Police Cite Driver for Passing Stopped Vehicle

This doesn't qualify as good news, per se - and with the flooding I'm hungry for some good news! - but it's worth highlighting. We talk about what amounts sometimes to a prevailing presumption of innocence for autoists when there is crash that involves a car operator and a person on foot or on bike. It's like it takes a higher standard of evidence and fault to cite a car driver than the more vulnerable person on foot or on bike, who "shouldn't" be on the road.

So it was good to read about an instance where a car driver was cited for failing to yield to and then hitting a person on bike in a crosswalk. The officer issuing the citation would have determined also that the person on bike was operating properly in the crosswalk, something we cannot take for granted.

From the SJ last week:

A Salem woman on a bicycle suffered minor injuries Friday when she was struck by a car in a downtown crosswalk.

Salem Police said Troyce Fortune, 22, of Salem, was hit by a car driven by Tanner Million, 20, also of Salem. The crash occurred on Court Street NE.

Other vehicles stopped as Fortune entered the crosswalk, police said. Million's car did not stop, hitting Fortune.

Million was issued a citation for passing a stopped vehicle at a crosswalk, police said.

If you're interested in the issues around passing, Doug's got a good discussion.