Cycling News & Blog Articles

Attorney (and BikePortland advertiser) Chris Thomas of the Thomas, Coon, Newton & Frost law firm, shared his expertise on liability in the comments section of our recent post about a case involving Oregon’s recreational immunity law: “In fact, recreational immunity is alive and well,” wrote Thomas.

Thomas reminds readers of the meat-and-potatoes of how civil trials work, and explains what is happening behind the scenes.

Here’s what Thomas had to say:

Thanks Jonathan for your coverage here. This is a complex issue and I want to share a few thoughts and points of clarification.

Welcome to the week.

Here are the most notable stories our community came across in the past seven days…

Timur talks: One of the candidates I’m most excited about is Timur Ender who’s running in Dist 1 (East Portland). Don’t miss his recent interview on a local podcast. (Progress Portland)

‘Cross props: Portland’s very own Clara Honsinger (who nabbed bronze at a race in Belgium over the weekend) is featured prominently in this fun story on cyclocross from a major mainstream outlet. (Washington Post)

Jesse Cornett is running for District 3, which encompasses (roughly) southeast Portland from the Willamette to 82nd, and I-84 to the southern border. He’s an intriguing candidate, not just because he was a “body man” for Senator Bernie Sanders and worked on his presidential campaign, but because of his long political resume here in Oregon. In 2008 he narrowly lost a race for the Oregon State Senate and in 2010 he ran for Portland City Council. I interviewed him during that campaign, so it was fun to sit down with him again today — 14 years later.

Our conversation touched on a wide range of topics, from policing to homelessness — to whether or not Portland’s goal of 25% cycling mode share by 2030 is possible.

Check out a few of our exchanges below:

If you’re on council would you support the idea of reducing space for driving so that we can put other things in its place?

My necessities for a recent housing search in Portland… and the front rack bag I crammed it all into. (Photos: Erin Bailie)

Hi! I’m Erin Bailie, and I’ll be moving from Seattle to Portland (Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhood) in February. By day I work a tech job in product/research, and I love using bicycles as my primary means of transportation. In my 30-something years I’ve lived a lot of bike lives: I’ve been bike commuting since second grade, sometimes I do track racing or go bikepacking, and I love Pedalpalooza. Reading BikePortland has been part of my morning routine for years, and I can’t wait to chronicle some of my thoughts as a newcomer to town. 

Though my husband Jonathan and I will be new to Portland, Portland won’t be new to us. Over the past few years, we’ve found any excuse we can to visit for the weekend. We’ve driven, taken Amtrak, and once we even rode the whole way to Portland (thanks, STP!). When the opportunity knocked for Jonathan to take a job in Portland, we couldn’t say “yes!” fast enough. 

The month before our move, we spent a week in Portland with the sole purpose of finding housing. Each day played out in a chaotic frenzy: I crammed my necessities and laptop into a front rack bag and rode from our lodging in Richmond, to rental showings across northeast and southeast, to co-working spaces to dial into meetings — and tried to find a gluten-free lunch somewhere along the way.

A trail near Boiler Bay on the Oregon Coast. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

A law that was created to shield land managers and property owners from liability claims is under fire and public trail access — including bike trails — across Oregon could be in jeopardy. That’s the state-of-play due to a decision in July 2023 by the Oregon Court of Appeals in a case that hinged on the legal concept of, “recreational immunity.”

Oregon’s recreational immunity law (ORS 105.682) states, “an owner of land is not liable in contract or tort for any personal injury, death or property damage that arises out of the use of the land for recreational purposes.” The idea behind this law is to encourage landowners (government entities or private companies/individuals) to keep trails open to the public without fear of being sued if someone is hurt using them.

Challenges to this law have happened before, but one if its biggest tests yet began when a woman slipped on a trail and broke her leg while walking near Agate Beach on the Oregon Coast in 2019 and sued the City of Newport for damages, saying the law shouldn’t apply because she wasn’t recreating at the time of her fall. Nicole Fields claimed the city was negligent because they failed to maintain a footbridge on a trail that led to the beach. Her lawyers argued their client was using the trail as an access route to her recreation — and was not technically recreating —  when she fell. A local judge didn’t accept that argument and ruled in favor of the City of Newport. But last summer, the decision was reversed by the Court of Appeals. When the Oregon Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal to the case in October, it raised questions about how to apply this important law.

Some cities and land managers are confused and worried that they will no longer be shielded from lawsuits if they keep trails open. According to the Salem Statesman Journal, several coastal cities have already closed trails and paused trail projects already. The Journal also reports that some legal experts feel closures are an overreaction, spurred by insurance industry scare tactics.

(Photo of a 2023 WLF ride by Dylan Evanston.)

After several days holed up at home and frozen, the thought of biking through the city with friends, gazing at creative light displays, and being entertained by people holding fire sounds mighty fine right about now.

If that sounds cool, you’ll be happy to know that the program for the annual Portland Winter Light Festival (PDXWLF) was announced today. What is PDXWLF? The nonprofit Willamette Light Brigade, the organization that hosts the event, puts it like this:

“PDXWLF brings art, technology, and inclusivity together, invigorating Portland in the winter. With free admission, the festival fosters community and showcases captivating light installations, projections, and interactive displays, creating an immersive experience for all attendees.”

The event is a collection of over 200 illuminated art displays throughout the city — and a bicycle is the best way to see them all! In fact, cycling is such a good match for this festival that organizers have released seven routes curated specifically for riders, put together by ride leader and BikePortland contributor Tom Howe.

Slide shown by PBOT right-of-way manager at City Council this morning.

“This will increase the walkability of the Central City Plan District and decrease the need for auto-oriented transportation.”

Portland City Council voted unanimously at their meeting this morning to green light a new pilot program that will bring more mobile food trucks to the the central city. The program is expected to help revitalize downtown, the Lloyd, and the Central Eastside, by allowing food truck operators to park adjacent to sidewalks and do business in the public right-of-way — a practice current city code prohibits.

The program will be operated by the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) as an expansion of their Healthy Business permit program that was launched during the pandemic as a way to help businesses expand operations into the street. That program also began as a pilot and was recently made permanent.

The ordinance means PBOT receives a nearly two-year waiver from having to comply with existing city code 14A.50.040 which states, “It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or attempt to sell any merchandise or services in or upon any sidewalk, street, alley, lane, public right of way, or under any bridgeway or viaduct within the Central City Plan District.”

Jason’s bike in a photo taken on the Smith and Bybee path, April 2023. (Right) Jason and his dog, Eddie Spaghetti. (Photos via Jason’s Facebook page)

Four months after 43-year-old Rose City Park neighborhood resident Jason Ruhmshottel was killed in a traffic collision, his family is still searching for closure and answers. 

According to his sister, Christina Cuanalo, Jason spent his free time playing video games, collecting Funko Pops, and reading. He loved 80’s horror villains such as Freddy Kruger and his favorite author was Stephen King. He ate healthy, but had a weakness for See’s Candy and ice cream. He loved coffee and would rave about a new ground he tried. 

Jason lived in Portland his entire life. He attended Jefferson High School and moved to an apartment near NE 53rd and I-84 in 2016. With a degree in Criminal Justice from Portland Community College, Ruhmshottel worked for the Transportation Security Administration at the Portland Airport before switching jobs in to work as a security officer at the Columbia Sportswear warehouse off of North Marine Drive. 

Jason worked the graveyard shift at the warehouse, which is located adjacent to the Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area. When he began that job, he commuted via TriMet bus and walking — a journey Google Maps says takes one hour and 37 minutes. But four years ago, a close family friend gave Jason a bicycle and he began to ride it every day.

A bike bus crosses Calle Cesar Chavez in Portland. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

A university based in Barcelona, Spain has released the first-ever report on bike bus efforts around the globe.

The report, from the City Lab Barcelona research group at Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), summarizes key findings from interviews with 22 bike bus leaders in eight countries. 

Bike buses took off in 2021 when a Barcelona effort went viral online. But, according to this new report, the organized bike bus took place in Brecht, Belgium in 1998. “Today, Bike Bus has evolved from a set of isolated initiatives into a global movement that aspires to influence city policy and participate in the global conversation about building child-friendly cities.”

Timeline graphic from the report.

Readers Emily (left) Bradley (center) and Josh are making the most of the snow.

How are you doing with this wild weather?

What started as a dusting of snow, high winds, and record-setting cold temps Saturday has turned into a major weather event in Portland. There have been several deaths, lots of damaged property, school and business closures, and thousands are still without power. Folks who rely on TriMet have had a rough go as closures of the light rail system have wreaked havoc on some commutes.

As I type this Tuesday morning a possible ice storm is due to bear down on our city before the day is done. 

I’ve seen many posts of people bicycling and most roads are relatively rideable; but I haven’t been out much since Sunday morning. The photos I’ve seen of Mt. Tabor are heartbreaking! So many beautiful trees are gone, but even worse is the destruction of the big, covered picnic area near the start/finish of the Mt. Tabor series races. 

Nothing stings like satire. Writing in response to our StreetsPDX and southest Portland’s sidewalk problem post, “Young SW Advocate-in-Training” brought some comic relief, and maybe even thrust a dagger or two into the heart of some zombie tropes about southwest that just won’t die. In training as an advocate? I’d say sitting on the knee of Jonathan Swift.

Here’s what Young SW Advocate-in-Training had to say:

As a parent and a resident of SW Portland, I was heartened to read about PBOT’s new Safer In Cars Initiative. Formerly the Safe Streets Initiative, this new direction will be better aligned with our existing infrastructure, our current transportation investments, and our society’s values.

Let’s face it, in SW Portland, it’s not safe to have your children walk or bike anywhere. Our kids belong in the back seat of our car. The benefits are immense. First, driving in a car is a much healthier option than walking or biking once you consider SW Portland’s lack of sidewalks and the inertial difference between a four-year old and an Amazon delivery truck. Second, sidewalk infill projects that encourage active transportation are not good for the environment due to the negative impacts of increased storm water. Third, the future is digital, getting kids outside could mean an awkward face to face social interaction. This only slows their progress in developing digital relationships from the safety of their own homes (or back seats of our cars!). And finally, reducing or altogether eliminating sidewalk infill projects can help bridge the $500M funding gap for critical and more beneficial projects like the I-5 Rose Quarter project so we can get people back to their Southwest Washington tax havens 5 minutes quicker.

Welcome to the week.

Here are the most notable stories our community came across in the past seven days…

This week’s must-read: Just about everything you need to know about the current state of dysfunction in America’s traffic culture is included in this stellar article. Now, if only everyone who read it would change their behavior and/or tell others they should — we might actually make the situation a bit better! (NY Times)

MLK’s transportation dream: “His advocacy extended to various forms of transportation from buses to trains and his speeches and interviews helped to raise awareness of how transportation equity was a substantial part of the civil rights movement.” (Forbes)