{"id":19706,"date":"2023-03-14T20:51:36","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T20:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/14\/portlands-2022-traffic-death-toll-underscores-failures-and-threats\/"},"modified":"2023-03-14T20:51:36","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T20:51:36","slug":"portlands-2022-traffic-death-toll-underscores-failures-and-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/14\/portlands-2022-traffic-death-toll-underscores-failures-and-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"Portland&#8217;s 2022 traffic death toll underscores failures and threats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"text\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-14-at-1.23.04-PM.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">70% of the deaths occurred on high crash streets like 122nd Avenue. (Photo: Jonathan Maus\/BikePortland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Portland Bureau of Transportation released their annual deadly traffic crash report on Monday. According to their tally, 63 people died while using Portland roads in 2022 \u2014 equal to the 2021 amount. While the overall number is flat, 63 deaths is an 80% jump from the 35 total deaths Portland had in 2018 and it continues an extremely troubling rise in pedestrian fatalities that underscores how dangerous our streets have become and undermines our stated commitments to get serious about it.<\/p>\n<p>The BikePortland tally is even worse. By cross-referencing PBOT\u2019s list and a list provided to us by the Portland Police Bureau, we counted 70 people who died on our streets last year (down from 73 in 2021).<\/p>\n<p>Here are their names:<\/p>\n<p> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/e\/2PACX-1vSRADWZlDvK89IsrtPKpNAgqmsZniA34IZkj0sxyTcBQbxrf-DWG7ORdMCmhiuBEtUtLJyDOOcX8WSV\/pubhtml?gid=2027739413&amp;single=true&amp;widget=true&amp;headers=false\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1559\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>(Source: BikePortland \u2013 Note: Seven deaths not included on the city\u2019s tally are in blue. They include three suicides, two homicides, one MAX collision, and one unknown cause. I include these deaths because they illustrate the imminent threat posed by our system that\u2019s dominated by large, deadly vehicles and people who can too easily abuse them. Vulnerable road users are in green.)<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-14-at-1.29.17-PM.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-14-at-1.29.17-PM-1200x733.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-371354\" width=\"300\" height=\"183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-14-at-1.29.17-PM-1200x733.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-14-at-1.29.17-PM-320x195.jpg 320w, https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-14-at-1.29.17-PM-1536x938.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-14-at-1.29.17-PM-2048x1251.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">(Data: City of Portland \u2013 Graphic \u2013 BikePortland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Think about all those people for a moment. Not just who they were, but how many names are on that list. In 2008 \u2014 which happened to be the year we <a href=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/2008\/04\/29\/portland-gets-platinum-becomes-first-major-us-city-to-win-the-award-7382\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">became the first large city in America to earn a \u201cPlatinum\u201d designation<\/a> from the League of American Bicyclists \u2014 we had just 20 total traffic fatalities (with five pedestrian fatalities). In 2022, there were 31 people killed <em>while walking <\/em>alone.<\/p>\n<p>When Portland leaders unanimously adopted our Vision Zero plan in 2015, they committed to the elimination of all traffic deaths by 2025. That leaves us less than three years to take back our streets and dramatically shift this trend. In fact, if you listen to the Portland city commissioner currently in charge of PBOT, Mingus Mapps, we have only two years left. That\u2019s because he thinks we can only reduce fatalities by 10% this year. Asked about Vision Zero <a href=\"https:\/\/portland.citycast.fm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">on the City Cast PDX podcast last week<\/a> Mapps said, \u201cVision Zero is alive and well. Obviously, in many ways. It\u2019s aspirational\u2026 It\u2019s going to take us a while to get to zero. I think we could bring that down by 10% this year through investments and better infrastructure, and the bringing back some enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The year 2025 was nowhere to be found in PBOT\u2019s press release yesterday. Instead of a clear-eyed embrace of the challenge and an acknowledgment that we are not meeting the moment, their <a href=\"https:\/\/content.govdelivery.com\/accounts\/ORPORTLAND\/bulletins\/34dc48e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> read: <em>PBOT urges the public to slow down, as speed, impairment keep pedestrian deaths at historic high level in Portland, across U.S. in 2022<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a PR masterpiece that makes me disappointed and sad,\u201d wrote local traffic safety advocate Scott Kocher in an email with the press release he forwarded to me yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>The Street Trust Executive Director Sarah Iannarone said in <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1w7BP6730IbEyM4xcwZoUkH7te3255WqO7_JNRkNZSjM\/edit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a statement<\/a> yesterday that, \u201cTelling people to \u2018slow down,\u2019 or calling for more policing when the PPB is decrying staffing shortages simply won\u2019t work. We need an innovative, intergovernmental, public health-informed approach if we\u2019re going to reverse this epidemic across our region and state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I realize PBOT is doing a lot of good and important work around Vision Zero and this statement and report are just a relatively small piece of it. But given all the headlines this receives, it\u2019s an important opportunity to set course correct, lay out a vision, and set the right tone. Eight years into our Vision Zero initiative we deserve a candid and serious assessment of the problem and a bold plan to solve it. We are far beyond the point of making polite requests or excuses; but that seems to be a big part of the strategy we\u2019ve chosen.<\/p>\n<p>In their 2020 report, PBOT said the 54 people who were killed in traffic (then the highest total since 1996) was \u201cunusual and tragic.\u201d In news interviews and official statements, PBOT urged us to not be alarmed because one year doesn\u2019t make a trend. Then in 2021, PBOT said homeless individuals, the Covid-19 pandemic, \u201cand its tremendous impact on American life,\u201d were contributing factors in the (record) 63 traffic deaths. For 2022 we see a new boogeyman: darkness. Light conditions aren\u2019t mentioned in the previous two reports, but in this most recent one PBOT says, \u201c74% of all traffic deaths occurred in darker conditions\u2026 Of pedestrian deaths, 93% occurred in darker conditions\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Here are some other key takeaways from the latest report:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>21 deaths occurred on state-owned streets (compared to 32 in 2021 and 20 in 2020)<\/li>\n<li>67% of all deaths were in areas that score high on PBOT\u2019s equity matrix for low-incomes and high rates of residents that identify as people of color (compared to 76% in 2021 and 57% in 2020)<\/li>\n<li>Houseless people made up 19% of traffic deaths in 2022 (compared to 33% in 2021)<\/li>\n<li>17 people died in hit-and-run crashes in 2022 (compared to 14 in 2021 and 7 in 2020)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-14-at-12.39.52-PM.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-14-at-12.39.52-PM-1200x1076.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-371346\" width=\"300\" height=\"269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-14-at-12.39.52-PM-1200x1076.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-14-at-12.39.52-PM-320x287.jpg 320w, https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-14-at-12.39.52-PM.jpg 1354w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>PBOT says another big part of the problem are people who drive too fast and\/or drive under the influence of drugs and\/or alcohol (with many of those hit-and-runs by impaired drivers). This problem of general lawlessness from more drivers than ever has come under sharper focus with new reporting out this week from <em>The Oregonian<\/em> that details how the Portland Police Bureau <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/crime\/2023\/03\/portland-police-fail-to-investigate-alarming-number-of-impaired-driving-cases-da-says.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have \u201cfailed\u201d to investigate and \u201calarming number\u201d DUII cases<\/a>, thus making the cases hard and\/or impossible for the District Attorney\u2019s office to prosecute.<\/p>\n<p>A memo obtained by The Oregonian shows that over a two-month span in 2021, PPB did not perform necessary blood draws or breath tests on 22% of people they pulled over for DUIIs. Of the 141 DUII arrests by five policing agencies who patrol the metro area, 25 of them were not fully investigated \u2014 and 24 of those were by the PPB.<\/p>\n<p>This story should alarm Commissioner Mapps, who has said he wants to fund more police officers for traffic enforcement and has mentioned his concern about a lack of DUI arrests in both interviews I\u2019ve done with him. Just last week <a href=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/2023\/03\/06\/podcast-transportation-commissioner-mingus-mapps-371027\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he told me<\/a>, \u201cI would like drunk drivers to be pulled over and taken off the streets.\u201d Asked about The Oregonian story today, Commissioner Mapps said via email, \u201cThere have been breakdowns in every aspect of our public safety and criminal justice system over the last several years. As PBOT Commissioner, my highest priority is public safety on our streets, sidewalks, and transit system. I cannot do this alone; I will need the partnership of the police and the district attorney\u2019s office to intervene in impaired driving and hold people accountable under our laws.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of what anyone says or promises, the facts are clear: Our increasingly lawless streets, feckless and disjointed leadership, lack of progress on enforcement, and <a href=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/2020\/11\/13\/opinion-the-best-way-to-honor-traffic-victims-is-to-design-safer-roads-322729\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">outdated road designs<\/a> are no match for the scourge of dangerous streets and irresponsible people who use them.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n<p>\u2014 <em>Download a PDF of the report <a href=\"https:\/\/www.portland.gov\/transportation\/vision-zero\/documents\/vision-zero-portland-2022-deadly-traffic-crash-report\/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"saboxplugin-wrap\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Person\" itemscope=\"\" itemprop=\"author\">\n<div class=\"saboxplugin-tab\">\n<div class=\"saboxplugin-gravatar\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Subject-9.png\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" alt=\"\" itemprop=\"image\"\/><\/div>\n<div class=\"saboxplugin-desc\">\n<div itemprop=\"description\">\n<p>If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jonathan_maus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@jonathan_maus<\/a> on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone\/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please <a href=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/support\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">become a supporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/2023\/03\/14\/portlands-2022-traffic-death-toll-underscores-failures-and-threats-371335\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>70% of the deaths occurred on high crash streets like 122nd Avenue. (Photo: Jonathan Maus\/BikePortland) The Portland Bureau of Transportation released their annual deadly traffic crash report on Monday. According to their tally, 63 people died while using Portland roads in 2022 \u2014 equal to the 2021 amount. While the overall number is flat, 63 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6804],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19706","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}