I hope this guy turns out to be okay. His situation sounds awful.

But there is a problem with bicyclists in Portland. At least from my experience.

Last Fall a bicyclist rammed the back of my car when I had to come to an abrupt stop due to another bicyclist running a stop sign. The guy who hit my car was tailgating me and slammed pretty hard into my back bumper and rear window. He said he wasn't hurt (I offered to give him a ride to the closest hospital). He managed to dent my bumper and scratch up the back of my car pretty well, too.

And yesterday when I was on NW 22nd driving toward Burnside, a bicyclist ran a stop sign (she didn't bother to look before she went through) and I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting her. I honked at her and of course she flipped me off.

Disclaimer: I'm not in any way saying that the bicyclist in Matt's story is at fault because I wasn't there. But I can't be the only driver who finds it difficult to deal with bicyclists in Portland.

there's a problem with drivers of cars, trucks, vans, and suvs in portland as well.

i stopped listing my encounters on bikeportland's close calls when it started happening nearly every time i went to ride.

the drivers in portland are the most polite drivers i've ever encountered - almost to a fault. i bike all the time and am amazed by the courtesy i'm given. try biking in a texas city sometime.

Or, if not Texas, then how about Los Angeles? Heck, my wife got sort-of-hit by a car as she was attempting to cross the street legally, in a crosswalk, at a light .

And don't get me started about how we take our lives in our hands every time we put on our helmets and peddle away...

in my experiences there are bad motorists, bikers, pedestrians, pilots, etc.
BUT my experiences riding a bike in portland and dealing w/ motorists have been pretty good. in olympia i had been hit by motorists 5 times, being in the right of way each time, and the motorists have never ONCE stopped to see if i was okay...

According to TriMet PR person, the operator of this bus was at fault and has been cited by TriMet.

here's my story
http://bikeportland.org/2007/06/29/bus-operator-cited-in-collision-with-cyclist/

As a daily commuter, I have to say that while half of Portland's bikers are perfectly competant riders, the other half are complete kooks. I have fairly regular close calls in traffic, as well, but the root cause of all my close calls have been impolite and unpredictable cyclists.

Also, Trimet drivers tend to be complete bastards when it comes to making left turns and left hand lane changes. They make them with out looking and with no regard for who might already be in space they are invading. As cyclists on 16 pound vehicles, its on us to avoid getting into a situation where we end up underneath a 50 ton bus. Sucks, but that's life.

As a daily commuter, I have to say that while half of Portland's bikers are perfectly competant riders, the other half are complete kooks. I have fairly regular close calls in traffic, as well, but the root cause of all my close calls have been impolite and unpredictable cyclists.

Also, Trimet drivers tend to be complete bastards when it comes to making left turns and left hand lane changes. They make them with out looking and with no regard for who might already be in space they are invading. As cyclists on 16 pound vehicles, its on us to avoid getting into a situation where we end up underneath a 50 ton bus. Sucks, but that's life.

As a daily commuter, I have to say that while half of Portland's bikers are perfectly competant riders, the other half are complete kooks. I have fairly regular close calls in traffic, as well, but the root cause of all my close calls have been impolite and unpredictable cyclists.

Also, Trimet drivers tend to be complete bastards when it comes to making left turns and left hand lane changes. They make them with out looking and with no regard for who might already be in space they are invading. As cyclists on 16 pound vehicles, its on us to avoid getting into a situation where we end up underneath a 50 ton bus. Sucks, but that's life.

Yeah, gross generalizations don't help much there are shitty, inconsiderate, clueless and nervous; bikers, drivers and even pedestrians. I've had close-calls with all of them, bus drivers included. Some people think they own the road and others are dangerously polite/cautious but I think/hope the majority know what they are doing and pay attention. This incident is unfortunate to be sure. Hopefully there were some witnesses to help determine who was really at fault.

Oh man, this is so tangential to this post, but I've been dying to relate this story:

On Wednesday afternoon, I was biking east on the Hawthorne bridge, and was crossing that semi-sketchy part where the bike lane continues across the right hand off-ramp for cars when I heard some serious tire screeching. I looked over to see a massive truck that apparently hadn't realized that I had the right of way. As I continued through, the driver--this grizzled old dude--started yelling at me: "Watch where you're going, motherFUCKER!"

I was all, "Whaaaaa? Are you serious?"

And he yelled back, while driving down the off ramp, "Yeah! Come over here! Come on!"

I just kept riding, but I suppose I should have explained to him what all those lines on the pavement and multiple street signs mean.

This isn’t going to turn into another of the Mercury’s famous Trimet bashing crap is it? Why does the Mercury hate Trimet so much anyway?

It's been my experience that bicyclists don’t seem to feel that they are subject to the rules of the road as vehicle traffic is. They go through red lights with impunity, they ride on the wrong side of the road even though there is a bike lane, and they get together in herds and create chaos with the rest of us citizens.

I hate to say it but a lot of these bike accidents are caused by the bicyclists themselves.

louis: I sincerely hope so. We did the cops yesterday.

This isn’t going to turn into another of the car drivers' famous bike bashing crap is it?

Nerd Burger: I sincerely hope so. It's been a while since Blogtown really involved itself in anything controversial.

"This isn’t going to turn into another of the Mercury’s famous Trimet bashing crap is it? Why does the Mercury hate Trimet so much anyway?

It's been my experience that bicyclists don’t seem to feel that they are subject to the rules of the road as vehicle traffic is. They go through red lights with impunity, they ride on the wrong side of the road even though there is a bike lane, and they get together in herds and create chaos with the rest of us citizens.

I hate to say it but a lot of these bike accidents are caused by the bicyclists themselves."

you're saying this like there are bike lanes on every road in portland. THERE AREN'T.

Of course this guy was on a fixie.

Find me a fixie rider who is not a complete and utter sanctimonius asshole and I will take back this post.

I am a biker and fixie dudes and gals are pricks to me and they give all bikers in this town a bad name.

They are so "cool" they don't need brakes and they really don't need to pay attention to those pesky laws.

Thanks alot you fixie douchbags - btw people don't think you are cool, just stupid. Gears were invented for a reason asshats.

Damn. We had a sweepstake going on when the first "fixie riders are pricks" comment would come in. Finn, you got there 3 too early!

Finn,
You're just jealous because our legs are "sexier than yours.

This isn’t going to turn into another of the Mercury’s famous Trimet bashing crap is it? Why does the Mercury hate Trimet so much anyway?

It's been my experience that bicyclists don’t seem to feel that they are subject to the rules of the road as vehicle traffic is. They go through red lights with impunity, they ride on the wrong side of the road even though there is a bike lane, and they get together in herds and create chaos with the rest of us citizens.

I hate to say it but a lot of these bike accidents are caused by the bicyclists themselves"

It's been my experience that Trimet don’t seem to feel that they are subject to the rules of the road as vehicle traffic is. They go through red lights with impunity, they drive on the wrong side of the road even though there is a bus lane, and they get together in herds and create chaos with the rest of us citizens.

Looks like you "asshats" are using this post to articulate your agnst against either the cyclists or tri-met. Let's all hope Drew is ok.

Looks like you "asshats" are using this post to articulate your agnst against either the cyclists or tri-met. Let's all hope Drew is ok.

Looks like you "asshats" are using this post to articulate your agnst against either the cyclists or tri-met. Let's all hope Drew is ok.

Looks like you "asshats" are using this post to articulate your agnst against either the cyclists or tri-met. Let's all hope Drew is ok.

Looks like you "asshats" are using this post to articulate your agnst against either the cyclists or tri-met. Let's all hope Drew is ok.

Looks like you "asshats" are using this post to articulate your agnst against either the cyclists or tri-met. Let's all hope Drew is ok.

Looks like you "asshats" are using this post to articulate your agnst against either the cyclists or tri-met. Let's all hope Drew is ok.

You know that thing that says, "please hit post only once," Nate...

Gears were invented so wimps could go up hills too, and freewheels were invented for people that are too lazy to pedal even though they are on a bike.

Drivers in Oregon and Washington are some of the most incompetent drivers I have ever dealt with, and I have driven cross-country several times and lived in a few differnet cities.

The Tri-Met Bus took a left turn into him, so what kind of bike he was riding and how it is equipped has nothing to with it. He may or may not have been able to stop on a bike with caliper brakes, or he may have locked up the front wheel too and been in an even bigger world of hurt. The bus driver failed to yield to oncoming traffic. That is not the cyclist's fault by any stretch of the imagination.

Be that as it may, it's only a matter of time and sheer mathematical odds before some sanctimonious scofflaw on a bicycle winds up under my wheels.

Sure, I'll feel bad about it, but there isn't a damn thing I can do, not when I have to slam on my brakes on a nightly basis when some fool rides the wrong way down a one-way right at me with no headlight or something. Night after night after fucking night.

It's only a matter of time.

When I'm riding my bike around, I take the back streets, use a headlight as bright as day, and I'm sure to double check in all directions before blowing a stop sign.

See, I was the victim of a hit-and-run on my bike many years ago.

Believe me, you do not want to have that experience, though, for some of you Portland peddlers out there, it is the only thing that is going to modify your idiotic behavior.

See, the laws of physics apply to you, no matter what you are doing to save our poor planet. Two or three tons of steel moving at only 20mph will hurt you upon impact. Trust me on that one, OK ?

Is there some reason why these blogs are not moderated allowing multiple posts and inflammatory language?

I don't know who is at fault with the bus vs bike, all I know is that plenty of bikers do not follow the rules of the road. And personally I am sick and tired of the herd blocking traffic and creating chaos on their once a month "lets create chaos in portland" adventures. It doesnt do anything to make people sympathetic to their cause thats for sure!

In Portland the rules of the road apply to everyone except people on fixed gear bikes.

When they rurn a red light that seemingly doesn't apply to them making you slam on the brakes, don't forget you're the asshole at fault because you're in a car.

Fucking douche bags.

In Portland the rules of the road apply to everyone except people on fixed gear bikes.

When they rurn a red light that seemingly doesn't apply to them making you slam on the brakes, don't forget you're the asshole at fault because you're in a car.

Fucking douche bags.

I wonder how many of these fixed gear bikes you are seeing are actually singlespeeds.

I drive a car too. I see plenty of assholes in cars and trucks running red lights, passing on double solid yellow lines, talking on their phones and not paying attention, turning after their left arrow turns red, rolling stop signs, swerving because they are drunk, not signaling when they change lanes or turn (because they won't put down the phone), and on and on. The big difference is that when a car does something wrong there is a good chance that someone else will get hurt. When someone on a bike does something wrong they are almost always only endangering themselves.

...and making left turns and hitting cyclists that are oncoming traffic!