'She was a wonderful person who cared about so many things'

PORTLAND, Ore. - A vigil was held at a downtown Portland street corner Friday night to remember a young cyclist who lost her life in a collision with a semi truck.

A ghost bike now sits at Southwest 3rd and Madison where 28-year-old Kathryn Rickson was hit.

The accident happened around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. Police said Rickson was riding her bike eastbound on Southwest Madison when a truck made a right hand turn onto 3rd Avenue and hit her.

There is a green bike box at the intersection and Lt. Robert King with the Portland Police Bureau said right hook crashes have declined since the city painted the boxes at busy intersections. Still, he admitted that this type of accident does still happen.

"The right hook accidents do occur, unfortunately, with some regularity," King said.

An investigation into the crash that killed Rickson is continuing. Bike advocates said they would like to see changes at intersections like this one - perhaps a signal that would notify drivers of a cyclist in a bike box.

Rickson was originally from the East Coast and had lived in New York City and Rhode Island before moving to Portland.  Among those in the crowd at the vigil was the young woman's partner, who she had lived with for four years, and his 7-year-old daughter. "She's beautiful and she was a wonderful person who cared about so many things," Ryan Gaughan said.