Thursday evening, a 36-year old man died in a collision with a car while riding his bike on NE 57th Ave at Prescott. Portland Police, after responding to the crash and initiating a full investigation, have made only general statements about the circumstances of the crash. Based on present information, it seems likely that the man was attempting to cross NE Prescott St and failed to see the car that hit him.
The driver of the car stuck around to assist with the investigation and is likely terribly distraught. We feel badly for that person and even worse for the people who were close to the deceased man (we have heard a rumor that he has a young son).
After 2008, a year in which the City of Portland observed zero bike-related deaths, this crash and the death of Cary Bernick in a similar crash in April reminds us how much work remains to be done to make bicycling safe for everyone, everywhere. That work includes improving the bike-friendliness of our streets, the availability of safe bike routes and crossings, and also the education and enforcement of safe biking and driving practices.
NE Prescott is a challenging street to cross on a bike or on foot, and traffic moves fast – sometimes even faster than the 35 mph speed limit. At rush hour gaps in auto traffic are few and far between. Rigler Elementary, where the BTA has taught Bicycle Safety Education, is nearby at NE 55th and Prescott.
I can’t help but imagine how this crash may have happened because it is the type of crash I fear for myself – waiting at a busy street, looking back and forth for gaps in traffic, I think I have one and get halfway across and find with a frightening jolt that I missed something, and that something is a car speeding towards me. It is so easy to look without really seeing. This is called “inattentional blindness,” and it’s a well-documented phenomenon that causes people to look at but not see, with their brains, something that is right in front of them. TriMet and other transit agencies train their drivers to avoid slipping into it, as do other professional driving companies. If you’ve ever watched someone drive up to a stop sign, slow down, look right at you, and then pull out and nearly hit you, that is what happened. And without deliberate care, it can happen to all of us.
Of course, we know very little about what or who caused this crash, and until Portland Police investigate it fully this is all musing and simple speculation; any number of things could have caused this crash. But this is what it makes me think about. For me, personally, it is a good reminder to slow down a little bit, put my feet on the ground, and look left just one more time.
‘Deliberate care’ are the operative words. Every time I take off on my bike I take a second to think about what I am about to do, and make sure I have the most important thing first and foremost- safety.