Scooter-riding octogenarian killed in crosswalk

Details are scarce about this tragic, deadly accident; but here’s what’s known …

SE Division Street is closed either side of SE 156th Avenue in the Centennial neighborhood – after an elderly woman, riding a mobility scooter, is struck in a marked crosswalk.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

With the dark clouds of a heavy rainstorm overhead, ten minutes before sunrise, a woman – driving a mobility scooter – was struck and killed while crossing SE Division Street near 156th Avenue, by a westbound Honda SUV, on January 12.

The impact hurled the rider and her scooter about a half-block west along Division Street.

Members of the Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division Major Crash Team inspects the Honda SUV which apparently struck and killed the victim.

Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers arrived scene three minutes after the 7:38 a.m. dispatch was broadcast.

“Officers and Portland Fire & Rescue personnel arrived and located the victim, a woman in her 80s,” said PPB Public Information Officer Sgt. Pete Simpson. “Medical efforts to save the victim were not successful and she died at the scene.”

Neighbors say they recognize some of the victim’s belongings, now scattered in the street.

“Oh, my goodness!” said Elaina Milberg, watching the investigation unfold.

“I know that woman – that’s her purple bag, there in the street!” Milberg told East Portland News. “I see her out her often, crossing Division Street at this crosswalk.”

The preliminary information, Simpson revealed, indicated that a 61-year-old female, driving a blue Honda SUV westbound on SE Division Street, had struck the victim.

“The woman struck was riding a motorized scooter southbound across Division, within a crosswalk,” Simpson confirmed. “The driver remained at the scene and is cooperating with investigators.”

Using their total station transit accident reconstruction surveying tools, Major Crash Team officers take measurements at the scene. The broken scooter is in the background.

The thoroughfare remained closed to traffic until the noon hour, as members of the PPB Traffic Division Major Crash Team investigated the accident.

This story will be updated, as more information becomes available.

A #safestreetspdx “ghost” is tethered to the crosswalk island sign in the foreground, as officers attend to the crash victim, who perished.

© 2016 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News

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