JUICY SUITS: Portland Bicyclist Sued for Hitting a Car

By JAMES PITKIN

 In a reversal of the normal course of litigious events, a Portland bicyclist is being sued for allegedly hitting a car.

According to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, 28-year-old Diane Beaumont of Southeast Portland was biking at the intersection of Southeast Belmont and 11th Avenue on June 14, 2008.

The suit says Beaumont collided with Christopher Schmidt's 2002 Volvo S60 (license plate "SILKY"), causing $8,225.67 worth of damage to the car.

The suit, which was filed on behalf of Schmidt's insurance company, doesn't go into details about the accident. But it claims Beaumont was negligent for failing to watch where she was going and for disobeying a traffic control device.

We've previously reported about bikers suing drivers for "dooring" them and for driving distracted. But in four-and-a-half years of covering Portland courts, we've never seen a case of a driver suing a cyclist.

Beaumont could not be reached for comment.


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