Portland Bicycle Accident Lawyer

People want to ride a bike, it's simple.

In 2023 we actually saw bicycle rides declining in Portland by a whopping 46% according to Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) between their 2016 and 2022 bicycle counts, "In 2022, Portland bicycle traffic dropped more than a third compared to 2019, to levels not seen since approximately 2005-2006."

Portland's bicycle count data for 2025 are in and bicycle ridership is up 1% for the whole city.

From Koin 6 Portland news: After steep drop from 2010s, Portland's bike ridership has remained steady in recent years

PBOT saw the most significant rise in ridership in Southwest Portland and East Portland, with both seeing an increase of at least 6%.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the south and northwest sides of the city saw the most significant decrease, with a 17% decline and 13% decline, respectively.

The reasons for Portland's bicycle ride decline are complex. I know that cyclists are getting hurt badly on our local roads and that it is happening too often.

Portland Bureau of Transportation PBOT 2025 traffic crash data

Preliminary data is in and it shows another year with declining traffic fatalities, but 4 cyclists lost their lives in Portland in 2026, and one e-scooter rider.

Traffic deaths are still high for Portland, but unfortunately, lower than other places in the USA and even the PNW. Pedestrians are still over half of these fatalities, but fortunately the percent of youth traffic crash victims has improved.

Youth: Only one of the 39 traffic crash victims was a youth (18 or younger), a dramatic shift from 2024 when they accounted for 12% of all traffic deaths.

Pedestrians: 51% of people killed in traffic crashes were pedestrians in 2025. This was the third straight year of declining pedestrian deaths since the peak in 2022.

Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) 2024 traffic crash data

Traffic deaths were particularly bad in 2023. Portland saw 69 deaths that year, and PBOT's traffic safety manager said they were "heading in the wrong direction."

But the data this year show modest improvement. Deaths of people driving motor vehicles declined 28% since 2023, although they remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.

The number of deaths for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists remained comparable to 2023.

Oregon Public Broadcasting March 6, 2025 Portland saw a decrease in traffic deaths last year, but some areas remained flat

As a former bike racer myself, and currently a bicycle commuter, the bicycle accident cases that I handle are particularly meaningful to me.  When I opened my own personal injury law practice in 2002, I started getting calls from cyclists who knew me and pretty quickly my practice evolved into a bicycle practice. I still do a number of motor vehicle cases and motorcycle cases, but the bulk of my practice is cycling cases. Our Portland roads can be dangerous and inhospitable to people who are not inside of cars.

While bicyclists and pedestrians enjoy some protections under the law as vulnerable road users, insurance companies do not give money away, and very often they try to pay cyclists unfair settlements and try to blame bicycle riders just because they are on two wheels. This was the case of a former injured Portland cyclist I represented who recovered $667,000 with a jury verdict but her final offer before trial was $130,000 as reported in Portland's Willamette Week Newspaper,  Cyclist vs. New Seasons. 

Serious and fatal bicycle crashes in Portland happen on the same roads, often, and Vision Zero is all about identifying these road design locations, and then engineering solutions that will save lives and help all modes of traffic.

When analyzing bicycle injury motor vehicle accidents looking at these locations with a higher frequency of serious injury accidents, Broadway had the highest of all crashes on Portland Roads and was included by PBOT in their High Crash Network.

A protected bike lane along with numerous improvements have been ongoing along Broadway.

Yet in the fall of 2023 the Portland Bureau of Transportation PBOT had plans to remove the recently completed Broadway protected bike lane in downtown Portland between SW Salmon and NW Hoyt in the fall of 2023. As covered by Vanguard the Portland State University newspaper:

This plan would have resulted in less safe bike lanes on Broadway—a highly populated urban area that PBOT has included in their High Crash Network—a list of streets where crash-related severe injuries and fatalities occur at an above-average rate. Though PBOT has now rolled back its plans to change the Broadway bike lanes, the proximity to the Portland State campus raises concerns among many students and staff. Considering our status as a commuter campus, where many students rely on bikes for commuting, the potential for increased safety risks heightens the recognition of this issue as a significant problem.

This has caused concern and confusion among Portland area cyclists. It only became publicly known because of Bike Portland's bicycle news coverage. Not long after the Broadway protected bike lane incident, a second already paid for and completed Portland bike lane was subsequently removed on NE 33rd.

The work that Portland's Vision Zero, and the information data driven approach continues to help improve the safety of everyone on our public roads. The below data is from Portland's Vision Zero. Portland's Vision Zero Portland 2025 Deadly Traffic Crash Report

In 2025, 74% of traffic deaths occurred on Portland's High Crash Network. This has remained consistently high over the years. Averaging the prior four years, 69% of deadly crashes took place on the High Crash Network

Portland 2025 Deadly Traffic Crash Report

Portland most dangerous streets where people riding bicycles were killed or seriously injured from 2017 to 2021

Portland worst streets where people riding bicycles were killed, injured or seriously injured 2017 - 2021	Death	Serious Injury	Injury
Broadway		4	44
Burnside St.	1	2	30
SE Powell Blvd.		1	23
SE Division St.			22
SE Stark St.		1	22
Sandy Blvd.		3	21
82nd Ave.	1	4	18
N Interstate Ave.	1		17
SE Hawthorne Blvd.		4	17
Lombard St.			16
SE Foster Road		2	15
SE Glisan Street		13	13
Killingsworth Street	1	1	12
122nd Ave		2	12
NE Columbia Blvd.		3	11
SE 7th Ave.			11
SW Barbur Blvd.			11
SW Capitol Hwy			11
Fremont Street			10
NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd		1	10

 

The resources of Portland Bureau of Transportation, PBOT, on Vision Zero and this annual report offer reinforcement to what many cyclists already instinctually were aware of.

Bike There Map from the City of Portland
great resource for planning walking and cycling routes - includes unpaved trails, and local paths as well as highlights tough connection areas.

Big vehicles are more dangerous to cyclists and pedestrians. Portland Bureau of Transportation and PPB, the Portland Police Bureau, track the data.

In 2025, 12 of 23 deaths of pedestrians or people bicycling (52%) involved a collision with a large vehicle, such as a van, pickup truck, sport utility vehicle (SUV), semi- truck, or bus. Of these deaths, one was from a collision with a semi-truck. The vehicle type was unknown in one hit-and- run crash. The other ten crashes were with a van, pickup truck, or SUV. PBOT and PPB began tracking vehicle type data for deadly crashes involving pedestrians and people on bicycles in 2024. National data from 2021 shows that large vehicles make up 75% of all motor vehicles in the country

Portland 2025 Deadly Traffic Crash Report

Portland Bicycle Crashes Contributing Factor Data, Note Doored Bicycle v. Car Accidents Are Not Tracked in Oregon Nor Portland Accident Report Data (Illinois maybe the only state that tracks dooring incidents in their crash data in the USA)

We know that doored bicycle vs. car crashes are some of the most common on all roadways, but especially urban environments where bike lanes and road riding commonly place cyclists in the door zone. Cyclists simply have little to no room to move when they try to avoid a crash when a car door is suddenly opened. Sometimes cyclists endour the crash with the vehicle door only to go down and into car traffic, which is another reason why this road conflict is so serious. This is also a conflict that can be so greatly reduced with things like fully protected bike lanes.

I have handled several Portland bicyclist car doored cases with seriously injured cyclists.

Mike worked with me settle to a claim after I was doored and hospitalized while riding my bike. Mike and his team helped me navigate the complex insurance and claim process and ensured that I received a fair settlement.

Trig Rogers

Google Review

Another cyclist doored case was reported in Portland's Oregonian newspaper after I filed a lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

 Cyclist sues after Uber, private insurance fail to cover crash

The case was further complicated because the driver was working for Uber at the time of the accident. The driver was cited at the accident scene by the Portland Police for the dooring improper opening of a door when it was not safe.

Lucas Root says he doesn't remember seeing the door that opened up in front of his bike, knocking him to the pavement and breaking out three teeth. [...] Indeed, two months after the July 2 crash for which the driver was cited by police, the driver's personal insurer declined to cover the loss. Three months later, Uber says its insurer is still reviewing the claim [...] according to a police report, 55-year-old Viktor Pavenko stopped to pick up a passenger. He opened his driver's side door, he told police, and Root, 30, crashed his bicycle into the door and fell to the pavement. Pavenko was cited for improper opening of a door.