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….
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.