan.html