‘Careless driver’ causes 3-car pile-up on Glisan Street

See why this accident closed down a very busy intersection in outer East Portland while rescue crews cut victims out of a car – and Traffic Division officers investigated the cause of this wreck …

Portland Fire & Rescue Truck 7’s crew from several companies use a Holmatro Rescue Tool to rip the door off this Buick Regal to rescue the victims, trapped inside.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Outer East Portland traffic came to a standstill on September 9, about 6:30 p.m. when a three-vehicle pile-up shut down the intersection of NE Glisan St. and NE 102nd Avenue in the Gateway district.

A mangled, burgundy Buick Regal came to rest, mid intersection. When we looked for the vehicle with which it collided, a police officer pointed to an SUV parked about a half-block away.

Working first with crowbars and pry tools, Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) crews, from three stations, worked to free the crash victims trapped in the Buick.

Then, they called for PF&R Truck 2 – it carries the Holmatro Rescue Tools, the new version of the “Jaws of Life” – that firefighters then used to remove the driver’s side doors of the Buick.

Firefighters work inside the wrecked car, stabilizing the victims taking them out of the vehicle.

The rescuers carefully removed the accident victims, lowered them on to a gurney, so they could be taken to the hospital. Their medical condition is unknown.

The driver of the white Toyota FJ Cruiser, who didn’t give us his name, said he was westbound on NE Glisan St., stopped at the red left-hand turn signal, waiting to turn south on NE 102nd Avenue.

While the damage to this Toyota FJ Cruise doesn’t appear to be all that extensive, the driver said the impact from the rear-end smash was, indeed, severe.

The driver of this Toyota Corolla looks like she’s pensively reflecting on the accident that damaged her car.

He didn’t see the Buick coming up rapidly behind him, he said. “I was hit, really hard,” the SUV driver told us. “I was hit so hard, it pushed me all the way across the intersection.”

The driver of a Toyota Corolla – its driver’s side rear end smashed in – sat in her car, just north of the Buick, awaiting instructions from the Police Bureau Traffic Division Investigator.

“The driver of a Buick Regal was cited for Careless Driving, Driving While Suspended and Driving Uninsured,” reported Portland Police Bureau spokesman, Sergeant Pete Simpson. In addition to the three wrecked vehicles, Simpson said that pileup “then caused a secondary accident in the intersection.”

This Gateway area intersection was shut down for more than an hour to clear the accident.

© 2010 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News

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