City wants faster tows

Bill aims to move vehicles off freeways to prevent accidents

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, Apr 24, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

The city has asked the 2007 Oregon Legislature to help prevent the kind of accident that recently snarled traffic on Interstate 84.

Around 6 a.m. Thursday, March 1, a trailer-truck hauling milk swerved onto the shoulder of the freeway to avoid hitting a car and plowed into a parked pickup.

Although the driver of the truck was not hurt, the collision disabled both vehicles and spilled the milk, closing two of the three lanes through the rush hour while two tow trucks cleared the wreckage.

Statistics compiled by the Oregon Department of Transportation suggest this will not be the only accident on Portland-area freeways caused by parked or abandoned vehicles this year.

Between 1995 and 2005, such vehicles have been involved in 268 accidents – an average of almost 27 accidents per year. Of the total, six resulted in fatalities and 102 resulted in injuries.

The property damage, medical expenses, economic losses and related costs exceeded $10 million, according to the statistics.

In many, if not most, of these cases – including the March 1 incident – there was nothing transportation or law enforcement officials could do to prevent the accidents. Oregon law prevents vehicles parked or abandoned along freeways from being towed except during rush hours, which are defined as occurring between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., and between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

At the urging of Transportation Commissioner Sam Adams, the city has asked the Legislature to allow such vehicles to be towed 24 hours a day.

The proposed law change, Senate Bill 567, was approved by the Senate Committee on Business, Transportation and Workforce Development on March 18. If approved by the full Senate, it soon will move to the Oregon House of Representatives.

“It’s both a safety issue and a congestion issue. If we can remove these vehicles quicker, we can save lives, prevent injuries and help keep traffic flowing in the Portland area,” Adams said.

According to Portland police Lt. Mark Kruger, acting commander of the bureau’s traffic division, vehicles that block freeway shoulders create a distraction for drivers and interfere with any emergency responder – including the police – trying to reach an incident.

Adams became interested in the issue after being assigned the Portland Office of Transportation in mid-2006. Around that time, he drove by the aftermath of a two-car accident that had stopped traffic on northbound I-5 near the Fremont Bridge.

Wondering how long it had taken to get traffic moving again, Adams asked the transportation office to conduct what he calls an “autopsy of the accident.” The results surprised him.

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