Follow-up on a Death in 2019

Salem Reporter has news about a crash and death in 2019 that needed follow-up. It was one of the too-common instances of a brief that hits the news without identifying the dead, and then little more or even nothing.

The initial statement about a death back in 2019 from the Marion County Sheriff was vague and blamed the person walking.

On August 8th and approximately 10:45 pm, the Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a reported vehicle versus pedestrian crash in the 7500 block of Lakeside Drive NE. Soon after emergency services arrived on scene the pedestrian was pronounced as deceased.

The involved driver, a 16-year-old male from Keizer, remained on scene and called 911 after the collision. The pedestrian has not yet been identified.

Based upon initial information, investigators believe the pedestrian was walking in the roadway at the time they were struck by the vehicle. The driver is cooperating with investigators; alcohol does not appear to have been a factor.

But now we have more in the sad story. (Note the initial claim "investigators believe the pedestrian was walking in the roadway" and suggestions blaming the victim, who was practicing improper walking somehow.)

From Salem Reporter:

The estate of Joseph Rodriguez on Aug. 8 sued the city of Salem, Marion County Department of Public Works, Oregon Department of Transportation, the driver and his parents in Marion County Circuit Court, seeking $3.25 million....

...his estate alleged the city, county and state knew or should have known the roadway on Northeast Lakeside Drive was “unreasonably dangerous” for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers, listing reasons such as lack of lighting, sidewalks and crosswalks along the road, vegetation obstructing drivers’ view of the street, and the number of previous crashes there or nearby....

Ethan Martin, who was 16 at the time of the crash, told deputies he was driving about 35 miles per hour when Rodriguez “appeared out of nowhere,” a Marion County Sheriff’s Office incident report said.

Less than a month prior, in July a driver struck and killed Stephanie Ashford while she was biking on Lakeside Drive. 

There is more going on there than simply urban deer who come from nowhere and leap into the path of cars and their drivers.

Probably the parties will settle, and there will not be more of an investigation into road design and road conditions aired out in court. For Lakeside Drive the list of defendants seems overbroad, and that may be a sign the suit is not tightly crafted and argued. But perhaps there will be more to say later.