That's fucked up Matt. A life is a life, irregardless of whether it's death comes on the coat tails of your latest campaign or not. It sounds like you know that and maybe it's time to call attention to the risks that pedestrians take as well? Is there a pedestrian safety voice in Portland yet, like the one for bicyclists?

The city has a Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and there's a group called the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition—they've been members of Sam Adams' ad-hoc street safety committee, formed in the wake of the Sparling and Jarolimek deaths.

Both cyclists and pedestrians are equally important—both are classified as vunerable road users, both are at table with regards to "safer streets for all" and regardless of which sort of road user it was, shoring up safety is key.

No, Schting, there isn't a pedestrian safety voice as far as I'm aware. But you're right about all of it, and that's kind of the point I was making. It's fucked up.

Oops. I posted that before I'd read Amy's response. Amy: do you think the community's response to those two bike deaths has emphasized pedestrians equally?

Do you think the bicycling community will step up and claim this crash as "one of their own?"

What's up with Portland drivers of late? Didn't a guy get his pelvis crushed by a van in North Portland last week while walking his dog on the sidewalk? I mean I usually don't hear of car-on-pedestrian accidents very often. Well... except when it's kids. Does it go underreported?

You're comparing apples and oranges, Matt. I don't see many "walking lanes"-- peds already have separate paths known as sidewalks. Apart from intersections and jaywalkers, the pedestrian experience doesn't intersect much with auto traffic. Hell, you might even say peds get their own "bike box" in the form of a crosswalk.

Perhaps.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=portland+bike+deaths&btnG=Google+Search

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=portland+pedestrian+deaths&btnG=Search

Well, it's hard to say there's a "pedestrian community," when—as pedestrian advocates like to point out—everyone's a pedestrian at some point during the day.

Guess so. No "ghost people," though?

"Irregardless" is not a word.

My bad.. it's an Indiana thing.

I'm not understanding why the story of a woman getting hit by a bus is about your morbid opportunism, and then about your personal emotions. Explain the picture. Tell what you saw. Tell what others saw. I could give a f*ck about what this means either legislatively or whatever meaningless campaign waddles into your head. What's the effing story?

Consider a different career field.

Wouldn't "ghost shoes" be the pedestrian equivalent?

I wonder how Tri-Met will comment on all of this.... Or if they'll comment at all.

TriMet sent out a news release at 5:21 pm:

TriMet and Portland State University (PSU) will hold an open house on a potential development next to the PSU South MAX stations between SW College and SW Jackson Streets.

If we hear more, we'll post it.

I don't know what it is about that intersection, but I was almost hit by a car there 4 years ago. Once, I picked a bicyclist up off the street after he got hit by a car. I used to live in the area, so I learned to avoid the intersection when I could. Weird spot, I guess?

The problem is Portland Streets.

When we moved here from Michigan, we couldn't believe the streets here. Who in hell designed them? Visibility is horrible.

Everytime I look at those mammoth busses navigating these narrow streets lined with parked cars, I feel for the driver. That's a job I'd NEVER do, because the risk of hitting something is just to great.

Close in NE and SE have such chaotic and confusing streets its unbelievable. I'm amazed at the stupidity of the design.

I'm amazed at the number of vehicles that are allowed to park on the streets, in many residential areas there isn't even room for 2 cars.

The problem isn't the drivers in my opinion, it is the street design that makes it so difficult to drive safely in this city.

With so many various things to look out for and pay attention to at every corner and along every street, well it's no damn wonder isn't it?

The street design itself is the issue. There needs to be much less crowding of parked cars on the streets and more distance from corners to increase visibility.
I hate driving in Portland. Compared to out East, it feels like some kind of punk designed the streets. All of it, from the streets to the highways looks like a child designed it it's so confusing and packed with crap to look out for.

I think David is right about this.

So.... is her dog okay?

thank you to someone mentioning "irregardless"

The lady who was hit is my next door neighbor. The man who was screaming is her brother, who lives a couple of doors down. She wasn't killed, but she was pretty banged up. She's spending the night in the hospital for a CAT scan, because she hit her head. She's the best, nicest neighbor I've ever had, and I'm really hoping she's OK and she's still able to navigate the stairs to her front door, considering the injuries she must have suffered.

Rose - the dog is OK. Another neighbor is taking care of it until she gets out of the hospital.

CS: Thanks for the updates. I wish her the best, as well.

First, joking or not, the title is terrible and pretty damn offensive.

Secondly, I walked passed the accident around 4:30 on my way to work. My usual morbid curiosity wasn't enough to stop me from asking what happened though. I use that intersection every day, at least twice a day, and in the past I have been almost hit several times by cars turning the same direction the bus turned and hit the woman. I've learned to be extremely aware of what the turning car is doing because they seemed to be either too impatient or careless to pay attention to the pedestrian crossing the street. While it may be hard to see oncoming traffic, there is complete visibility of pedestrians who are crossing the street. So, while on other streets it may not be the drivers, at this particular intersection, I think it is.

You are one sick mother fucker Matt. You have crossed the line this time. You NEED to be fired and deported!

I will be outraged if the driver of the bus is not cited in this horrible vehicle on pedestrian assault.

i hope she pulls through. and yes, if the driver broke the law, i hope s/he's faces some consequences.

the danger vehicles present to human life, whether on a bicycle or not (heck, often in other cars), is an issue that dropped off the radar after ralph nader (and other people i haven't heard of) saved thousands of lives a year by getting seatbelts in cars. i hope it re-emerges. roughly 40,000 americans a year are killed by cars.

There's also another loose-knit group (We Are All Traffic) that organizes around safety issues for vulnerable road users, including bicyclists. The group's first event in November was a rally to highlight bicycle safety issues, but the proposed plan for the next one is to address pedestrian safety. From the comments, the intersection mentioned here sounds like a dangerous one for _any_ user of the road, so a visibility action might be organized in the near future. It's all about who's involved and willing to act to make advocacy a reality.

If you'd like to take a stand for pedestrians, I can put you in touch with the group. You can find more info at bikeportland.org/wearealltraffic and my email is jcropp [at] runbox [dot] com.

"Morbid Opportunism"...it sounds sexy regardless of how accurate it is...

I sure hope the lady pulls through okay, two years ago my mom was crossing a street and was struck by a vehicle in NoPo, on a tricky part of Lombard...no press, she was in ICU for over a week...she'll never quite be the same due to head trauma, but she recovered as well as can be expected.

Behaviors of drivers need to change, maybe the street 'design' is f'd up, but it is what it is. Behaviors of peds and cyclists need to be more defensive also, it's not a 'right or wrong' issue, just common sense. Half the people cruising on the streets at any given time are 'fractured focus' imbeciles...everyone knows that!

As a frequent cyclist and a frequent pedestrian as well, my observation has been that driving in Portland has to hell in a hand basket. Granted, there is also a lot of sloppy bike riding and seven some careless pedestrian practice going on out there.

But let me give you some examples: Recently I was in a car heading up NW 23rd Ave. At an intersection, there was a mother with a stroller trying to cross the street. She managed to nudge into the first lane of oncoming traffic and cars stopped for her. But the traffic coming from the other side wouldn't even slow down! I even saw another woman drive right by the pedestrian mother at full speed while she yapped on her cell phone.

Another time, I was walking down NE 33rd Avenue just east of Fremont. I was crossing in a marked crosswalk with signs and white lines. Loaded with my purchases from the New Seasons up the street, I made it through a gap in traffic through the first lane. No fewer than 12 cars, however, passed me in the second lane, not even slowing for the pedestrian with clear right of way standing in the middle of the street!

Drivers in this city, including people I know to be otherwise cautious, have no regard at all for crosswalks.

Another thing that gets my goat is people pulling up at full speed through stop signs. Two days ago I was walking up NE Broadway crossing over a street in the mid 20s area. Broadway is one way at that point and a car came barreling down the cross street, looking to the left for oncoming traffic and in the mean time nearly running me right down.

I would be all for Portland cops cracking down on these types of traffic violations. It would increase safety, increase driver awareness, and maybe increase revenue for the city.

The paper should suspend without pay both the person who wrote the headline and the writer for their stupid reporting of the accident and injury.

Matt Davis, you're a fucking jerk! I hope you get fired. Amy, when you assign people to write on issues like this, please try to pick someone with a soul. Thanks!

Matt, I thought you may have been a nice person back when you were writing about my incident with Marylhurst University. How ignorant of me thinking you were one of the good guys and that you cared about the hell I went through. I cannot believe that Amy, being the compassionate and sweet woman that she is lets you write on such delicate issues. You are not helping the issue here, you are the equivalent of kicking dirt in our faces. You've got a lot of balls to write such cruel nonsense.

I've got an ex-boyfriend, who as well is from England, and he's just as much as an asshole as you are. Sounds like you would both make such a great couple.

And to David, who just moved here...you are right on about the design of Portland streets, but I think there is another issue. Portland was not built with such a huge population in mind. There are so many people and cars that they just pile up on city streets.
The pearl district is the scariest place ever! Best of luck to you here.

Matt's right.

His reaction IS sick, but it reflects reality: pedestrian fatalities don't sell papers or spark change the way bicyclist fatalities have. This clearly bothers him, as it does me. And it bothers him that he, as a newspaperman, was quick to recognize that this was a relative non-story. The fact that Matt is willing to admit this and start this conversation is proof that the Mercury is more tuned-in and on top of the challenges of bicycling and walking than any other major media outlet in this city.

Go see what you can find about this incident on the WWeek or Oregonian blogs.

Matt is NOT right..

He IS the media and he could have written a "relative" story rather then complying with what he claims he's against- BS journalism.

Plus he doesn't know his stuff- he claimed he was sure there wasn't a pedestrian committee minutes after Amy said otherwise- maybe she could have written the post.

Either way- it's a helluva post- got me blogging- I generally only read.

http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/2007/12/not_breaking_the_lawdodgy_spee.php

For those who were wondering, I found a copy of Matt's article on 9/11:

5:58am Oh my goodness. I don't believe this. Just saw a plane hit the WTC on TV. This is terrible. Oh my goodness. This has completely ruined my breakfast. And I had done a full fry-up, too. What a waste of good food.

6:15am Oh no! Just saw another plane hit! I can't believe this is happening. All this destruction and chaos means seem to mean I can't get a phone call into NYC. I was really looking forward to ordering my Manhattan Portage satchel today, too. This is so sad! What a terrible day for me!

9:03am You know what I just realized? Not only have many thousands died today, but this means my vacation this weekend is probably not going to happen. Man, this sucks. I feel so bad for myself. I'm going to go deep fry a Mars Bar.

I can't believe how many mal-adjusted self-righteous jerks are posting on the Mercury blog today. The Portland Tribune or Craigslist Rants&Raves must be offline.

Matt didn't fly a plane into the WTC, he didn't run over a pedestrian, and he hasn't suggested that anyone do so. Keeping a sense of humor in the face of adversity is a good thing.

Yeah, Jerry, but the bottom line is obviously that a basic sign of competent journalism is reporting the story. Matt, however, much like modern cable TV news programming, is routinely only interested in making himself the story. The blog post could have been an insightful and useful commentary on the incident and perhaps broader related issues faced in Portland, but instead Matt chose to present it only as another episode of "look at me, look at ME!" drivel.

As someone who drives a delivery truck for a living, I can tell you right now that no matter how many mirrors are on these huge vehicles, theres always blind spots, and we can only use one mirror at a time, plus we have to look out the windshield... There are far to many militant bicyclists and pedestrians in this town who feel "my life be damned... I have the right of way!"...

Those of you who don't feel this way should take the ones who do and smack them.

Hey Matt,

Remember that rally that the "cycling community" had last November under the Hawthorne Bridge? That was the "We Are All Traffic Rally"...Hey, I'm just sayin!

Matt's point is valid, he might have a dark sense of humor (which I completely identify with) but it doesn't make his article any less relevant.

everybody shouting for his job needs to pull their panties out of their cracks, have you ever read the mercury before? Irreverenace has always been a focal point, and I'm sure he would have written a different piece if the pedestrian was killed.

Why is everyone so quick to pin the blame? You gotta bunch of cars driving around, and a buncha people walking around, you know this stuff is just gonna happen. I'm a truckdriver, and the thing that's amazing to me is that there are so FEW accidents, and so very few pedestrian accidents. The way alot of you assholes drive, I'm grateful everyday that I don't end up crawling out of a pile of junk on the side of the road.