INCLUDES INVESTIGATION VIDEO | Officials still have little to say about this deadly outer East Portland crash. But witnesses said that what took place was obvious to them …
SE Powell Boulevard is closed in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood, after a late afternoon crash kills a motorcycle rider.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
On Sunday, September 3, Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers were dispatched on an “Accident-Injury” call at 5:11 p.m. along SE Powell Boulevard at 140th Avenue.
“Officers arrived to find a crash between a motorcycle and a car. The motorcyclist died at the scene,” was the terse account gave by PPB officials that evening. “Details surrounding the crash are currently limited.”
The crumpled rear end, and inflated air bags of this Ford EcoSport Compact SUV shows just how hard it was hit by the fast-moving motorcycle.
Here is where, and how, the motorcycle came to rest after the crash.
However, at the scene, witnesses were clear about what took place: An eastbound motorcycle, traveling swiftly, plowed into the back of the eastbound Ford EcoSport Compact SUV with such force, it triggered the car’s air bags, damaged the bike, and launched the motorcyclist some distance through the air.
Watch this deadly crash investigation unfold in our exclusive video:
Apparently, after hitting the back of the car, the motorcycle skidded off the thoroughfare, and smashed into a green, steel, street-level utility box tethered to a utility pole.
The deceased lay covered in a vacant lot, between where the motorcycle and the car came to a rest.
A PPB’s Traffic Division Major Crash Team investigator takes notes while interviewing the distraught driver of the car who stands just out of frame.
One witness described the severe injuries sustained by the motorcyclist to East Portland News in terms too graphic to publish.
Almost immediately after arriving, officers called for the PPB’s Traffic Division Major Crash Team to come and investigate the crash, closing SE Powell Boulevard between 136th and 141st Avenues for several hours.
The female driver of the Ford EcoSport remained at the scene and cooperated with the investigation.
On into the evening, this crash investigation continues.
On September 6, a PPB official revealed, “This crash remains under investigation, but investigators have determined that illegal passing was a factor.” Additionally, the deceased was identified as 37-year-old Daniel Perkins.
If you have information about the incident, email it to crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov, attention Traffic Investigations Unit, and reference Case No. 23-232132.
This fatal crash again impedes the goals of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Vision Zero program, being the 46th traffic fatality of this year in the City of Portland.
© 2023 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™