Two adults are listed in critical condition—including one who required a helicopter flight to a hospital—after a serious bike/car crash in Washington County tonight.
According to reports, at about 9pm a truck heading west on NW Union Road near the intersection of Jackson Quarry Road struck three cyclists who were riding together on NW Union. Two of the cyclists, a man and woman, were critically injured. The third suffered minor injuries, but was also taken to the hospital.
This was not a hit and run—the driver stopped and is working with police.
That stretch of road is in a rural part of Washington County, just north of Hillsboro near North Plains. It’s a beautiful landscape, but can be scary to ride on even during the day because drivers aren’t expecting to see bikes and are often going quite fast. According to federal statistics, about 25 percent of serious bike/ped crashes happen on rural roads.
Jonathan Maus over at BikePortland quotes KGW news coverage (which for some reason isn’t online) in saying that the bikes did not have lights. He also shared this photo from the Washington County Sheriff:
- WA county sheriff
I’ve got a call in to the Washington County Sheriff and will update with more information as soon as I have any. If you know anything about the crash, or the people involved, email me.
Sarah, while the injury or death of a bicyclist is tragic, is the death or injury of a motorist less so?
After all, you only ever post articles on traffic accidents if they involve bicyclists.
And this accident is a tragedy again, and could have been avoided if the bikers had lights. Man, I’d hate to be a driver having to deal with the emotions of being involved in such an accident.
Hey, frankieb. We’re an alternative news organization. We cover issues that tend to be underrepresented. If you want the latest traffic car fatality, try FOX 12. (I know you feel that bikes over OVERrepresented, but that’s just a feeling and feelings aren’t always necessarily true.)
Hey Mr Hump… I saw the story on the TV last night, as is every bake / car accident, so is it really underrepresented?
FOX? C’mon man. Not for me.
Bake s/b bike
Nice work, frankie, your dumb comment didn’t contain a single word about Sam Adams. Getting there, bigguy!
Wait, what is that I just heard? Sam Adams was the driver of the truck?
Spindles will surely get the skinny on this soon….
They were apparently riding in the dark with no lights or helmets. DUMB.
It’s tragic, and stupidity should never carry a death sentence. But seriously: no lights? On a rural road? They’re the kind of people who give cyclists a bad name…
WEAR LIGHTS.
Also, I have a sneaking suspicion that frankieb is Dave Lister in a troll costume.
No no, I ain’t Lister. heh heh…
I was thinking that Sarah also reports on MAX and pedestrian accidents too,
but I question Mr Hump’s thought about bike vs auto accidents being underreported by other news organizations.
I wonder if reporting every bike / auto accident this way fosters the “Us vs. Them” attitude of both cyclists and motorists, which isn’t helpful.
Though I realize that an accident of this scale is certainly news.
No answers here.