The bad news is another person was hit. The good news is changes are likely coming soon.
As a southeast Portland neighborhood grapples with the loss of a beloved member of their community due to a fatal traffic crash along Southeast Cesar Chavez Blvd, BikePortland has confirmed that yet another person on foot was hit by a driver on that street yesterday.
According to the Portland Police Bureau, a person walking at the intersection of SE Stark and Cesar Chavez (Laurelhurst Park) was hit and injured around 4:15 pm on Sunday. Officers responded to the collision and found an adult female had been struck by a car driver. A Reddit user posted that they drove by and “saw a car… on top of a pedestrian.” The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of back pain. PPB have confirmed the case with BikePortland and say the driver was given a traffic citation for failing to stop for a pedestrian (ORS 811.028).
That collision comes just one week after 71-year-old Tuyet Nguyen was killed by a car driver two miles south of Stark St. That crash is still under investigation and I’m working to learn more about how it happened.
I’ve also learned that a memorial service is planned for Nguyen. A witness who was one of the first people to arrive on the scene of the collision reached out to BikePortland and shared the memorial event flyer. The flyer gives us a photo of Nguyen and shares names of the people she left behind — including three daughters, a son, and eight grandchildren. The memorial will be held in Newberg on February 8th.
Many Reed and Woodstock neighborhood residents were familiar with Nguyen as she walked their streets constantly. “She was the most kind and gentle woman who always had a smile on her face,” one witness told me, then added: “I truly hope something is done to make Cesar Chavez safer. I live two houses off Cesar Chavez and Cora and it’s awful. The speeding, reckless driving, and amount of accidents is insane.”
On that note, there’s some good news to share: In response to questions about the future of SE Cesar Chavez Blvd today, PBOT Communications Director Hannah Schafer said they are in the process of setting up a project page on their website for, “a new safety project in the area” funded through the Oregon Department of Transportation’s All Roads Transportation Safety Program (ARTS).
This is the project I mentioned in the wake of the Jeanie Diaz tragedy in 2023 where PBOT is going to consider safety updates on SE Cesar Chavez between SE Powell and Holgate. A lane reconfiguration (aka “road diet”) is not guaranteed yet (since public outreach hasn’t started), but after Diaz was killed by a driver while waiting for the bus at SE Chavez and SE Taylor, PBOT City Traffic Engineer Wendy Cawley told the Richmond Neighborhood Association that PBOT would consider going from the current four-lane cross-section to a three-lane cross-section, “or potentially even a two-lane cross-section.”
Today Schafer confirmed we will know more very soon about the safety project between Powell and Holgate, and said a separate project will bring a new signal at SE Gladstone. PBOT is still working to make sure full funding is in place before moving forward, and we will know more once the project webpage is published. Stay tuned.
Thanks for reading.
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The rapid and sustained uptick in Portland traffic violence after traffic enforcement was “de-emphasized” in the throes of the racial justice protests of 2020, makes it pretty clear to me that our lack of enforcement is a big player in the record setting number of traffic deaths and injuries in Portland. Until we recognize this and wholeheartedly endorse enforcement of our laws I’m afraid the tragic and unnecessary carnage will continue. .
Hi. It’s 2025 now. You might want to stop beating that dead horse and find a different way to push your narrative. It’s exhausting to have you continue to harp on 2020 and this idea that the protests made police stop doing their jobs. Yes a lot of people were mad at the police, and rightfully so in many ways. And yes, a lot of people went too far down that path. Also yes, the police stopped doing their jobs on their own accord because they didn’t like having their feelings hurt and they were trying to score political points. The reality is that the anti-enforcement era has been over in Portland for a while now, so you’ll have to come up with a new way to bash the libs. Good luck!
Do you have any evidence that the anti enforcement is over?
You know, like traffic stop and ticket numbers? Should be easy to get that information.
I still never see traffic enforcement in the city, never see a car pulled over and a cop writing a ticket.
That is anecdotal but unless you show me some proof that Portland is actively
pursuing traffic violators, I tend to go with the dead horse….
Agreed. I haven’t seen a car pulled over by the PPB in several years, but I see motorists blowing stop signs and red lights every day.
Yeah, I agree….it’s been years (maybe 8 or 10) since I’ve seen a PPB traffic stop. Not a good thing. I see people run red lights frequently in SE where I work.
Regardless, I would like to give my deepest condolonces to the family and friends of Tuyet Nguyen. What a loss.
I’m sure you can find that info, since you seem interested. Stop asking others to do your homework for you.
‘anti-enforcement’ is the idea among people who aren’t currently breaking traffic laws that police stops are the greater danger and should be abated.
That’s different from the rolling blue flu where disaffected police use their discretion to just not enforce laws, to write no tickets when clear violations occur, and to sideline traffic enforcement units.
In recent years the Chief of Police was working for the mayor and could be fired. So, if no enforcement was happening, it was between those two people, not the protesters.
Searched for 30 seconds to find this:
https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=533539#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20PPB%20officers%20performed,without%20dedicated%20traffic%20patrol%20personnel.
In 2023, PPB officers performed 17,113 driver stops across the city. This is a 26% increase over the previous year and the first time the number of stops increased in five years. Analysts believe the increase is almost entirely due to increased activity from the Traffic Division as their total number of stops more than doubled compared to 2022 (3,028 in 2022 vs. 6,429 in 2023). This increase is attributable to the decision to reassign personnel to the Traffic Division after more than two years without dedicated traffic patrol personnel.
Year over year increases are fairly meaningless without getting numbers from 2019 or earlier.
Good, those were the numbers I was looking for.
Now that I realize how good a job Portland traffic police are now doing and your excellent defense of the police, I am still curious how Pedestrian deaths went from 34 in 2018 to 75 in 2023?
It must be just infrastructure correct? It got really bad in 6 years, nothing to do with enforcement as you now point out.
Glad to know you think the cops are doing the job.
You asked for evidence that “anti-enforcement is over” and I gave you some.
Then you read all kinds of things into that and attack me for views I don’t have. It’s tiresome.
I just don’t like that fact that you and the owner of this site and others are the biggest defenders of bad car drivers…..
I want real enforcement, I am tired of car drivers driving how ever they want in the city. Pedestrian deaths doubled in 6 years and people get on here and talk about infrastructure and road diets.
Everything except pulling over and writing expensive tickets to people who are out to kill cyclists and pedestrians.
BB, I’ve covered a ton more than just infra and road diets on here. Your speculation about my beliefs when it comes to enforcement is just wrong.
From my perspective, most folks on here have never been against “real enforcement”. People were/are against cops with guns using enforcement as a tool for control and power over folks in an unfair and unjust way. If police can do their jobs correctly, go for it! And are you just choosing to ignore all the support on here for automated enforcement cameras?
I tell you I’m tired of you attacking me for views I don’t have and you respond with
When have I EVER done that? I’ve made hundreds of comments criticizing bad drivers. Show me one where I’ve defended them.
First, you also seem to think that being in favor of infrastructure improvements or road diets is anti-enforcement, which isn’t true.
Second, even though this is an article about infrastructure changes in response to a death, there are MANY comments from people wanting more enforcement. Are you not seeing those? Or are you saying that ANY comments about infrastructure and road diets are too many?
Remember, everyone is afraid that a person of the wrong color will get a ticket. We can’t have that! What would all those people that participated in the riots think!?!? They’d probably come back out of hiding and do it all over again in the name of social justice!
“I just don’t like that fact that you and the owner of this site and others are the biggest defenders of bad car drivers…..”
Where did you even get that? I am honestly curious. How did you come to that conclusion?
Leave it to Maus to dismiss his critics with more bad-faith arguments.
I honestly would have stopped caring a long time ago, but I’m tired of you attempting to speak for bicyclists, and Portlanders as a whole.
It’s gross that you keep appropriating deaths, one after another, to serve your bogus, tired social justice narrative. It’s downright shameless at this point.
Sorry, what were you saying about pushing narratives and that poor horse?
100% Watts. Sorry Jonathan but after your response to my post I got to nominate this one for “Comment of the Week”! 🙂
“Yes a lot of people were mad at the police, and rightfully so in many ways.”
Have you ever checked data on who kills the most POC, and why resisting arrest is inherently dangerous for any race, e.g. Tony Timpa and countless others who don’t get to play the race card for being reckless? It used to be called Suicide By Cop until the other (forced) narrative took over.
Lack of respect for laws has declined since late 2020, but it’s still palpable and reflected in how people drive and act on the street. In many cases, pedestrians run into the road, almost daring cars to hit them. Hang around Burnside near Providence Park and you’ll see that sooner or later.
In my experience, the reality is that the driving culture became much faster, more reckless , and more willing to ignore signs and traffic signals during the “anti-enforcement” era, and that has not changed at all. The police may have resumed some level of enforcement, but (as others have noted) it is not enough to be widely perceived, and, most importantly, it has not yet begun to reform the driving culture. I do not understand Angus Peters’ comment an attempt to “bash the libs”, I think this comment is calling for for a widespread acknowledgement of the role of city leaders and the PPD had in creating our current dangerous driving culture. Once the City and PPD acknowledges their role and actions, a coordinated, concert effort to mitigate it can be developed and agreed upon. As it stands, there is a tacit understanding, but an explicit explanation, and the result is PPD sheepishly easing back into enforcement in some minor way. I think we need a reckoning, and a real plan that involves widespread messaging, publicized enforcement, and the Mayor, the Council members, and PPD talking about this on the news and in town halls.I disagree with Jonathan’s impulse to push this issue under the rug and imply that it is so 2020 that we need to move on.
I’m not saying we should push the issue under the rug. It’s just feels like to me that some folks still think we’re in the same place as we were in 2020. I’m trying to say a lot has changed in Portland politics and culture since then. I totally agree with you that the reckless driving that started in 2020 is definitely still here and I’m happy that the City of Portland has a different relationship with enforcement than they did at that time. I’m talking about PBOT beefing up its parking enforcement/towing work and adding cameras, and the PPB re-instating its Traffic Division, and so on.
If you actually look at the data (I know, what a concept) you’ll find that pedestrian deaths have been rising since about 2009 (national data here, state data dashboard here). Blaming it on Covid, or racial justice protests is lazy bs. I think a likelier culprit is vehicle regulation (or lack thereof) leading to the proliferation of deadly SUVs, especially since Obama-era regulations encouraged automakers to shift production from smaller, more efficient vehicles to larger less efficient ones. That more closely aligns with the timeline of road fatality increases, and reflects the nationwide scope of the problem.
https://bikeportland.org/fatality-tracker
This data from this website that shows fatalities in Portland climbing almost 30% in 6 years, an especially large jump after 2020 with one small dip and it has flatlined to about 70-75 which is a disgrace.
Traffic enforcement has to play a part in this and things are not improving.
Without a longer baseline before 2020, it’s harder to make sense of that data in my opinion.
I think traffic enforcement is an aspect of a socially functioning streetscape, but I don’t think there is evidence to clearly show it’s the most important aspect of it. I feel that given the longstanding trend of increasing deaths at the national and state level that predate 2020 by over a decade, it’s more useful to look for other explanations. I concur with Jeff S below that smart phone usage is a major issue as well.
also may correlate with the rise of smart phone usage.
COTW
the size and speed of cars/trucks is unregulated, they keep getting bigger and keep getting faster.
There is no right to drive in the US Constitution.
Driving is a privilege and must be regulated.
Cars are weapons when improperly driven.
Impunity must end.
The privilege of driving shall be infringed.
Automakers provide weapons of human destruction.
The need to be regulated and taxed.
Drivers who kill people should be charged with murder and spend at least 7 days in jail.
It’s not just the police at fault.
It is so much more than police.
Good point, except “racial justice” was mostly an anti-police hustle by lurking criminals who just want fewer cops. Trumpers treat the EPA the same way.
Police primarily respond to crimes already committed; it’s surely not the case that a few thousand police can deter the violence of 2+ million metro residents’ traffic.
Portland needs modern, up-to-date street designs to curb the innate danger of cars.
Oh please….people know they never get stopped in Portland anymore for speeding….that’s why they do it. People respond to consequences (getting a speeding ticket). Our police traffic unit is still only at a skeleton crew as compared to pre-Floyd.
How many police (at a very generous upper-middle class income) do we need to enforce the traffic laws? Cops are uneconomical and inefficient compared to good modern street design.
Totally agree that Ceasar Chavez Blvd needs a massive re-design. My commute from my old place took me along the Burnside-adjacent greeways and crossing Chavez was always the worst part.
I think this part of the story kind of says a lot. Seems like a percentage of drivers, like maybe 10-20%, are just really cavalier about never stopping for people walking and biking. Or like, they do the thing where they slow down a tiny bit, flash their lights, wave their hands, but never actually stop their car. Then the throw a tantrum at me for not using the crosswalk their car is currently rolling through. Another issue I run into is the baby brains who think that “crosswalk” just means the paint on the ground. Every intersection is a crosswalk.
Even when driving, when I stop for people crossing I have had other drivers threaten me and try to hit my car because I had the audacity to have my eyes open while driving down Hawthorne on a Saturday afternoon.
I’d love for PPB to do some stings to write people warnings and tickets for not stopping for pedestrians. I’d also like for PBOT, ODOT, or whoever, to put up billboards informing drivers of the “every intersection is a crosswalk; stop for people walking” thing.
I have literally never once experienced this, nor even seen it happen to someone else, nor heard a report of this from anyone I know, either on Hawthorne or anywhere else.
I am remarkably lucky.
PS How do people try to hit your car and miss?
I still have to do this crossing a couple times a week and it is the worst part of my commute. I am usually crossing between 3 and 6pm, and there are almost always other people and bikes that are there crossing too. This makes me think it is pretty busy. I have witnessed a pretty bad rear end crash when a car was stopped for pedestrians there.
This would be a great place for a ped/ bike activated red light like there is on Stark. It would cut out a lot of the uncertainty and give cars that are farther back in line a signal that everyone is stopping for a red. We are so used to this road being a highway that it is easy to forget that it goes through a dense residential area.
Attempted murder with a deadly weapon, and they get a slap on the wrist… Not really the type of penalty that will lead to safer driving in the future. I would like to see a serious effort to protect the lives of pedestrians and cyclists.
Agreed there should be a higher criminal penalty. But they will likely be facing a costly civil lawsuit as well.
Nothing like a conversation about traffic to bring out all the law and order types.
Will the new signal at Gladstone somehow be better (safer) than the one there now?
Everyone on foot or bike needs to treat drivers like wild bison all the time. Either have plenty of distance, make definite eye contact or never assume they’ll stop. And use big arm gestures if you’re trying to get their attention, not feeble, “polite” hand waves.
No amount of laws or barriers will prevent random incidents where they’re not expected, since if something’s expected it’s rarely a problem. You have to save yourselves with constant vigilance.
R.I.P. to this lady, but pedestrians also share the burden of safety. One guy walked right in front of me just because I’d paused in a parking lot, looking down at some paper. I started to inch forward just as he came from the right side at an angle. He didn’t bother to make eye contact and got upset because I was “supposed” to see him (why could he not walk behind the car?). Assuming the behavior of anyone is the wrong attitude for self-preservation!
Yes, you are “supposed” to see him!!! That is literally the duty of drivers.
Umm did you forget about looking both ways after stopping? Wrong assumption that everything in your environment is the same after you looked away. Also sounds like you were distracted by the papers you were looking at…
I cross SE Chavez every other day on my bike and the number of times I’ve seen vehicles run reds is atrocious. A lot of close calls with Portlanders of all stripes (older folks walking, parents w/ their kiddos hitched to their bike, etc).
It also happens that the North / South greenways in the area are neglected, relative to the East / West ones. Maybe we can kills two birds with one stone and put a protected bike lane on Chavez. One can dream.
Regardless, I think a road diet to two lanes is necessary to save lives and hope to hear more soon (incl. ways to get involved in supporting that goal).
I vote for converting the street to 3 lane and using the additional space to add wider sidewalks and plater strips for street trees. It looks like the power lines are on the west side north of Powell, and the east side south of Powell. That might be enough space so add 3′ of sidewalk and 6′-7′ planting strip and get nice big trees on the outside of the power lines. Or you could plant smaller canopy trees or add the space to the opposite side of the road.
I’d like to interrupt the avalanche of comments about lack of police enforcement to say I’m happy that PBOT is pursuing safety changes to the street.
There’s information about this in the article above, for those interested.
From my years of advocating for improvements in East Portland 2009-2015, I learned the hard way that the term “soon” has a relative meaning at PBOT.
Immediate: Any time between April of this year and 5 years from now. PBOT is studying the project, doing some design work, and has actual funding, but that pet project downtown may get a higher priority, “temporarily” taking away our project funding.
Soon: Any time between 2 years from now and the end of the next federal administration. PBOT has identified the project as a political priority and is now seeking funding. The project parameters and design is dependent on the funding and when it has to be used, as well as any pet projects downtown that come up.
Recent: Any time in the last 20-25 years.
It is deeply tragic that Tuyet Nguyen was killed on Cesar Chavez. With respect and sincerity behind this question, will you explain why you did not express similar concern for: Shui Yuan, Floyd Charlan, Thomas Amato, Edward Hanson, Rachelle Schaefer, Cameron Giles, Federico Pascual, Ryan Easton, Tony Stephenson, Marquita Martin, Jeremy Young, Kurt Jensen, Bethany Johnson, Victoria Jacob-Springer, Cameron Barton, Jamie Smith, Dustin Phenning, Andres Mendez, or Muoi Hua? I wonder if you are now committed to elevating pedestrian crashes, which I would applaud, or if there is something you feel is particularly tragic about Nguyen’s fatality.
Hi Sarah,
Whether I cover a crash or not depends on a lot of factors. Nothing is set in stone because I tend to do whatever I feel like in the moment. In this case I think I covered it was because it happened in a place where I knew it impacted a lot of BikePortlanders and I could feel that they were impacted because of chatter I was hearing on social media about it. It also happened on a notorious street with clear design problems so that added some newsworthiness and an advocacy element that appealed to me. I also had the time and just felt like covering it.
Thanks for clarifying Jonathan – that all makes sense
Making the outside lanes bus+bike+turn-only would be such an obvious and cheap mitigation that PBOT could do to every 4-or-more-lane street ten years ago or something, lower the speed limits to 20mph, they could call it “Vision Zero” or “Twenty is Plenty”.
And ban all left turns not at traffic lights. Left crosses are also a huge issue on this street.