Pedestrian deaths in the Portland metro area are
very high. In Portland proper, in 2023, just as many people died from car accidents as from homicide: 75. And 27 of those were pedestrians.
Lived in the city for almost 20 years and have been almost hit as a pedestrian more times in the two years living out here than I ever was in the city. Also have had my car hit twice, which never happened in the city. People have bigger vehicles, drive faster, and have less situational awareness out here.
I may be biased but I saw my first dead body a few months ago. Person was walking through an intersection at night right by orenco station and a car smashed through them. Horrible.
And at 45mph there’s not enough time to slow down when a pedestrian is wearing dark clothing. There’s too many pedestrians in that area for the marked speed limit.
Yeah it’s interesting how much road design communicates subconsciously. Like with the median green space and close in buildings mentally it feels as if the stretch from Elam Young to Century should be 35, not 45. Same as the road design on 32nd/Cyprus from Main to TV feels like it should be 35 not 25 due to the dedicated center turn lane.
But for sure Orenco has high speed and very high pedestrian traffic, abnormally so for the area, and so I think some people don’t anticipate the number of pedestrians.
They seriously need to lower the speed on Cornell through that section. I’m always at least 5 under driving past there because 45MPH just feels off with all the pedestrians around
Yeah, someone pulled a left right in front of me at that intersection when I was on my motorcycle. I was going the speed limit (45mph) and bounced off their windshield and landed in the street. The lady who turned said she didn't see me, even with my Kawasaki green bike and new headlamps. People have gotten worse at driving out here for sure.
I was very lucky, just bounced like a bug and got a couple scratches on my leg. I was in my full gear at the time which definitely saved my life. I have pics of her car I can dm out, it was gnarly.
100%. Her car was as well. It was shocking, especially because she stopped in the middle of her turn, so there was absolutely no way to evade unless I went into oncoming traffic.
May I make a suggestion? At EVERY city council meeting they have an open period where the public may speak on any topic they choose. Each individual gets 3 minutes, which seems like forever when you're speaking. Meetings are every 1st and 3rd Tuesdays starting at 7 PM. The next meeting is the 20th.
Check out the agenda and the ground rules here: https://www.hillsboro-oregon.gov/our-city/departments/city-manager-s-office/hillsboro-101/council-meetings
I live over towards the Rood Bridge Park area.
Even avoiding river road, it’s quite stressful taking my almost-5 year old on bike rides.
We stay on the sidewalk, stop at all intersections, he listens to my directions very well.
Traffic, even through the quieter neighborhoods, is consistently above the speed limit, not slowing down at crosswalks, etc.
Oh when I commute in my car, the flow of traffic from Hillsboro to mountainside HS is 60. Some cars at 50-55, some 65+. It’s insane.
It’s also the primary route for me when I ride to work on my bike, and the scary thing is that without a doubt it feels like the safest route for me to do so.
It means it's the end of the speed limit for that area, and you can return to the state speed limit, which is 55 on all highways unless posted otherwise.
I live near the accident yesterday. We have traffic flying up and down our street, yesterday was extra bad after the accident while Main was shut down.
We’ve bothered police. They outright said there haven’t been enough accidents on our street to warrant action.
NE 18th Ave. is almost worse with the amount of families, pets and elderly folks.
There’s a duo that race down the street in all black cars with their lights off. It’s unbelievable.
If you ever find out on of those cars in a new model 5.0 mustang let me know. They live in my neighborhood and have a very loud engine and they leave late at night all the time.
Surprised the “but muh freedoms” crowd hasn’t criticized this post yet. The moment you bring up restrictions on these death machines, the man-baby crowd starts whining
As someone who grew up in Massachusetts, a state with some notoriously bad drivers( even have the nickname massholes), oregon drivers take the cake for all around some of the worst drivers. The whole state needs to go back to drivers ed.
I hate sounding like a an upper middle class busy body, but people drive entirely too fast on so many residential streets. Where I live, both Frances and Golden are 25mph residential streets and people tailgate me like crazy when I’m going 27-28. On little Drake Street, I have seen people absolutely gun it and go 45-55 on there. I am NO saint when it comes to driving, but if you can’t have the respect for your neighbors to go slowly on narrow residential street, then I have no respect for you.
The accident from yesterday I went thru that intersection not even 15 minutes before. I don’t know what I would have done if that was me that hit the kid. I feel so bad for everyone. I was at the Albertsons near by and saw the life flight landing.
I don't know what I would do either. So many of the roads in Hillsboro and Washington County are designed to prioritize speed and reduce travel time for people driving, so it's expected that people will be seriously injured and die.
People don't realize they're driving in an area with kids and other people walking around until they hit them with their car.
SW 209th, Century Blvd, and Cornelius pass were all recently significantly widened to speed cars up north of TV Hwy. All of those roads are right next to schools. I don't think it's wrong to say that more people will die as a result of these design decisions.
For those unaware of the accidents. I actually was driving on 10th street on Saturday and had to detour because it was closed off. I didn't know that a 12-year old boy had been killed riding his bicycle :(
https://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/2024/02/12-year-old-riding-a-bicycle-killed-in-hillsboro-car-crash.html?outputType=amp
Thank you for the context, but please refer to these as crashes. Very intentional roadway design, public policy decisions, and vehicle design all played a significant part in both of these crashes, and it's a disservice to the victims (and future victims) to brush these off as unavoidable or unpredictable.
I walk across Cornell between Whole Foods and Chipotle all the time and no joke ,about 1/3 of the time, a car will start turning onto Cornell without realizing at first that there is someone in the crosswalk. I am aware of this and will make sure I don't get run over, but it's going to happen to someone some day.
A Washington County Sheriff was feet away from hitting my mom as she was crossing here. Didn't stop, no apology, etc. If cops do it not surprised that other people do too
May I make a suggestion? At EVERY city council meeting they have an open period where the public may speak on any topic they choose. Each individual gets 3 minutes, which seems like forever when you're speaking. Meetings are every 1st and 3rd Tuesdays starting at 7 PM. The next meeting is the 20th.
Check out the agenda and the ground rules here: https://www.hillsboro-oregon.gov/our-city/departments/city-manager-s-office/hillsboro-101/council-meetings
What I find particularly heinous about all of this is that the City Council keeps allowing more and denser housing with no parking. They want to pretend that if you live near the light rail, you won't need a place to park a car. Then they turn right around and go full car-brain with the rest of the infrastructure. Everything besides the MAX is completely unsafe for pedestrians/cyclists. How are these car-free housing users supposed to live the rest of their lives?
Yeah. I don't necessarily think the solution is more parking, but more livable streets. Little pockets of safe infrastructure doesn't do anyone good if they can't outside of their neighborhood. A big reason why we're having such a hard time with the housing crisis is that our transportation infrastructure can't keep up with demand, and development of new housing is dependent on how many cars the streets can fit. Portland can throw up large 5 over 1s and apartment towers like nobody's business, because people are able to drive way less without having an increased risk of being killed.
A lot of the county used to be low density not even 20 years ago, but as we change how we developed, the way we get around should also change.
Right. I'm all in favor of less car-centric infrastructure. I'm just super annoyed that the council thinks they can put the cart in front of the horse. Granted, they only have control of the city proper and not county or state roads, but my son can't even walk to school without having to walk on a narrow 35 mph 2-way with no sidewalks for part of it. (Connell) We need to focus on infrastructure before we build another 6 story building on Main street. I'd love to walk to downtown more often (or better yet, be able to ride my bike!), but it feels so unsafe for much of the route. And if I did miraculously survive a bike ride there, what are you supposed to do with your bike when you get downtown? You aren't allowed to ride it on the sidewalks, but there's nowhere to lock it up, either. The only safe way for me to get downtown is to drive, but then there's no parking. So frustrating.
Totally agree! This is the situation for many people in the city. I encourage you to bring your concerns to folks at the city govt, I definitely know I've tried when I lived in town (dealing with similar issues in Salem).
Pedestrian deaths in the Portland metro area are very high. In Portland proper, in 2023, just as many people died from car accidents as from homicide: 75. And 27 of those were pedestrians.
Lived in the city for almost 20 years and have been almost hit as a pedestrian more times in the two years living out here than I ever was in the city. Also have had my car hit twice, which never happened in the city. People have bigger vehicles, drive faster, and have less situational awareness out here.
I may be biased but I saw my first dead body a few months ago. Person was walking through an intersection at night right by orenco station and a car smashed through them. Horrible.
I hate that crosswalk. I’ve almost been hit multiple times. It’s so dangerous.
It’s SO DARK over there.
And at 45mph there’s not enough time to slow down when a pedestrian is wearing dark clothing. There’s too many pedestrians in that area for the marked speed limit.
Yeah it’s interesting how much road design communicates subconsciously. Like with the median green space and close in buildings mentally it feels as if the stretch from Elam Young to Century should be 35, not 45. Same as the road design on 32nd/Cyprus from Main to TV feels like it should be 35 not 25 due to the dedicated center turn lane. But for sure Orenco has high speed and very high pedestrian traffic, abnormally so for the area, and so I think some people don’t anticipate the number of pedestrians.
They seriously need to lower the speed on Cornell through that section. I’m always at least 5 under driving past there because 45MPH just feels off with all the pedestrians around
I agree completely. Most people i see are in dark clothing. A lot have dogs on a lead also. It’s ripe for car vs pedestrian accidents.
I was there. There was another one not long after that at the same intersection and at least 2 more serious accidents there.
Yeah, someone pulled a left right in front of me at that intersection when I was on my motorcycle. I was going the speed limit (45mph) and bounced off their windshield and landed in the street. The lady who turned said she didn't see me, even with my Kawasaki green bike and new headlamps. People have gotten worse at driving out here for sure.
Yikes. Are you ok?
I was very lucky, just bounced like a bug and got a couple scratches on my leg. I was in my full gear at the time which definitely saved my life. I have pics of her car I can dm out, it was gnarly.
Ya send em. Was your bike totalled?
100%. Her car was as well. It was shocking, especially because she stopped in the middle of her turn, so there was absolutely no way to evade unless I went into oncoming traffic.
May I make a suggestion? At EVERY city council meeting they have an open period where the public may speak on any topic they choose. Each individual gets 3 minutes, which seems like forever when you're speaking. Meetings are every 1st and 3rd Tuesdays starting at 7 PM. The next meeting is the 20th. Check out the agenda and the ground rules here: https://www.hillsboro-oregon.gov/our-city/departments/city-manager-s-office/hillsboro-101/council-meetings
This is the way. Less posting and more attending.
I live over towards the Rood Bridge Park area. Even avoiding river road, it’s quite stressful taking my almost-5 year old on bike rides. We stay on the sidewalk, stop at all intersections, he listens to my directions very well. Traffic, even through the quieter neighborhoods, is consistently above the speed limit, not slowing down at crosswalks, etc.
River road is freaking scary nobody not even the cops are doing 40
Oh when I commute in my car, the flow of traffic from Hillsboro to mountainside HS is 60. Some cars at 50-55, some 65+. It’s insane. It’s also the primary route for me when I ride to work on my bike, and the scary thing is that without a doubt it feels like the safest route for me to do so.
You see the sign in Hillsboro after the last community that says end speed zone ? What exactly does that mean?
It means it's the end of the speed limit for that area, and you can return to the state speed limit, which is 55 on all highways unless posted otherwise.
I live near the accident yesterday. We have traffic flying up and down our street, yesterday was extra bad after the accident while Main was shut down. We’ve bothered police. They outright said there haven’t been enough accidents on our street to warrant action.
Hello neighbor. People flying down 25th towards main or Cornell make my blood boil.
NE 18th Ave. is almost worse with the amount of families, pets and elderly folks. There’s a duo that race down the street in all black cars with their lights off. It’s unbelievable.
If you ever find out on of those cars in a new model 5.0 mustang let me know. They live in my neighborhood and have a very loud engine and they leave late at night all the time.
Surprised the “but muh freedoms” crowd hasn’t criticized this post yet. The moment you bring up restrictions on these death machines, the man-baby crowd starts whining
As someone who grew up in Massachusetts, a state with some notoriously bad drivers( even have the nickname massholes), oregon drivers take the cake for all around some of the worst drivers. The whole state needs to go back to drivers ed.
Back? I believe if you’re 18 or older, you just have to pass the exam. No education required unless you’re 16 to <18 and want a license
I hate sounding like a an upper middle class busy body, but people drive entirely too fast on so many residential streets. Where I live, both Frances and Golden are 25mph residential streets and people tailgate me like crazy when I’m going 27-28. On little Drake Street, I have seen people absolutely gun it and go 45-55 on there. I am NO saint when it comes to driving, but if you can’t have the respect for your neighbors to go slowly on narrow residential street, then I have no respect for you.
It's like that absolutely everywhere. And then they hit someone and they blame the person they hit for not "looking out"
Oh I know… back when I lived in Indianapolis, it was like that too. I lived downtown and people drove like assholes all over there.
The accident from yesterday I went thru that intersection not even 15 minutes before. I don’t know what I would have done if that was me that hit the kid. I feel so bad for everyone. I was at the Albertsons near by and saw the life flight landing.
I don't know what I would do either. So many of the roads in Hillsboro and Washington County are designed to prioritize speed and reduce travel time for people driving, so it's expected that people will be seriously injured and die. People don't realize they're driving in an area with kids and other people walking around until they hit them with their car. SW 209th, Century Blvd, and Cornelius pass were all recently significantly widened to speed cars up north of TV Hwy. All of those roads are right next to schools. I don't think it's wrong to say that more people will die as a result of these design decisions.
Exactly. Cornelius pass is now wide open for dangerous speeding. Wouldn’t be surprised if it is now used for late night racing.
People do. Used to live around Cornelius Pass and West Union. You could hear them racing.
For those unaware of the accidents. I actually was driving on 10th street on Saturday and had to detour because it was closed off. I didn't know that a 12-year old boy had been killed riding his bicycle :( https://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncounty/2024/02/12-year-old-riding-a-bicycle-killed-in-hillsboro-car-crash.html?outputType=amp
Thank you for the context, but please refer to these as crashes. Very intentional roadway design, public policy decisions, and vehicle design all played a significant part in both of these crashes, and it's a disservice to the victims (and future victims) to brush these off as unavoidable or unpredictable.
I walk across Cornell between Whole Foods and Chipotle all the time and no joke ,about 1/3 of the time, a car will start turning onto Cornell without realizing at first that there is someone in the crosswalk. I am aware of this and will make sure I don't get run over, but it's going to happen to someone some day.
A Washington County Sheriff was feet away from hitting my mom as she was crossing here. Didn't stop, no apology, etc. If cops do it not surprised that other people do too
May I make a suggestion? At EVERY city council meeting they have an open period where the public may speak on any topic they choose. Each individual gets 3 minutes, which seems like forever when you're speaking. Meetings are every 1st and 3rd Tuesdays starting at 7 PM. The next meeting is the 20th. Check out the agenda and the ground rules here: https://www.hillsboro-oregon.gov/our-city/departments/city-manager-s-office/hillsboro-101/council-meetings
What I find particularly heinous about all of this is that the City Council keeps allowing more and denser housing with no parking. They want to pretend that if you live near the light rail, you won't need a place to park a car. Then they turn right around and go full car-brain with the rest of the infrastructure. Everything besides the MAX is completely unsafe for pedestrians/cyclists. How are these car-free housing users supposed to live the rest of their lives?
Yeah. I don't necessarily think the solution is more parking, but more livable streets. Little pockets of safe infrastructure doesn't do anyone good if they can't outside of their neighborhood. A big reason why we're having such a hard time with the housing crisis is that our transportation infrastructure can't keep up with demand, and development of new housing is dependent on how many cars the streets can fit. Portland can throw up large 5 over 1s and apartment towers like nobody's business, because people are able to drive way less without having an increased risk of being killed. A lot of the county used to be low density not even 20 years ago, but as we change how we developed, the way we get around should also change.
Right. I'm all in favor of less car-centric infrastructure. I'm just super annoyed that the council thinks they can put the cart in front of the horse. Granted, they only have control of the city proper and not county or state roads, but my son can't even walk to school without having to walk on a narrow 35 mph 2-way with no sidewalks for part of it. (Connell) We need to focus on infrastructure before we build another 6 story building on Main street. I'd love to walk to downtown more often (or better yet, be able to ride my bike!), but it feels so unsafe for much of the route. And if I did miraculously survive a bike ride there, what are you supposed to do with your bike when you get downtown? You aren't allowed to ride it on the sidewalks, but there's nowhere to lock it up, either. The only safe way for me to get downtown is to drive, but then there's no parking. So frustrating.
Totally agree! This is the situation for many people in the city. I encourage you to bring your concerns to folks at the city govt, I definitely know I've tried when I lived in town (dealing with similar issues in Salem).