PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After a head-on crash sent a car onto the train tracks and four people to the hospital, a family is calling for safety changes to Columbia Blvd, while also thanking strangers who stepped in to help respond.The crash happened Monday on N Columbia Blvd. Merlia Norris said her son, mother, aunt, and grandmother were in the car that was hit.According to Portland police, a car was stopped at the intersection of N Peninsular Ave. when a semi-truck approaching them swerved and hit them head-on. The impact sent that car across the other lane and onto the nearby train tracks.
Norris said several people nearby jumped in to help, calling to make sure activity on the train tracks was stopped. Norris also said others helped get her family out of the car when they were stuck, and she still does not know who they all were. It’s an act she called a blessing.“They didn’t have to and they did,” Norris said. “It was a very scary situation, even putting yourself in the situation, knowing that there is a train coming, you know, risking your own life, not knowing if the car is going to explode. There’s a lot to consider there.”All four were taken to the hospital that day with non-life-threatening injuries. Norris said her aunt and grandmother are still hospitalized. And while everyone is still dealing with lots of pain, they are expected to make a full recovery. But Norris said the crash highlights the problems on this stretch of Columbia Blvd. It’s a stretch that PBOT has already put on its High Crash Network, calling it one of its deadliest roads.“These lanes are really narrow for how fast the speed limit is,” Norris said. “It’s 40 or 45 mph. Yet of course, people are going to go faster than that. Typically, people go a little faster than the speed limit. You can see how fast people are going right now.”PBOT said it submitted a request to lower the speed limit to 35 mph back in May 2023. But after years of back and forth and appeals with ODOT, the Speed Zone Review Panel issued a final verdict to keep the current speed limit this September.“This has been an ongoing issue for years,” Norris said. “That’s why we’re trying to bring awareness to this situation because it’s ridiculous at this point. How many more lives do we need to lose and more injuries and families have to deal with this stress?”KOIN 6 reached out to ODOT’s review panel about this, but did not hear back.
The family has created a GoFundMe asking for financial assistance…