Video: Scary conditions on Highway 43 where man was killed while cycling

I’ve visited many fatal crash sites over the years, but the one where 68-year-old Rutilo Jorge was hit and killed one week ago may be the scariest yet. I had never biked on Highway 43 south of the Sellwood Bridge before Saturday, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. When I rolled up and saw the horrible conditions, a chill raced through my body as I nervously pedaled to reach the safe harbor of a residential driveway where I could take a breath and gather my thoughts.

The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO, the lead agency because it happened just outside Portland city boundary) says Jorge was hit around 5:30 pm. According to their statement, Jorge was riding southbound just north of South Radcliffe Road. That location is just under one mile from the Sellwood Bridge and has a 45 mph speed limit; but people often go much faster because there are no cross streets or visual or physical obstructions. Adding to the danger is the fact that it happened around 5:30 pm, so imagine what my video and photos would look like in the dark.

The only sign of a collision I could see on Saturday was the white spray-painted outline of a car’s wheel track that veered into dirt and pine needles that stand several inches thick almost all the way up to the fog line (see photos below). There are several large, sharp rocks in the shoulder. MCSO says they have reason to believe Jorge hit one of those rocks prior to the collision. Jorge, “lost control of his bike after potentially hitting a rock on the shoulder of the roadway, fell, and was then struck by an SUV traveling south,” the MCSO statement says.

Oregon’s bicycle passing law (ORS 811.065) states that if a driver overtakes a bicycle rider on a highway without a bike lane and with a speed limit over 35 mph (both conditions met in this case), they must give the bicycle rider enough room so when they pass there is space, “sufficient to prevent contact with the person operating the bicycle if the person were to fall into the driver’s lane of traffic.” MCSO has made contact with the driver and they have not announced any traffic citations or criminal charges in the case. Once they’ve completed their investigation, they’ll hand it off to the District Attorney’s office and that’s where decisions about any charges will be made.

While I was out there on Sunday, I was overcome with frustration, fear and sadness. Drivers flew by so fast that leaves in the shoulder flew off the ground and I worried my bike would blow over. I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like on that dark night.

I know a lot of folks will wonder why Jorge would ever be on this stretch of road at that time of day. But let’s remember that we don’t know what he was going through or why he made that choice. When Martin Greenough was hit and killed while biking on a scary stretch of NE Lombard that had a gap in the bike lane in 2015, many people wondered why he put himself in that position. We learned later that he was new to town and likely had no idea what he was getting into until it was too late.

As I demonstrate in the video, if the gate into River View Cemetery was closed at dusk (which has been common lately), Jorge might have felt he had no other choice but to take the highway. And if it was his first time, he might have pointed his bike south at the Sellwood Bridge, where there’s a wide and smooth shoulder. By the time he realized how narrow and sketchy the shoulder had become, he might have already committed and was just hoping and praying he could make it through safely.

I’ve been in that position myself many times. And I’m sure many of you have been too. No one deserves to die in those situations.

This gap in our system cannot stand. Regardless of how dangerous it is, it’s legal to ride on Highway 43 and plenty of people do it. It’s also currently the only feasible way for bike riders to get between the Sellwood Bridge and the Dunthorpe/Lake Oswego area when the cemetery gate is closed. And with River View’s board growing tired of the legal burden that comes with public access through their private property, we might be forced to find alternate routes sooner than we think.

I know there have been studies and discussions about building a multimodal connection in the past — either along the river and trolley rail right-of-way, a new bridge, or on the highway itself. I can only hope this human sacrifice is enough to dust off those plans and begin those conversations anew.