Updated with cyclist’s name at 12:27 PM.
The city’s third fatal car and bike crash this year occurred last night on NE 122nd. The police aren’t releasing much information about what happened, but it’s not clear whether they have much, since they arrived on the scene after 52-year-old cyclist James Neal Wagner was already dead and the driver already gone. Detective Mary Wheat put out this brief report early this morning:
Tonight at approximately 2:15 a.m., Portland Police Officers responded to the area of Northeast 122nd and Fremont Street on a report of a hit and run incident involving a car and a bicyclist. When officers arrived, they found a 52-year-old deceased male bicyclist and determined the vehicle involved had left the scene.
The Major Crash Team responded to investigate and believe this was a hit and run incident. It appears that the bicyclist was riding Northbound on 122nd when he was struck and killed. No vehicle description is being released at this time.
That stretch of 122nd is a terrible place to ride or walk. It’s impossible to tell just from looking around whether the trash and pieces of cars—a hubcap, a high-heeled boot, bolts and reflectors—are from last night’s accident or just refuse from the thousands of cars that speed down the street daily. All that remains on the road from the bike and the man who died are the ashes of police flares.
The flares blocked off the entire intersection where I-84 entrance and exit ramps meet NE 122nd. A narrow bike lane runs along both sides of 122nd there. Since Wagner was riding north he would have been heading downhill, likely picking up speed. At the intersection, the right car lane can turn on to I-84, so it’s possible Wagner was struck by a classic right hook: he was heading straight and fast through the green light and a car heading onto the freeway did not see him before turning right.
The Portland Police Bureau’s Traffic Division has a couple witnesses, but are not releasing all the information they have. Anyone with info is asked to call Officer Barry Busse at 503-823-2216.
I really hope something awful happens to that driver.
Whatever happened with http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/Blogto…, S.Mirk?
I’m sorry that THE (to quote smirk) Wagner was killed, but I wonder if he was wearing reflective clothing and had lights and reflectors on his bike. I’m not trying to excuse the motorist who struck him. but maybe THE Wagner should have been expecting the car to make a right turn there, if indeed that is what happened. I have learned from my many years of driving commercial vehicles and escorting the same, that you MUSt be aware of everything around you when you are on a vulnerable vehicle. Indeed, you must be aware at all times, no matter what you are riding or driving. 2am is a particularly bad time because all the bars have just closed and there are a lot of impaired drivers out there.
If it weren’t for the hit ‘n run aspect, I would agree. This would be another “cyclists, you may have the right to ride in a certain way, but it may not be the best for your life-span” post.
Fleeing a crime scene pisses me off (unless you go on to be a pretty good senator). I hope they find the asshole.
@ujfoyt How exactly would THE Wagner (I imagine Ride of the Valkryies playing) be aware that a car behind him was turning right? Should THE Wagner stop at a green light and check behind him that traffic behind him that might be turning right is stopping to yield to him?
I agree with you that riders should be aware of their surroundings, but why exactly should a cyclist assume that every car behind them is going to be turning right through them and not yielding? Or is that just your bias from, “many years of driving commercial vehicles” that cyclists should be at fault for shitty drivers not understanding how to drive and what the rules of the road are?
Sad story.
Shitty part of town.
The dangers of beer:30.
Let’s be careful out there…
I think ujfoyt was suggesting more that everyone should really expect the worst out of everyone on the road, especially at 2am when you are seriously out-massed.
you’ve been poisoned,
I don’t know much more about the dragging incident than when I last posted about. The cyclist was released from the hospital and police are still investigating. Once they get some more solid details about the case, they will send it over to the District Attorney’s office to prosecute, but that hasn’t happened yet.
Stay tuned.
No statement from cyclist = lawyered up. Smart. Curious to see what comes out on the record.
@Graham. We don’t know if the car actually made a right turn into the cyclist, but, assuming that he did, we still don’t know if the car was behind him, alongside of him, or, in fact, just in front of him. Since a lot of motorists apparently don’t have turn signals, you can’t rely on being warned of an impending turn. If you, as a cyclist, are riding next to a larger vehicle and approaching an intersection where the other vehicle will probably make a turn, the smart thing is to slow down till you are both clear of the intersection. I repeat, you have to ride (motorcycles also) as if you are invisible. I drive my van with the same mind set, as I have had several close calls from other drivers not looking before making a turn.
I agree, though. I sincerely hope they catch the perp.
Um, I know that area all too well, and if the cyclist was going north on 122nd (downhill) and either to or beyond the 122nd & Fremont intersection, he and the asshole who killed him were already well past I-84 — they had just passed under it.
It’s possible our dear motorist was turning right onto Fremont itself, without bothering to look, and I so desperately hope he got where he needed to get on time.
It’s interesting that many motorists fail to read Oregon law which states “Drivers are to proceed at a reasonable and prudent speed for the conditions”. This means that if it is rainy, dark, foggy, icy, etc., you are to travel at a slower speed. How many motorists follow this law?