Articles Posted in Bicycle Accidents

A Portland bike and car crash that could have been a lot worse landed Joey Harrington, the former University of Oregon and NFL quarterback, in the hospital last week with serious, though not life-threatening, injuries. Harrington spent a day in intensive care following the Oregon bike accident according to Fox News.

The Oregonian, citing the Portland police, reports that in the early evening Harrington was biking “westbound on Foster Street when a motorist heading westbound struck Harrington’s rear bicycle wheel.” Harington was wearing a helmet – a fact that his father, speaking to Fox, said probably spared him far more significant injuries. According to The Oregonian the driver of the SUV that struck Harrington remained at the scene of the accident and was later cited by police for “following too close.”

When cars – particularly SUV’s – come into contact with a bicycle on the road the results are almost never good for the cyclist. This is especially important to remember because drivers of larger cars can lose track of just how close they are tracking a cyclist if they do not pay close attention.

A recent article in The Oregonian details significant efforts in Washington County to improve the environment for cyclists, a plan that, if implemented, may help curb Oregon bicycle and car accidents as well as improving the overall quality of life in our region.

As the newspaper details, county officials are examining “projects aimed at improving transportation corridors and connecting key county roads and trails.” Bicycle commuters, the article reports, are of particular interest to planners with conscious attempts being made to design and build routes that “link to Tri-Met bus and light rail lines” with the goal of making long-distance travel easier both on bikes alone and using a combination of cycling and public transportation. The paper reports that Washington County’s efforts are being funded by a variety of sources at all levels of government and will take shape over a period of years.

Greater Portland, of course, has long prided itself on a bike-friendly reputation. But even in a city known to be welcoming to cyclists there is always room for improvement.

A Portland man faces the serious charge of second-degree assault after an alleged attack on a Portland bike rider that resulted in an Oregon bicycle accident, according to The Oregonian.

The incident took place early Tuesday morning as Joe Santos, a Portland police sergeant, was riding his bike to work along Northwest Cornell Road. Santos told investigating officers after the incident that an SUV nearly hit him, then, inexplicably, “about a block later, the driver stopped so suddenly that Santos had to veer into oncoming traffic.” Santos “slapped” the SUV to try to alert it to his presence, and was rewarded with the car abruptly stopping, going into reverse and trying to hit him. When Santos tried go grab his bike and flee to the safety of the sidewalk the SUV allegedly went after him yet again – hitting the bike, but missing the rider.

Fortunately Santos, though shaken, was able to get the license plate of the SUV. Later that day police took a suspect into custody, the newspaper reports, citing police sources.

Portland takes justifiable pride in being one of the most bicycle-friendly communities in America. According to US Census figures, quoted by The Oregonian, Portland leads all larger American cities in the percentage of our population that uses bikes to commute to work or school. Bike friendliness can, however, come with a price. According to the same analysis by the newspaper, a recent study by the Oregon Health and Science University found that bike commuters are at significantly high risk for injury than drivers or more occasional riders when it comes to Oregon bike accidents.

According to the paper, an astonishing 20 percent of all Portland bike commuters report being injured in an Oregon bicycle accident during the last year. The good news is that many of those accidents were minor (so minor what the article quotes some local bike advocates complaining that the study used too broad a definition of “accident”). Fully one-quarter of Portland bike accidents, however, were serious enough to require “medical attention.”

Put another way: “Compared with auto commuters, bicyclists are 12 times more likely to be seriously injured in a crash, largely because they are far more vulnerable, the study says.” The biggest thing we can do to lower those numbers, according to the authors, is to “focus on improving the safety of the bicycle commuting environment.” Or, in plain English, we can concentrate not only on improving and maintaining the city’s bike infrastructure, but also on enforcing the traffic laws.

A driver who allegedly hit two Portland cyclists in the space of a minute is being sought by police, according to an account of the incidents in The Oregonian. The Portland car and bicycle accidents took place “shortly before 8 a.m. Tuesday”, the paper reports. In both instances police describe the bikers as lucky to be alive, and say that officers were shocked by the apparent circumstances of the incidents.

Citing law enforcement sources as well as eye-witnesses, the newspaper describes a young (age 18 to 20) and erratic man driving a Subaru with no license plates. The first victim, a 47 year old man, was struck as he signaled to change lanes. He describes the driver as “clearly mad that I was in his way” and said the car sped around him, knocking him off of his bike in the process. The second incident took place barely a minute later near the Rose Garden. In that incident a 27-year old woman was struck and hurled through the air. She required hospitalization, though her injuries were described as not being life-threatening.

The incidents are a reminder that even in this – often cited as one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in America – things can go desperately wrong. If you have been hit by a car as part of an Oregon bicycle accident you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to make contact with a Portland bicycle injury lawyer as soon as possible.

A fascinating analysis published last week in the online Portland newspaper Enzyme PDX looks at the question of road fatalities – an issue as ever-present here in Portland as it is anywhere else. Specifically, the article compares Portland’s approach to road safety the approach used in Sweden. As the article notes, Portland’s population is just over one-third that of Sweden. But even though Sweden has a lot more people, it and Portland recorded around the same number of traffic fatalities in 2009 (355 for Sweden, 331 for Portland). This year, Portland’s streets have been deadlier – 198 fatalities so far in 2010 versus only 162 in Sweden. Again, that’s not Stockholm – it is all of Sweden.

Why, Enzyme PDX asks, do Sweden’s roads seem to be so much safer? The difference, the news site suggests, is essentially philosophical. Since 1997 Sweden’s traffic planners have worked on the assumption that they – the planners – are responsible for constantly modifying the traffic system in an effort to reduce or eliminate serious injuries and deaths while keeping traffic moving. This does not, they stress, relieve drivers of responsibility in any way. It does mean that the people who manage the transport system see lowering fatalities as just as much of a daily task as keeping the traffic moving.

Some of Sweden’s methods are well-known. The country has famously tough drunk driving laws and is equally famous for the zeal with which it enforces them. Less well known, and explored at length by Enzyme PDX is the effort the Swedes put into figuring out how best to help bikes, cars and pedestrians co-exist on the country’s streets and roads. Much of the time, that means forcing cars to slow down in areas where bikes and foot traffic are present. According to the website, speed limits in Swedish cities are a mere 18.6 miles per hour (30 km per hour) – because years of data analysis has shown that to be the optimal speed for overall safety in mixed-use areas.