PBOT: Traffic fatalities remain historically high

PORTLAND, Ore. (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) — Sixty-three people were killed in traffic crashes in Portland in 2022, the same historically high number as the year before.

The deaths remained high despite increased spending on traffic safety improvements funded by the city’s 10 cent a gallon gas tax.

Although fatalities did not increase in 2022, they are still far higher than recent previous years. That includes the 35 people killed in 2018, the 48 people killed in 2019, and the 54 people killed in 2020.

“No one should be killed just by traveling on the streets of Portland, no matter how they travel,” Transportation Commissioner Mingus Mapps said when the Portland 2022 Deadly Traffic Crash Report was released on Monday, March 13. “I urge everyone to think of this report as call for us to drive carefully, to never drive while impaired and to always follow the speed limits and other rules of the road. As transportation commissioner, I will do everything I can to prevent traffic deaths, including investing in safety improvements on Portland’s high crash corridors and exploring an increased role for enforcement.”

According to the report, the largest share of people killed – 28 – were pedestrians, an increase of one from 2021. The only category that decreased was people in vehicles, which fee from 27 to 20.

Other patterns to emerge in the report include:

Pedestrians: In the last two years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of pedestrians who died compared with the three years prior. There was an average 16 pedestrians who died each year in 2018-2020, compared to 27 in 2021 and 28 in 2022.

Speed limits: Portland has aggressively reduced speed limits the last five years. While only 8% of city streets and state highways in Portland remain posted at 35 mph or higher, 46% of traffic deaths occurred on these streets in 2022.

Darker conditions: Seventy-four percent of traffic deaths occurred in darker conditions, which includes dusk, nighttime, and dawn, with a three-year average of 72%. Of pedestrian deaths, 93% occurred in darker conditions, with a three-year average of 89%.

Hit and run crashes: Deaths from hit-and-run crashes have doubled in recent years. Seventeen people died in hit-and-run crashes in 2022, compared with 14 in 2021 and seven in 2020. Driving impaired is often a reason for hit-and-run crashes.

According to the report, homeless people made up 19% of traffic deaths in 2022, while they comprise less than 1% of the total population in Multnomah County. Of the 28 pedestrians who died in 2022, 10 of them (36%) were homeless, meaning that homeless Portlanders were over 50 times more likely to die as a pedestrian in a traffic crash than the population overall.

Although high, the percent of homeless pedestrian deaths decreased since 2021, with PBOT first started tracking them. That year, 33% of all traffic deaths were homeless people. Mayor Ted Wheeler subsequently banned camping along major roadways.

PBOT has continued making progress on safety projects, the report said. For example, in the past four years, the bureau has added significant safety design features on about a dozen high crash corridors. This year, safer street projects are expected to be completed on Southwest Fourth Avenue downtown, on Southwest Capitol Highway, on the Southeast Foster-Woodstock couplet, and on Northeast Halsey Street.