Running between the Columbia River and the Willamette Valley, Oregon State Route 47 offers many scenic views and interesting destinations, including numerous nearby volcanoes… and the World’s Tallest Barber Pole. The road also is home to many serious and fatal vehicle accidents. From drivers going too fast to commercial trucks…
Roughly halfway between Portland and Boise is the steepest highway grade in all of Oregon. The area is so challenging to travel that the Oregon Department of Transport published an advisory sheet specifically dedicated to educating semi truckers about safely handling the dangerous stretch of Interstate 84. Known as Emigrant…
Drivers not obeying traffic signals is a problem nationwide. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), 1.149 people died in crashes where someone ran a red light in 2022. Even when the results are not fatal, these accidents often cause massive or catastrophic injuries to people who were…
Even as legislative bodies strengthen laws and police ramp up enforcement, people behind the wheel dividing their attention between driving and text messages, phone calls, email, social media, and so forth remain a very real problem in Oregon and across the country. Too often, the results are serious injuries or…
The Oregonian reported this week that Portland has lowered the speed limit along a 5.5 mile stretch of 122nd Avenue which it describes as “one of the city’s most dangerous roads.” The speed limit reduction from 35 to 30 mph will apply from the intersection with Northeast Sandy Boulevard to…
A tragedy and a near-tragedy on the other side of the country offer important reminders of a problem that recurs every summer: hot car deaths. According to The New York Times twin one-year-olds died in the Bronx late last month after their father forgot to drop them off at day…
Following up on my recent blog about the dangers in Oregon’s system of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage an incident on Interstate-5 near Olympia, Washington is bringing similar issues into focus north of the Columbia River. According to The Olympian an arraignment is scheduled to take place next week for…
Sometimes it takes a tragedy to push the legal system to close a loophole. In the wake of a 2013 accident that left two little girls dead, Governor Kate Brown has done just that: signing a new law Thursday that clarifies the legal obligations of hit-and-run drivers. “Anna and Abigail’s…
Over the years I have written a lot about the way bikes, pedestrians, cars and public transport all interact on Portland’s streets. In recent weeks something new has joined this mix: e-scooters. As a technology, these have been around for several years they are now appearing around Portland in far…
In many ways it is a small thing: the installation of tiny sensors on lampposts, first at a few key intersections and, later, around much of the city. But the Portland Bureau of Transportation believes that what it calls “Smart City PDX” is an essential step toward making the city…