A child on a bicycle struck by a hit and run driver at the intersection of George Washington Way and McMurray Street on the way home from Chief Joseph Middle School in October 2022 doesn’t appear in the state crash data that the Richland City Council will consider on Tuesday as part of a safe route to school plan because the mangled bike was worth less than $1,000. Police asked the mother to value the bicycle for their report.
The child had minor physical injuries, but the bicycle had to be replaced. Witnesses reported that the driver of what was described as a silver-grey SUV drove about another block after the crash, stopped and got out of their car and checked it for damage before driving off.
How many other bicycle crashes have been left out?
To help determine if other similar crashes were left out of the data, the Observer made a record request to the city of Richland for all police reports from that intersection for the past three years and was told that the first installment of those documents wouldn’t be available until August.
It’s unclear whether a May 1 crash with two other student bicyclists, struck and thrown on to the hood of a car at the same location, met the requirements for reporting.
According to the Richland Police Department, the driver in that crash was cited for RCW 46.61.235.1, failing to yield to pedestrian in crosswalk.
Washington State Patrol collects data.
Washington state law, RCW 46.52.030, requires that crashes be reported to the state patrol if they involve death or injury or result in a threshold of property damage as determined by the chief of the Washington State Patrol. The regularly revised amount is now $1,000.
State Representative April Connors responds to the Observers questions about the law.
“Kids are a big priority to me, and I am very invested in their safety,” State Representative April Connors wrote the Observer in an email.
In a follow-up phone call Connors told the Observer that she had talked to transportation staff in Olympia and was looking at ways to improve the reporting requirement that seems to apply to vehicle damage. She noted that safe routes to school can’t be determined without adequate information about problem areas.
The October 2022 crash is not included in the data collected by a city consultant.
The October 2022 crash is not included in the data collected by the Vancouver, Washington firm, PBS, hired by the city of Richland to complete their “2024 Richland Safe Routes to School Plan.” PBS mapped out 5-year pedestrian and bicyclist crash data from 2018 to 2022 for 1-mile radius around Richland elementary schools.
Although the study focuses on elementary schools, the radius includes the pedestrian and bicycle routes to the middle schools as well and included the George Washington Way and McMurray intersection.
Diagonal left turns have figured in the intersection crashes
According to an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety report, left-turn crashes accounted for nearly a third of all pedestrian-involved crashes at intersections in 2018.
The IIHS recommends hardening the center line to slow down left turners and discourage diagonal turns.
Both the October 2022 and the May 2024 crashes at the Gway and McMurray intersection involved diagonal left turns.
The worn center lines on GWay demonstrate the number of diagonal left turns made there.
Incomplete data could affect decision making.
The city hasn’t indicated what improvements, if any, they plan for the GWay and McMurray intersection, but incomplete data could affect the decisions.
Great reporting, Randy. Thanks.
Hi Nancy, I appreciate your comment. Thank you for reading the Observer. Randy
I had an encounter with a truck at that same intersection on my bicycle years ago. The truck had dark tinted windows, so my guess was he was only looking left at ongoing traffic when he pulled out and didn’t see me crossing in front of him. He was on McMurray facing west, and was turning to go north on George Washington way at a red light. I was also facing west but was crossing McMurray heading south to the sidewalk. He didn’t know he hit me until an observer yelled for him to stop. No serious injuries.
Hi Lora, Yikes! I’m glad you weren’t hurt. I wonder if the intersection is more dangerous now that McMurray has been retrofitted with left turn lanes. Thanks for reading the Observer. Randy
Refusing report data until August when it will not be considered is criminal.
Hi Jan, I appreciate your comment. I amended my request and asked that I just receive a list of descriptions of the last three years of crashes at GWay and McMurray (just one intersection) but not the full reports. They think I can have that by July. The data used in the study includes two years of COVID when school was mostly remote and many people were working from home. I believe that current data would be more representative. Thanks for reading the Observer. Randy
Everyone should demand that a dollar value be completely removed from the reporting tool. A hand me down fixie may cost nothing to the owner but be valuable as transportation or for sentimental value.
Also, it is clear that the person in the first picture drove through the left turn lane.
Hi Ginger, I appreciate your comment. A bicycle crash involving a student bicycler shouldn’t be treated the same as a crash between two cars. Thank you for reading the Observer Randy
Fantastic Reporting. Please keep up the great work you do
Hi P, Thank you. Encouraging words like yours keep me going. Randy