Portland Oregon questions

[planetluvver]

Hi,

I just reregistered. I was in an accident yesterday, and I was wondering whether I should report it somewhere. Does anyone compile statistics on this stuff? I wrote a post on the Adventure ride thread. Also, does anyone know of any events for low/no cost helmets?

Thanks.

[Biciclista]

were you in an accident with a motor vehicle? then the answer is YES, talk to the police.
If you crashed by yourself, no.
Welcome to TE by the way~!

[sgtiger]

planetluvver, I hope you're okay. You didn't get hurt did, you?

I agree with Biciclista, file a police report. Also the Oregon DMV has a form that is required to be filled out if damage done to vehicle/property is above $1500 and/or if there in any injury that resulted from the accident, no matter how minor. Even if property damage seems to be less than $1500, your insurance carrier may still require you to file one in order to make a claim with them.

Here's the form that can be picked up and filed at the DMV. Check the Oregon DMV website for more info.

http://www.odot.state.or.us/forms/dmv/32.pdf

ETA: I just found your post on the accident. Strike the part about filing the reports.

[planetluvver]

BTA (Bicycle Transportation Alliance) referred me to the traffic dept. They said they don't take reports if it was a single bike accident. I asked if I needed to file for a single car, and they said yes. (I didn't ask for the officer's name.) I visited the DMV site, and I did not specify a motor vehicle.

I am now a woman on a mission. I WAS injured, perhaps fatally, if not for my helmet. I've been telling myself that it was my own negligence that caused my accident. But now I realize that that isn't entirely true. The debris was probably kicked in to the bike lane by a passing motor vehicle. Perhaps bike lanes on the shoulder of the road are unsafe. And if there is no place to report these accidents, how will we ever know?

Maybe they are safe enough up to a certain speed limit, and after that, too much crud is kicked up.

I already have a beef with the Portland police department, and the way they treated my being hit and run by a pick-up truck, as a pedestrian. (Luckily there was no injury, they only hit my backpack with their mirror, which shattered.) They LIED on the report, on a number of circumstances. They stated that it was my fault and the driver swerved to avoid me. (Now how could they tell, since it was a hit and run?)

So yeah. I want to file my accident report, and I want it to be the truth, ( or at least the nearesr I can get to it) this time.

[jobob]

Glad you weren't injured badly.

If a car wasn't invovled, and if there wasn't a hazzard in the road surface itself - like a pothole or a crack in the road - you're wasting your time and the time of everyone else involved. Please reconsider.

[tulip]

And please get a new helmet right away!

[blueskies]

I stop to move large debris (branches, big rocks, hub caps...) out of the bike lane when I come across it. Just one simple way to make the lanes safer for myself & other riders out there. We can all be part of the solution.

If you're a new rider, the lesson is to be attentive to what's in the road.

[wildhawk]

DH and I move hazards out of the way too and we report road debris to our local police department as a road hazard. We live in a very busy area so it is amazing the crap that flies out of the back of landscape trucks, etc. It is unfortunate what happened to you - sorry to hear it. My DH fell a few years back and his helmet saved him. He was actually unconscious for a couple of minutes and the bike helmet was cracked stem to stern, but I hate to think of the concussion he would have had - or worse - if he had not had that helmet. We immediately replaced it. Actually, I read on one of the cycling forums that helmets should be replaced about every three years. I also keep a mirror attached to my bike so I can see what is coming up behind me - just call me Fred, I don’t dare, I would rather be safe than sorry. Best wishes to you as you recover.