Advocacy & Safety - Another Cyclist Fatality in Portland :mad:

Wednesday, June 29, 2005
The Oregonian
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/112003930681460.xml&coll=7

A Portland cyclist died a day after she was run over by a truck in downtown Portland. Kristine Ann Okins, 25, died Tuesday morning at OHSU Hospital. Witnesses said Okins was riding her bike near the intersection of Southwest Broadway and Washington Street about 9:17 a.m. when she was run over by the truck, said Sgt. Brian Schmautz of the Portland Police Bureau. Witnesses reported the truck was driving about 5 mph. Schmautz said no citation has been issued and the investigation is continuing.

Kristine was a working messenger.

From the local Shift to Bikes list-serve:
Just want to let everyone know the sad news that Christine in Portland passed away today after being hit by a truck while working yesterday. She was going to come to NYC this weekend for the races. We will try to have some sort of memorial for her here. As I am already in NYC my thoughts go out to everyone there and to all her family. I don't know what else to say.

How tragic. If the report is correct, sounds like another right hook just like that one in NYC.

Whether that's what happened here or not, folks, please get the hell away from the right side when approaching any intersection, especially if there are any other vehicles in the vicinity.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=117813

absntr's got a link to her memorial, but not the news article...

It is sad there are so many deaths is a fairly short period. I hope the law of averages puts an end to it real soon.

Condolences to friends and family.

I don't know the circumstances of this crash, but I know this location. Heavy DT traffic on one-way grid, narrow bike lane, parked cars, right turns across the bike lane, hotel valets double park in the bike lane. I've had other friends doored near here. I'm working on a memorial bicycle.

Unfortunately, there is still another fatal bicycle accident. This one was a pickup truck that hit a bicyclist. It was reported in the local TV news last evening. I cannot see anything in the OregonLive pages yet, but if I do I'll post it.

John

From The Oregonian, page C7, June 30, 2005:

A cyclist was killed Wednesday night in unincorporated Multnomah County near the Springwater Trail. Multnomah County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Mike Shults said the woman was hitby a Ford 350 pickup just before 7 p.m. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was carrying no identification, was not wearing a helmet and was listening to a CD player, Shulz said. She was crossing Southeast 252nd Avenue near the intersection with Southeast Telford Road when she was struck. The driver of the pickup is cooperating with the investigation, Shults said.

That's very sad.

John

More info, posted to PDX IMC:

24-year-old bicyclist dies from downtown Portland collision

A 24-year-old Portland bicyclist hit Monday by a semi truck in downtown Portland has died at OHSU Hospital from her injuries. Dead is Kristine Okins of Portland.

Portland police said they responded to the accident at 9:17 a.m. Monday on Southwest Broadway at Southwest Washington Street. As officers arrived, Okins who was conscious and talking to paramedics, was being prepared for transport to OHSU.

Based on witness statements, police said both Okins and the truck's driver, Patrick Parah of Vancouver, had been stopped at the light on Southwest Broadway at Southwest Washington Street just prior to the collision. Okins was in the bike lane and Parah was adjacent to the bike lane. As the light turned green, both continued southbound and Okins sped ahead of Parah's truck, which was pulling a 45-foot long trailer loaded with metal. Approximately 150 feet south of the intersection, a witness saw Okins' bike and body appear from under the wheel of the truck.

At the time witnesses saw Okins' body, the truck was traveling southbound and had not turned it's wheels or changed lanes.

Police said by the time officers arrived at OHSU to interview Okins, her condition had deteriorated and she was receiving medical attention. She died Tuesday without officers being able to speak with her.

At the time of the collision, police said investigators found no evidence of impairment by Parah or Okins and there was no evidence speed was a factor. No citations have been issued. Officers have interviewed all witnesses who remained at the scene but are seeking information from anyone who may have seen the collision. Anyone with information is asked to call the Portland Police Bureau's traffic division at 503-823-2103.
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/06/320505.shtml#186522

I've thought about this and went and looked at the crash site this afternoon. In my opinion, the two most plausible scenarios appear to be: (1) that Kris may have veered into the path or under the wheels of the truck to avoid a dooring (or perhaps actually was doored), or (2) she passed the truck and moved left into the lane the truck was traveling in, only to find another vehicle moving right into the space she was attempting to enter, from the other side of the truck.

I hate riding on Broadway. The nice shiny big bike lane is worthless because there are always cabs, trucks and valets double parked and an endless supply of old people throwing doors open. Add to that people going like forty miles an hour, apparently in a hurry to reach the next stoplight and people making right tuns obliviously across the bike lane and it's a wonder people don't get hurt there every day.

DUDE WTF.

I hate riding on Broadway. The nice shiny big bike lane is worthless because there are always cabs, trucks and valets double parked and an endless supply of old people throwing doors open. Add to that people going like forty miles an hour, apparently in a hurry to reach the next stoplight and people making right tuns obliviously across the bike lane and it's a wonder people don't get hurt there every day.

Agreed.

It's possible she turned left into the trucks lane because of the reasons stated above and others. I was in a bike lane this morning in New York City and was surprised at how poor the condition of the lane. There are some other factors involved here.

1. We don't really know the extent of how much the CD played in the accident. In my opinion, I think it played a heavy role since she did not even hear the truck behind her. She was probably aware of the truck the moment she past it but did not really know how far behind the vehicle was and decided to cross into it's lane. I suspect, the CD player may have been on too loud and distracted her for moment or even possibly dulled the sound of the motor. A mistake.

2. The helmet might have played a role and saved her life. We don't know the extent of of injuries but she was communicating with the officers moments after the accident. That means her injuries were probably internal and maybe the helmet would not have helped. However, it's possible her injuries included brain hermorrhage that could have been mitigated with the helmet.

I think you're mixing two different incidents, there. It was the young woman struck by the F350 pickup who wasn't wearing a helmet or ID and was listening to her music.

It's easy to get these mixed up. There have been a number of fatalities here recently. Here's a link to a new article:

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/1120212128187420.xml?oregonian?lcps&coll=7

Yuxing Zheng did a wonderful job with this article. I hope that people will wake up to the hazards around here, and be on the watch for at least the rest of the summer.

Cyclist latest in a string of road fatalities
Kristine Ann Okins, a 25-year-old bike messenger, is the fourth rider since May 30 to be killed on Portland-area streets
Friday, July 01, 2005
YUXING ZHENG
She had a mop of curly red hair and loved to read old sea adventures.

Kristine Ann Okins, 25, had been a bicycle messenger for two years when she was struck by a truck Monday in downtown Portland. She died Tuesday at OHSU Hospital.

Okins was riding her bike adjacent to the truck at the intersection of Southwest Broadway and Washington Street about 9:17 a.m., said Sgt. Brian Schmautz of the Portland Police Bureau. The truck was southbound at 2 to 5 m.p.h. when Okins was struck. Neither Okins nor the driver was impaired, and no citations have been issued, Schmautz said.

Okins, who lived in Portland, is one of four bicyclists who have died in roadway collisions in the past few weeks.

Brenda S. Elliott, 39, was killed Wednesday night on the Springwater Trail when she was hit by a truck. A retired Tigard High School teacher, Eric Kautzky, 56, was killed two weeks ago while bicycling in Sherwood. Noah Cardamon, 23, was killed May 30 in Southeast Portland when he was hit by a suspected drunken driver.

"It has already been a bad summer as far as cyclist safety," said Kasandra Griffin, spokeswoman for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. "Having four within the early summer is definitely a lot. It's too many."

Two bicyclists were killed last year in BICYCLISTS E3

That is as far as Oregon Live took the article. This also was edited, so here's the rest of it, from the printed article in The Oregonian:

Brenda S. Elliott, 39, was killed Wednesday night on the Springwater Trail when she was hit by a truck. A retired Tigard High School teacher, Eric Kautzky, 56, was killed two weeks ago while bicycling in Sherwood. Noah Cardamon, 23, was killed May 30 in Southeast Portland when he was hit by a suspected drunken driver.

"It has already been a bad summer as far as cyclist safety," said Kasandra Griffin, spokeswoman for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. "Having four within the early summer is definitely a lot. It's too many."

Two bicyclists were killed last year in vehicle collisions in Multnomah County, according to Oregon Department of Transportation figures. More than half of last year's approximately 200 bicycle and vehicle collisions in the county resulted from people who did not have the right of way. In the city of Portland, one bicyclist was killed last year, said Mark Lear, traffic investigations manager for the city.

Over the past 20 years, fewer than two bicyclists on average have been killed each year. Four of the past seven bicycling fatalities in the city resulted from drunken driving, Lear said.

Okins had been a bicycle messenger for about two years and was a graphic artist, friends said. She worked for City Sprint Delivery when she was killed. Dave Chancy, president of City Sprint, said emyloyees at the company are shocked at her death.

"I've been in the industry for 30 years, and I'm not aware of any other situatons like this," he said. "I know there's been bicycle messenger and vehicle incidents, but not to this extent."

It's scary to hear about fellow bicycle messengers getting killed on the job, said Claire Chasteen, who knew Okins.

"It's definitely risky," Chasteen said. "I get into close calls all the time. People are bad drivers. They don't pay attention."

Although Okins' death was a rare incident in the tight-knit bicycle messaging community, people can still learn from it, said Justin de Jesus, a bicycle messeenger and part-owner of the Magpie Collective, a messaging company.

"People have to look at what happened to her and realize it's a real job," he said. "People in an office somewhere aren't going to be run over by a truck. She deserves respect for what she's done, and we all deserve to be treated with more respect."

Friends decribed Okins as smart and kind.

"She was really sweet and introspective, but at t he same time, she was also really boisterous and outgoing when it was time to be that way," said Billy Baccrat, Okin's boyfriend. "She's probabyl the friendliest person I've ever met. She got along with everyone."

Clancy, Okins' employer at City Sprint, said a trust account has been set up in Okins' name at U.S. Bank.

A memorial service will be held for Okins today at 6 p.m. at Berbati Restaurant, 19 S.W. Second Ave.

John

The Willamette Week weighs in with a very weak two sentence analysis of the four recent cyclist deaths in the Portland metro area in this week's 'Winners and Losers' column - all they've got to say is 'wear your helmet'. :rolleyes:

"While helmets may never be cool, Portland cyclists should strap them on given the recent death toll. Four local cyclists have died in recent weeks after collisions with motorists-more bike deaths than the typical number of fatalities in Multnomah County over an entire year." http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=6477

how the crap does someone get run over by a truck doing 5mph?

how the crap does someone get run over by a truck doing 5mph?

It could actually be fairly easy. Suppose (and this is completely theoretical--I wasn't there) the truck is going straight, at 5 mph in the direction you wish to go. You decide to overtake it on a bike lane, and accelerate to pass it on the right. But something happens just as you get in front of the right tire, or it could even happen while in the middle of the way past the truck. Let's say you fall, and either are not wearing a helmet, or get "rung" really good even with a helmet. You happen to fall in front of a tire, perpendicular to the truck's line of travel. The truck driver is still unaware that you are even there, and so continues at 5 mph. Four or five seconds later, the truck's wheel runs over you pelvis. I don't know what actually happened in this case, but that's how I visualize something like this could happen.

John

In response to the death Brenda Elliott on the Springwater Trail in Gresham, Oregon on June 29, 3005, what the newspapers failed to report is that there was a tree in front of the stopsign on the trail. Also the blackberries had grown up so as to limit the visibility. Yes, she was wearing headphones and didn't have a helmet but the poor visibility was also a huge contributor to the accident.

My husband and I were there.

how the crap does someone get run over by a truck doing 5mph?

Truck drivers have limited visibility and much vehicle engine noise, so they cannot hear or see you in several positions. Maybe the driver wasn't observing where she(cyclist) was or just didn't care?

I don't want to rant but most people just don't care about cyclists and expect them to get out of the way.

I am sick of ignorant, apathetic motorists.

I am so sorry about Kristine Ann Okins death.