63 People Died in Car Crashes Last Year, Nearly Half While Walking

That number ties 2021′s historic high number of deaths.

web_divisionnight1 Southeast Division Street. (Sam Gehrke)

By Sophie Peel

Sixty-three people died in car crashes last year, matching 2021 for the highest-ever number of deaths on Portland’s streets.

Nearly half of those people—28—were on foot, according to an annual report compiled by the Portland Bureau of Transportation. Four were cyclists, and eleven were riding motorcycles.

Over two-thirds of deaths occurred on what the city calls its “high crash corridors,” a selection of the busiest streets across the city that includes particularly deadly thoroughfares like Southeast Powell Boulevard, Southeast Division Street and Northeast Glisan Street. In recent years the city has focused its transportation safety projects, including better signage, crosswalks and traffic barriers, along those streets.

While walking deaths remain high, one prominent trend from 2021 has reversed. That year, 70% of pedestrians who died in 2021 were homeless. In 2022, 36% of pedestrians killed were homeless.

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