Drivers kill People Biking near Jefferson and Albany

Drivers have killed two people biking south of Salem in the past month. These are a little old, and the one in Linn County certainly is outside of the greater Salem area, but they should be noted.

A hit-and-run, from Oregon State Police earlier this week (links added to both releases):

On Saturday, August 12, 2023, at approximately 7:05 P.M., the Oregon State Police responded to a vehicle versus bicycle crash on Hwy-164, near milepost 5, in Marion County.

The preliminary investigation indicated a bicyclist, Harley Auten (42) of Jefferson, was riding in the bike lane southbound on Hwy-164, through the intersection of Talbot Rd SE. A Dodge RAM 3500, operated by Brian Hammons (55) of Jefferson, turned from eastbound Talbot Rd onto southbound Hwy-164 and collided with the bicyclist.

The bicyclist (Auten) was transported to Salem Hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.

The operator of the Dodge (Hammons) left the scene after medical personnel arrived, but prior to LE arrival. Hammons turned himself into investigators on Sunday, August 13, and was lodged in the Marion County Jail for Hit and Run and Criminally Negligent Homicide.

The corner has a cluster of school facilities and is also part of the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway. Charges came swiftly, and fault does not seem very ambiguous.

The view of the driver, eastbound on Talbot
Note signs for Scenic Bikeway and School Zone

The corner just above "N 2nd St" label

On the other hand, the release from State Police on a second fatality at the end of July comes with good deal of ambiguous language:

On Monday July 31, 2023, at about 8:00 A.M., the Oregon State Police responded to a vehicle versus bicycle crash on Highway 20, near milepost 6 in Linn County.

The preliminary investigation indicated a bicyclist, identified as Brenden Dwyer (34) of Ontario (OR), entered Highway 20 from Knox Butte Road, when it contacted a westbound Kenworth CMV (bunked, empty log truck), operated by Jamie Rowden (53) of Dallas (OR). The crash occurred in the westbound lane of Highway 20.

Dwyer suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene....

Rowden remained on scene and cooperated with investigators....

This is an ongoing investigation and will be forwarded to the Linn County District Attorney for review when complete.

Highway 20 has a high speed swooping curve here, traffic from Knox Butte Road is stopped and would need to yield to traffic on Highway 20, and the weird language of "contacted" suggests a failure to yield or error in judging the speed of on-coming, westbound traffic from the left.