PORTLAND, Ore. — An insurance company is suing the city of Portland, alleging that the homeless camps and vegetation blocked a driver’s view, causing a 2022 fatal crash.
Residents along Powell Boulevard described the crash on May 14, 2022, as “horrific” and a “worst-case scenario." It happened at the intersection of Southeast 62nd Avenue and Powell Boulevard. A Lyft driver was crossing Powell when a motorcyclist crashed into his car and die; the Lyft driver suffered serious injuries.
Jeff Liebert heard the crash from his home a block away. He only thought one thing: “I figured how it happened (was that) somebody was pulling out there and they can’t see.”
At the time of the crash, homeless camps and tall grass covered the sidewalks and medians, which has been an ongoing problem there.
“You either have to do a different route, or you take your chances pulling out there because you can’t fully see,” Liebert said.
“You can’t turn left; it's impossible. You can’t see around the tents who’s coming,” added Jenny, who lives nearby. She recalls several times almost getting hit.
On Tuesday — and as first reported by the Willamette Week — Mobilitas, the Arizona-based insurance company for the Lyft driver, sued the city of Portland for $1 million in damages, alleging homeless camps and tall grass blocked the driver’s view and caused the fatal crash.
Roughly three months before the fatal crash, the city of Portland declared an emergency banning all camping due to safety reasons along high-crash corridors, including where the fatal crash happened.
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The lawsuit argues under that emergency order, the city had a “duty to design, maintain, inspect and control the intersection of Southeast Powell Boulevard and 62nd Avenue … including the removal of homeless encampments and/or overgrown vegetation.”
The lawsuit says the city "breached its duty by knowingly ignoring the presence of the dangerous conditions and failing to remove said conditions."
“When somebody that has a tent that you can’t see around, you can’t pull out in the road. That’s a safety issue. That’s more than just a homeless issue. You’re talking about people dying, which has happened,” Liebert said.
The city told KGW they were unable to comment on the pending litigation.
This is not the first time the city has been sued over homeless camps blocking public rights of way. Just a few months after the fatal crash, the city was sued over tents blocking ADA access on sidewalks. In June, the city banned homeless camping on all public property, but they faced another lawsuit over that and are still waiting for it to make its way through the courts before enforcing it.