Timothy O’Donnell, 66, a Portland Velo rider, was struck and killed Saturday while on a club ride. Tim was riding on Northwest Cornelius-Schefflin Road when he was hit Saturday by a 2006 Dodge Avenger while signaling a left turn onto Long Road, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. Cyclists are regular people, that we all know and love. It is sad and tragic to see people being struck and killed, while using public spaces that they have every right to use. It is senseless and wrong for oregonians to lose their lives due to the arrogance and stupidity, caused by the actions of unqualified drivers . We hope that each time a cyclist loses their life while riding their bike , an action we all recognize provides so many benefits and so few costs, that somehow some good can come from it. It is usually in the form of some increased awareness. Most of that awareness fades from peoples consciousness, but hopefully, with each tragic event, a little more remains each time.
Here is one such respnse: from Mike Rasmussen
Q&A: which of the following is punishable by death and which is
punishable by a few hundred in traffic fines:
a) Drifting left within your traffic lane while signaling a left turn
b) Driving with a suspended license, passing a no passing lane,
careless driving
On Sunday June 10 Tim O’Donnell was one of five cyclists on a
Portland Velo ride. He made a left turn signal and drifted to the
left. The driver was driving with a suspended license and chose
to pass the group of five cyclists. In the process her vehicle
struck Mr. O’Donnell. The collision killed him. Under current Oregon law, with its high bar for criminal negligence,
it is unlikely that the driver will face any more legal repercussion
than the fines associated with the traffic tickets.
Hopefully a bill before the legislature will be passed that would
increase the penalties for “offense of infliction of serious physical
injury or death to vulnerable user of public way” including jail time.
I strongly encourage you to contact your legislator in support of
this bill.
The following links provide more information to aid you in making an
informed decision. Time is running short on this bill, a phone call
might be more effective than a letter or email. My call literally
took less than 30 seconds. That’s a tiny cost.
Description of bill:
http://www.bta4bike
BTA Call to Action on the bill:
http://e2ma.
27944f42ad8759720c6
aka
http://tinyurl.
Find your legislator:
http://www.leg.
BikePortland.
http://bikeportland