Update, 7/14: The victim was 70-year-old Martin Crommie. See more updates below
The Portland Police Bureau says someone riding a bicycle was killed late Sunday night in the Portsmouth neighborhood.
Not much information has been released thus far, but a PPB statement says they responded to a crash at around 10:15 pm last night after a report of a crash between a car and bicycle user at the intersection of N Juneau Street and N Chautauqua Blvd. The bicycle rider died at the scene and the driver remained at the scene for questioning.
The crash is being investigated. If you saw or heard anything about what happened please let us know and contact the PPB Traffic Investigations Unit at crimetips@portlandoregon.gov or (503) 823-2103. This is case number 22-184939.
Crash Context
The location of this crash was just one block south of Columbia Boulevard, a major arterial with a 40 mph speed limit. From a screengrab of a a KGW-TV story sent to us by a reader (right), we can see that the victim’s bicycle came to rest in the middle of the intersection. We don’t yet know what direction the two parties were going prior to the collision, but it’s worth noting that there’s a significant elevation rise on Chautauqua between Columbia and Juneau. If you are going south from Columbia, the uphill makes visibility poor as you approach Juneau.
Chautauqua is a neighborhood collector street with a 25 mph speed limit. It does not have a bike lane but due to its low traffic volume it’s listed on the Metro Bike There map as a “Bike Friendly Street”. Chautauqua is an important street in the bike network because it connects directly to a bike path along Columbia Blvd, churches, Charles Jordan Community Center, Columbia Pool, and so on. It also connects to the major bikeway on Willamette Blvd at its southern end.
There is a lot of advocacy going right now on to make this part of Portland better for bicycling. The Portland Bureau of Transportation’s North Portland in Motion plan released its first report back in December and project staff will lead a bike ride of the area on July 30th.
This is the second bicycle fatality and the 31st traffic death overall in Portland this year.
UPDATE, 4:55 pm on 7/14: Here’s the latest update from PPB:
The bicyclist involved in this crash has been identified as 70-year-old Martin Crommie. His family has been notified of his death.
The Major Crash Team investigation found the cyclist was riding an e-bike northbound in traffic. Once the cyclist moved to the side of the road, the driver of the vehicle involved, a 2021 Toyota Tacoma, began to pass the cyclist. The cyclist then made a sudden left turn for an unknown reason, colliding with the left side of the vehicle.
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“Chautauqua is a neighborhood collector street with a 25 mph speed limit” does not square with the state law and city ordinance directing PBOT to post non-arterial streets in residence districts at 20 mph.
What difference does that make? There’s no enforcement and there never will be for motorists in the neighborhoods. The closest PPB ever came to that was cyclist stop sign stings in Ladd’s Addition. Like MAX fare compliance, it’s all based on the honor system.
Enforcement isn’t just based on the honor system, Ladd’s Addition is also an example of enforcement in the more well heeled neighborhoods.
When people in wealthier neighborhoods complain about personal safety issues there’s immediate response while it’s the wild wild west in the lower income neighborhoods.
Ladd’s addition was never about safety, it was one of the safest places from a traffic violence perspective in the entire city, much safer than any of the arterial streets surrounding it based on the city’s own data. Ladd’s addition enforcement was about rich folks wanting to discourage poorer people from using the safest route to travel because they wanted to live in the equivalent of a gated community.
Bicyclist killed in North Portland collision with car
Weird headline with no info, makes it sound like they are equals… like a regular car crash where someone died..
What language should a responsible journalist use when there are no facts about what happened or who was at fault?
I only have the screen grab to go by, but there was not an impact from the front or back and not much side force from or to the tires as the wheels both look round and straight. From the fatality I can only surmise the impact was directly to the rider. Or the rider was knocked off the bike and run over by the weapon vehicle.
Chatautaqua is a Main Street running north south in NoPo . Speed limit is 25mph, but it use to be 35. Those of us who live in NoPo have seen enough BS with the streets Shoving cars to Columbia has caused some reals issues, including increased deaths. Something needs to be done on Chautauqua. But, making it a “bike” run …. Putting a light at Chatautaqua and Alaska – be it traffic or pedestrian would help.
I guess this says it’s fine to pass at an intersection as long as you’re sorry about whoever you kill. Maybe I read it wrong.
https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_811.410
Unsafe passing on left
“pass to the left of the other vehicle at a safe distance”
“…This section does not authorize driving on the left side of the center of the road when prohibited under the following: Limitations on driving on the left of the center of a roadway under ORS 811.305 (Driving on left on curve or grade or at intersection or rail crossing).