Video of Water Avenue collision provides vital evidence

Arrow points to Tamar Monhait just before the collision. Note that she is more than half-way through and has therefore established her legal right-of-way.
(Image taken from video of collision)

The Portland Police Bureau are now have clear video evidence of the collision that resulted in the death of Tamar Monhait early Monday morning.

A camera facing southwest from Water Avenue Coffee caught the tragic incident and owner Matt Milletto has forwarded the video to the PPB investigator working on the case.

I watched the video today. I’m not going to share it out of respect for how it might impact people’s emotions; but I will attempt to explain what I saw.

In the video, Monhait can be seen bicycling northbound on Water Avenue. Her speed doesn’t appear to be exceedingly fast for the conditions. Based on her distance traveled per second, I’d estimate her speed to be around 15 mph. It’s also clear in the video that she had a blinking light on the rear of her bike. No light is visible on the front.

(This collision happened just before 2:00 am. In the video the intersection is very well-lit. Milletto also told me he feels the intersection has plenty of lights.)

As Monhait approaches SE Taylor Street she does not appear to slow down at all. She continues through the intersection and is more than half-way through it before the large garbage truck can be seen. The truck driver then comes into the frame and does not appear to have made any attempt to stop or slow down prior to impact. There is also no blinker visible on the truck.

From my perspective, it appears that Monhait had the right-of-way and the truck operator made an illegal — and potentially reckless — left turn. Monhait was just biking along and would have had no reason to expect that the truck would make a sudden left turn across her path. Furthermore, besides what appears to be the lack of a front light (Oregon law requires one) and pending the results of a toxicology test (standard procedure in cases like this) Monhait appears to have been following all applicable traffic laws.

Keep in mind my perspective is still based just on this video evidence and I’m not a trained investigator. This is speculation on my part, but given the Police statements so far (which have included an admonishment to use lights and wear a helmet) and the victim-blaming comments I’ve read, I felt like I should share what I saw.

From here, the PPB will finish its investigation and then forward the case the District Attorney for review. The DA will determine if there was any criminal negligence on the part of truck operator. Once the DA concludes their analysis, the PPB will make a final decision as to whether or not a traffic citation is warranted.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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