PORTLAND, Oregon — Four people have died after two fatal accidents in the Portland metro area Thursday night and Friday morning, leaving residents worried and concerned with the rise in speeding drivers.
"It makes me worry,” Hungmin Ji, owner of the Rain and Forest Tattoo said. “People drive really fast."
Thursday night along Powell Boulevard, three people died after a car crash. It happened just after 9:30 p.m. when two cars, a 2015 BMW 3-series sedan and a 2005 Subaru Impreza, were racing east on Southeast Powell Boulevard. As the two cars were racing, another car, a 2004 Lexus sedan, tried to turn west onto Southeast Powell Boulevard.
That driver of the BMW crashed into the Lexus, sending the BMW onto the median and knocking over trees. The driver and passenger of the BMW, both 18-year-old women, died at the scene.
The driver of the Lexus was taken to the hospital and later died.
Hours later, at around 1:30 a.m. Friday morning in Southwest Portland, police said a driver of a silver 2011 Toyota Scion was allegedly drunk and speeding without headlights on, when they struck a silver 2011 Honda Odyssey minivan along Southwest Barbur Boulevard. Both cars crashed into the exterior wall of a restaurant.
One of the passengers in the Scion died in the crash.
Ji said he commonly sees people driving fast along Southeast Powell — during the day and at night. He lives just five blocks away from where the crash happened, and said he’s concerned with the rise in speeding drivers.
"What if we go outside, it's still nice weather,” Ji said. ”You still want to go outside at 9 or 10 p.m. just walking around. But then we see people who drive really fast."
The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has taken steps to improve road safety.
"Anytime we see fatalities or serious injuries on the state roads, we always want to know what's going on," ODOT spokesman Don Hamilton said.
ODOT has reduced the speed limit to 30 MPH along Southeast Powell and installed high visibility crosswalks. The agency has also added a speed zone of 20 MPH around Cleveland High School. ODOT is also developing a traffic safety curriculum at nearby schools and has plans to improve crosswalks in the area.
But crashes are still occurring.
"Feels like southeast out here, it's gotten pretty lawless with drivers," Karen Kennedy, a southeast Portland resident said.
She said she hopes the police department continues to add staff to its traffic division, which was just brought back in May.
"I think not having a traffic division for the police has really not helped the situation because we have so many people speeding," Kennedy said.
In 2015, Portland began Vision Zero, a program aimed at reducing traffic deaths. One of the biggest goals of the program is to improve visibility and reduce speed limits.
Both have happened on Southeast Powell. But residents think more still needs to be done.
"I think it's frustrating and it's upsetting to everyone in Portland to see this," Kennedy said.
Portland has now had 42 fatal traffic deaths, 11 of which have happened in July.