The Clark County Sheriff’s Office captured this photo of the crash scene using a drone.
A 56-year-old Portland man suffered significant injuries after riding into the path of a vehicle driven by a 19-year-old driver in Clark County late Tuesday, according to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver remained at the scene, showed no signs of impairment, is not believed to have been speeding and will not face any citations, according to the sheriff’s office.
The crash occurred at about 10:40 p.m. in the 1400 block of Northeast 78th Street. 911 callers said the injured man was lying in the roadway with severe injuries after the crash.
The 19-year-old driver of a 2013 Hyundai sedan said she was traveling west when the man — later identified as James Evans — traveled into her path.
“The CCSO Traffic Unit was called to investigate the collision and learned that Evans had ridden his bicycle from the north sidewalk of NE 78th Street to the south and into the path of (the driver’s) westbound vehicle,” according to a press release from the sheriff’s office. “The resulting collision had caused Evans to strike the front windshield of the Hyundai causing significant injury.”
The posted speed limit on this section of 78th Street is 35 mph, and the driver didn’t appear to be traveling too fast. Evans was not wearing a helmet, nor was he using any type of lighting equipment, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Evans was not in an intersection when he crossed into the path of the westbound car,” according to the sheriff’s office. “It should be noted that there is a signal-controlled intersection with a crosswalk at NE 13th Avenue, less than a block from where the collision took place. Evans did not utilize this intersection to cross NE 78th Street.”
Deputies learned that Evans had just left an encampment on the north side of 78th Street in the 1400 block. The encampment is one known to law enforcement to house several transient people, according to the sheriff’s office.
Per state law, people operating bicycles on the public roadway are subject to the same rules as a motor vehicle. Investigators concluded that Evans failed to yield the right of way to the driver, which caused the collision.
