Here’s what happens when a driver doesn’t heed a red traffic signal at a residential intersection …
After allegedly running through a red light, the gold Outback was hit by the Chevy Tahoe, jumped the curb, and takes out a crosswalk sign.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
The peace of a quiet summer afternoon in the Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood was shattered by a grinding side-impact vehicle collision just minutes after 2:00 p.m. on August 7.
Portland Fire & Rescue paramedics from Lents Station 11 rolled to the intersection of SE Flavel Street and SE 72nd Avenue, as did Portland Police Bureau East Precinct district officers.
Firefighters and paramedics talk with the driver of the Outback after the wreck.
Paramedics get ready to load passenger in the Outback into the ambulance.
The driver of a Chevy Tahoe told East Portland News that he was westbound on SE Flavel Street, from 82nd Avenue. As he approached the light, “I took my foot off the gas to slow down as I came near the intersection.”
He said he spotted a southbound car that had stopped for the red light at SE 72nd Avenue. But, he noticed a dark bronze car was driving northbound toward the intersection. “By the time it was clear to me that she wasn’t stopping, I hit the brakes, but couldn’t avoid the intersection,” the driver/witness said.
After being helped from her crushed car, the driver of the Outback is placed on a gurney, and made ready for medical transport.
It appeared as if the primary impact of the Chevy’s front bumper was to the passenger’s front wheel well of a Subaru Outback, breaking off the wheel. The Outback slammed into the side of the Chevy – before climbing the northwest curb of the intersection.
The Outback’s front end snapped off a crosswalk sign, and sent it flying about 8 feet, into bushes.
The result of the impact shows on the Chevy Tahoe.
Witnesses at the scene corroborated the Chevy driver’s assertions.
The two occupants of the Outback were transported by ambulance to local hospitals – first the passenger, and then the driver. Neither patient was considered to be a “trauma entry” into the medical care system.
This accident remains under investigation.
© 2014 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News