Portland

Portland, Oregon has been a bit of a punchline city in recent years, especially due to the popularity of IFC’s quirky TV show Portlandia, in which Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein make fun of the area’s quirky hipster characteristics. However, one thing the city is doing right is its growing emphasis on biking–Portland has the…

As distracted driving continues to become more taboo, cities and states across the country have enacted laws against the dangerous practice that leads to about 6,000 deaths each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In early 2010, for example, the state of Oregon joined safety minded states like California in implementing a hands-free distracted driving law. But 18 months later, Oregonians continue to drive distracted, which has led the Portland Police Department, led by Mayor Sam Adams, to increase regulation with the state’s first regular police patrols for distracted drivers.

Fired Trimet driver Sandi Day was found guilty last week on three counts including careless driving that led to the death of two pedestrians and serious injury of three others last April. Announcing the conviction, Judge Stephen Bushong said he felt sympathy for Day, who has expressed severe remorse for the bus accident, but that she was at fault since “the pedestrians were there to be seen.”

Back in April, one of Portland’s TriMet busses struck five pedestrians while turning left onto a busy street. Danielle Sale, 22, and Jenee Hammel, 26, were both killed. Families for the two victims in addition to Robert Gittings, who was seriously injured by the accident, have launched a lawsuit against Portland’s public transportation system, the driver of the bus (who has since been fired), and the bus manufacturer totaling $30 million.

For pedestrians, getting hit by a bus is one of the worst thoughts imaginable. We’ve written before about Muni accidents here in San Francisco. But right now, due to a string of bus-caused injuries and fatalities, Portland’s TriMet bus system is under the radar of safety advocates. The Oregonian reports this week that, although left-turn accidents are “alarmingly common,” the system is resisting a “no-left” policy.