Hit and run at 122nd and Burnside

When my wife and I heard the crash we were frightened. It was loud and less then a block away. We could make out the rear headlights of this mini-van from our deck. I grabbed my camera, and ran down to get some shots. I do consider myself somewhat of a journalist when ever my lens comes across something I think needs to be shown or happens. This crash, apparently ignored by most of the media happened right next to our building and did a lot of damage. I want to note here, normally I show spiders and shots of wildlife on this site. However, if something near by happens that is important for any reason, I will post it.


As you can see it hit the dental office with almost enough force to go through the building. What is even more outrages is that the person driving this car ran the instant the crash happened.

Thankfully, despite these serious pictures there were apparently no injuries. There very much could have been. I can't believe someone would crash their car this bad and not only walk away but run away the instant it happened. After talking to the police who had arrived about the same time as I did, I gathered the car was recently bought privately and the only occupant of the vehicle ran off. Obviously, the person who ran from this accident was probably wanted or intoxicated. I am sometimes outraged by how many anti-smoking commercials and campaigns there are out there while liqueur & booze commercials seem everywhere and drinking hard is encouraged. The impact of alcohol on people's lives these days is often very downplayed in popular culture. While smoking continues to be the target by many people as the worst thing you can do for your health or around your kids--people continue to die from alcohol poisoning and crashes like this. You do not need to be driving anything to die from alcohol at a young age. Few people know or understand this. The MANY diseases that alcohol causes are rarely mentioned. Drinking the way many young people do today is more dangerous then smoking. Even if you don't ever drive drunk. The health consequences of alcohol consumption rarely mentioned by anyone and incidences seem to go ignored by pop culture. I don't think that's a good message.

I am just glad that nobody was hurt in this crash and hope that the person who drove this car is apprehended by the police. This was totally irresponsible. We could hear them doing some kind of burnouts or something before this crash. (who does burnouts in a mini-van!) I seriously was afraid that a family might have been in this car. Thankfully there was apparently only the driver who ran on foot. I heard several stories of what they looked like but they seemed to conflict probably because there were other people walking in the area at the time. One person who was on the sidewalk nearly got hit.

The engine block was almost smashed into the cab from the force of this crash. It's incredible it did not just keep going right into the dental office building. My wife and I are glad we live on a higher floor level!

This happened right next to the Max stop at about 122nd and Burnside around midnight. Obviously, airbags probably saved the driver's life. Young people need to understand that alcohol must be respected. Knowing your limit and when it is time to quit. Taking a stand also of coarse not to drive or be in dangerous situations while drinking. I do not know if this driver was intoxicated but I would bet they were and that might also be why they ran.

I usually don't like to bring up "issues" like alcohol on this site but this one hit too close to home. Literally, in this case. The police towed the car about an hour or so after the crash. Since it was over labor day weekend, I had a hard time getting in contact with local media. After calling 2 news papers and 2 more TV stations I gave up. The phone either rang and rang or I got no call back despite the fact I was the only one there with good shots of the incident. I really want to learn more about how to contact the media and if you can get payed for pictures of local news. I have had a hard time finding clear avenues online about this. My search was frustrating. I guess these days with most people having smart-phones and stuff they are flooded with pictures and you may need the 'apps' to make it easy. I don't have a smartphone. So I just put these shots here showing what happened. I would be very grateful if anyone in the news industry would write me an email letting me know about what to do in this area when I have some footage or video that might be wanted by the news media. It's not so much the money although we really could use it. Even if I do not get payed for shots I would like my shots published where ever they can be.

COMING SOON!
Soon I will get back to publishing amazing new pictures I got. A species of triangle spider I found here in Oregon, and a rare event-- the garden spider shown in my articles, Araneus diadematus in the process of mating! That is rare site let alone shot to get. I was very lucky recently. I should have it up in a couple of weeks.