Accident fatalities in 2008 lowest in Portland history

City officials believe low numbers due to traffic-taming actions

By peter korn

The Portland Tribune, Apr 2, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

A pedestrian waits to cross Southeast Powell Boulevard at 82nd Avenue. While city transportation officials are happy about the city’s low traffic fatality numbers, they still worry about problem areas, including 82nd Avenue.

JIM CLARK / TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO

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Mark Lear was surprised.

Not at the sheer numbers – Portland’s Bureau of Transportation safety program manager knew that automobile crash rates had been steadily declining in Portland for at least a decade. But when transportation officials were able to use police records to compare current crash rates with rates going all the way back to 1925, they found that Portland crash rates had never been this low.

“We’re actually safer than we’ve ever been,” Lear said. “How can that not be a surprise?”

The transportation bureau’s new data shows that in 2008, 20 people died in car crashes in Portland – 15 auto occupants and five pedestrians. That’s the lowest number of fatalities since police began keeping records. Going back to 1925, in only three other years were Portland traffic fatalities under 30, and that was in 2000, 2006 and 2007.

Think people were safer in the good old days before muscle cars and SUVs? Think again. In 1934, nearly 90 people died in car crashes in Portland. Traffic fatality rates were consistently high in the 1930s and 1940s.

The good old days were also the days before traffic signals, sidewalk extenders and neighborhood speed limits, which were introduced in 1941. And that’s the point, said Lear and Greg Raisman, the transportation bureau’s traffic safety specialist.

Traffic fatalities have been trending downward in Portland since the mid-1980s, Raisman said. Last year, according to Raisman, the five pedestrian fatalities were also the lowest ever. And for the fifth time in the past 10 years, there were no bike fatalities in Portland.

Raisman said that most U.S. cities have not seen a major decline in traffic fatalities in the last 10 years, though most European cities have. And Portland, he said, is getting a worldwide reputation for the measures it has taken to keep pedestrians and bicyclists safe.

Speed bumps were introduced in Portland in 1992, and the city now lays claim to more than 1,000 of them, more than any other U.S. city, according to Raisman.

Courtesy of the City of Portland

Red light cameras were first installed in Portland in 2001, and photo radar vans to catch speeders were introduced in 1996. Since 1991, the city has installed more than 350 miles of designated bike lanes, trails and boulevards. While car use in Portland has stayed relatively steady, bicycling and walking have increased. And all of this, Raisman said, has affected the way people in Portland act when they get behind the wheel.

“In our city, you just can’t drive around on auto pilot,” Raisman said. Drivers, more aware of all the pedestrians and bicyclists, drive more cautiously and get in fewer crashes, he said.

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