As you’ve in all probability already heard, final Friday night U.S. Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-1st District) was struck by a automobile driver as she and her husband walked throughout a road in northwest Portland. In keeping with an announcement from her employees, the couple had been strolling throughout NW Everett and nineteenth within the crosswalk previous to being hit.
A Portland Police spokesperson informed The Oregonian that it occurred round 8:44 pm “when a girl turned at low velocity and knocked them down.” Rep. Bonamici and her husband had been leaving an occasion at Congregation Beth Israel, which is on NW Flanders close to twentieth. The precise particulars of what occurred previous to the collision haven’t been launched but. Police say the driving force was not arrested or cited.
Rep. Bonamici suffered a concussion and lacerations to her head. Her husband had solely minor accidents. Each of them are therapeutic up and are anticipated to make a full restoration.
NW Everett and nineteenth is a comparatively calm, signal-controlled intersection. The Metropolis of Portland’s Imaginative and prescient Zero Crash Map exhibits two accidents crashes on the intersection — with one sufferer a pedestrian and the opposite a bike owner — since 2011. Everett is a one-way eastbound and nineteenth is a one-way southbound at this location. Everett has one basic journey lane, a motorcycle lane, and two parking lanes on that block and nineteenth has two basic journey lanes and two parking lanes. Since reviews say they had been hit by a turning driver, meaning they had been probably utilizing the crosswalk on the southern or jap aspect of the intersection*. There are not any obvious issues of safety I can consider at this intersection — aside from maybe basic visibility. It may have been darkish relying on the road mild scenario and/or visibility may have been constrained by the presence of parked automobiles all the way in which as much as the nook.
(*UPDATE, 2:55 pm: We now have confirmed with PPB that Rep Bonamici and her husband had been strolling southbound within the jap crosswalk of the intersection. The driving force was going south on nineteenth and hit them whereas turning left to go east on Everett.)
Such a collision is way too widespread in Portland. And given the extent of the accidents and different elements, this one solely made the information as a result of the one that was hit occurred to be an vital elected official. It additionally comes as Portland continues to lose its battle with visitors deaths and accidents and headlines of our record-breaking pedestrian loss of life toll in 2022 have barely receded from view.
“We now have been sounding the alarm on the epidemic of visitors violence in our neighborhood all yr,” wrote The Avenue Belief Government Director Sarah Iannarone in an announcement launched Saturday. “If a congressperson and federal decide aren’t secure in a crosswalk in considered one of our most prosperous, pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods, what Oregonian can cross the road with confidence?”
I’ve requested PBOT and the PPB for extra particulars concerning the crash. I’m curious the place precisely it occurred and it will be good to have extra particulars on the way it occurred. There’s additionally the problem of the driving force not being cited. Whereas it’s widespread for PPB to not cite anybody on the scene of a crash till an investigation has decided fault, if that is as clear-cut as we’ve been led to consider to this point, it’s attainable the driving force may nonetheless be issued a visitors quotation. We’ll replace this publish if we hear any important updates.
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