Police investigating spate of pedestrians hit by cars
PORTLAND, Ore. – Local law enforcement agencies have been busy with a sudden spate of incidents involving cars and pedestrians over the past two days.
Two people were hit by a car in the 10800 block of Southeast Washington Street Tuesday night just before 8:30 p.m., according to Portland police.
Police said both people were crossing Southeast Washington in a crosswalk when they were hit.
A man suffered non-life-threatening injuries, but a woman was badly hurt with life-threatening injuries, police said.
According to police, the driver remained at the scene and cooperated. Police said she was not impaired by drugs or alcohol and was not speeding. The crash happened during a heavy downpour.
No citations have been issued at this time.
Police blocked off all eastbound traffic on Southeast Washington Street at the scene of the accident while they investigated.
Portland police investigated another accident that involved a car hitting a pedestrian at about 7 p.m.
That accident happened on Southeast 82nd Avenue near Raymond Court. A 16-year-old boy was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police said the teen was running across 82nd Avenue with another person who fled the scene.
Police said the driver cooperated in that investigation and also gave the teen medical help at the scene. The teen remains in critical condition, police said Wednesday morning. No citations were issued.
Southeast 82nd Avenue was closed in both directions at Southeast Raymond Court while police investigated.
Wednesday morning, another pedestrian was hit in Portland at the intersection of Southeast Cesar Chavez and Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard. Police are investigating and said the pedestrian had minor injuries. The driver stayed at the scene.
Washington County Accident
In Washington County, sheriff's deputies conducted an investigation after a 14-year-old boy was hit by a car at Farmington Road and 189th in Aloha at about 6 p.m.
The teen was first taken to Providence St. Vincent and then was transferred to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.
The condition of the boy is unknown.
According to sheriff's spokesman Bob Ray, the boy was crossing a street with a friend when he was hit. He said the two were not in an intersection or at a traffic light.
The driver did not see the two in the dark, Ray said. The driver stayed at the scene and cooperated. The driver was not charged with any crime.
Every single day in Portland I am narrowly missed by at least one car as I cross the street in a crosswalk, after waiting for the light when there is one. This is in the day time. I look both ways and walk at a normal rate of speed. Cars plow into the intersections as they turn without any regard for pedestrians. Often drivers signal to me with some incomprehensible hand gestures that seem to mean, "get out of the way I'm coming through." I try to jump out of their way then, and so far have been fast enough. But I'm now considering crossing only in the middle of streets because at least then I can see them coming and not be hit by someone turning. It seems few Portland drivers know that pedestrians have the legal right of way because if they do yield to me, as I cross in the crosswalk, they almost always gesture to me magnanimously that I have their permission to cross and they clearly expect me to say "thank you," as most pedestrians here do. Are we supposed to be grateful to be allowed to cross the street ever?Â
maybe it's the crappy weather
I don't know what it is about bad weather, but I've noticed that drivers seem to get in a bigger hurry than they are usually are in. Is it "Hurry up and get in out of the rain"??. And that goes for pedestrians, also. Slow down. You're in Oregon. It rains a lot.
 @Rambler I think it's because some people do slow down, do take extra precautions. Leaving a certain amount of people that want to demonstrate their ''ability'' to drive in the rain. How many times have you heard someone say, ''A little rain and all of the sudden people don't know how to drive''?
I wish people who are walking in the dark, and especially on a rainy night, wearing dark clothes and holding a dark umbrella, would realize that drivers MIGHT NOT SEE THEM when they're crossing the road. The rain and glare of headlights can completely hide a pedestrian. I had a very close call the other evening that shook me up so badly, because I came so close to hitting someone because I did not see him. Anyone who is walking in these conditions should have something on them that reflects or flashes or lights up to alert drivers. Bicycle riders do this; pedestrians should too.
 @Jalarti I wish people in cars would look for pedestrians crossing in crosswalks and would obey the law and yield to us. If you can't see a person walking across the street in a crosswalk unless they are lit up like a Christmas tree, maybe you shouldn't be driving! Or at least get a bright yellow car and cover it with lights so we can see you! Â
The other problem (for me anyway) is the new really bright bluish headlights. They really make it hard to see after I've had my retnas burned. Kinda like a flashblub effect.
They keep spending all that money on sidewalks and special pedestrian crossing lights when they should be spending every penny on roadways for cars. Pedestrians should be licensed, registered and have to carry insurance. Does this argument sound familiar? The point is that we need to make the improvements to keep all non-motorized road users safe from the inconsiderate, drunk, and distracted drivers.
 @Nobody How do you know that the drivers were distracted, inconsiderate or drunk.  No where in the article did it state that any of the involved drivers were any such thing.  Do you think that maybe, just maybe it was just accidents, because the pedestrians were wearing dark clothes, on a dark night in the rain and possibly darted in front of traffic tying to get of the weather, and guess what cars, trucks, buses, semi's, trains, motorcycles can not stop on a dime.Â
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The point is actually educating everybody about personal safety.  Whatever happened to Stop Look and Listen instead now it is keep your head down, so you can keep texting, and keep on walking, because hey I have the right of way of course Nobody wants to take responsibility for their own safety.  Â
When I drop my daughter off at school in the morning, about three times a week I see people standing in the median (or even the left turn lane) crossing to get to the bus stop. In most cases there is a crosswalk or an intersection within 50 or 60 feet. They just walk out onto Division Street and stand in the middle waiting for traffic to stop.
Driver or pedestrian's to blame? Media or social networking to blame so we can all find out about it so fast?
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Or is it all the smart phones people have now and can check news, facebook, weather, amzazon, you tube, and so on as we walk and drive. Seems to me they really need to crack down on the cell phone laws and include people walking.
"He said the two were not in an intersection or at a traffic light."
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There ya go. Some things are so predictable.
 @RalphCramdenÂ
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The person hit on 82nd is an example of what NOT to do on 82nd.
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I saw that accident (a block from my home) and it is about the worst place to cross on that road. No lighting, busy location with four streets that all feed into 82nd and all of them are busy.
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No only that, but 100 feet from where this person's body landed, there is a marked, lighted, and signaled crosswalk.
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It happens all the time. A lazy, stupid or willful person decides to NOT use a crosswalk because the bus stop they want is right across. So instead of walking the 15 seconds to the signaled or marked crosswalk, they jaywalk across the street.
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Being stupid should hurt more.
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 @Repoman Â
And the laziness of wanting to cross where it is dangerous is part of the problem leading to obesity. Walking the extra distance will help burn off calories.
Transfer to OHSU says major head trauma to me. Hope he does okay. Kids especially tend to think they're invincible.
Ok, So now they are no longer hitting cyclists, they are now taking aim at people on foot?
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@lee986321Well that was a stupid uneducated comment.
@lee986321  Yeah, that's it! All those drivers out there are going after pedestrians!! Mowing 'em down one by one.
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Good grief.
 @lee986321 That was a stupid comment.. Did you read the article ? The boys were not in a cross walk or an intersection, the driver was not sited.. They dashed in front of a moving vehicle, how did you come to your dumb conclusion ?
 @lee986321 Curious how you came to that conclusion. "Taking aim at people on foot'' Do you think people are intentionally hitting people, or do you just say the first thing that comes to your scrambled mind?
Situations like these are usually the result of pedestrians believing they have right of way, which causes them to not look where they're going. Guess what? That "right of way" doesn't mean anything when you're faced with a 3000+ vehicle coming at you. Look where you're going!
@BigNeil In Oregon the Pedestrian ALLWAYS has the right of way. Every intersection marked with or whithout a cross walk.
@cpt.iceman Yes, but that's not my point, which is that even if pedestrians have the right of way, it's no substitute for looking where they're going.
@cpt.iceman Just because you have the right of way doe not mean you have a forcefield that protects you when you dont bother looking around for hazards. Dead is dead, intersectionor no intersection.
@cpt.iceman the pedestrian has right of way at intersections, but not outside of them. If you attempt to cross Interstate 5, legally, you're on your own.
You see where I did say Intersections. Right?
 @cpt.iceman  @BigNeil According to sheriff's spokesman Bob Ray, the boy was crossing a street with a friend when he was hit. He said the two were not in an intersection or at a traffic light. While the pedestrians always have the right of way, the pedestrians don't have the right to run or walk into traffic without looking and making sure it is safe to cross the streetÂ
@BigNeil It's called being dead right.
I didn't realize the Raymond St accident was a child. They said man. =(Â We really need a better system. Cars, bikes and pedestrians sharing the road just isn't working anymore. Too many of us. I'm so careful driving home at night, especially when it's raining. But some spots that there are no sidewalks, damn.. I've scared the hell out of myself a few times. And I have to wonder if these people have death wishes, or do they really think they can been seen on a dark rainy night, on dark streets, in dark clothes.. Sorry, I'm ranting. Wishing the best outcome for all.
@Lips Common sense needs to come into play as well as good training by parents. Rule of thumb , Look both ways before crossing the street. Dont expect cars to see you so watch out for them.
@Lips It is not working because people are either too stupid, or too lazy to follow the rules.
All these incidents mention have one thing in common. They happen at night in dark and rainy conditions.
I think pedestrians sometimes fail to understand that just because they can see the cars clearly because
of the headlights, the drivers can not always see the pedestrians. Especially if they are wearing dark
clothing. In one case the pedestrians were not using a crosswalk or traffic signal. That's just stupid!!
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