A 25-year-old man has died five days after his car slammed into a tree in Northeast Portland, becoming the city's 41st traffic fatality of 2026. Timmy Gogol was driving a 2012 Toyota Camry eastbound on Northeast Airport Way just before 1 a.m. on October 4 when he lost control and struck the tree in the 12800 block, in the Argay Terrace neighborhood.
Emergency crews responded to the crash at 12:41 a.m., and officers from the North Precinct found Gogol as the sole occupant of the vehicle, according to the Portland Police Bureau. He was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries, KOIN reported. Investigators suggested the Toyota was eastbound when the driver lost control, and officials say speed and alcohol impairment were contributing factors to the crash.
Gogol died from his injuries on October 9, five days after the crash. The Traffic Investigations Unit was notified of his death that day, which pushed Portland's traffic fatality count for the year to 41, per the bureau.
A Corridor With a Troubled History
On July 14, 32-year-old motorcyclist Arun Vaco Roy died in a single-vehicle crash at Northeast Airport Way and Northeast 138th Avenue.
Another motorcyclist was killed in December 2025 after colliding with a tractor-trailer on Airport Way near Interstate 205, during an intersection traffic signal outage, according to The Portland Tribune. That crash forced a full closure of the roadway beneath the I-205 overpass.
Why This Stretch of Road Is So Dangerous
Northeast Airport Way carries roughly 60,000 vehicles a day as the primary route to Portland International Airport and Interstate 205, making it the busiest surface street in Oregon, according to BikePortland.
The Oregon Department of Transportation identifies alcohol impairment, speeding, and distracted driving as the three leading behavioral contributors to traffic deaths statewide.
Citywide Numbers Show Progress, But Gaps Remain
Portland recorded 39 traffic deaths in 2025 under Vision Zero criteria, a 38% drop from the previous four-year average, per BikePortland's reporting. East Portland specifically saw fatalities fall 56% compared to its prior four-year average, dropping to 11 deaths in 2025 — the lowest total since 2018.
The Portland Police Bureau's Traffic Investigations Unit recorded 58 total fatal investigations in 2024, according to a report filed with the Oregon Legislature. The report also lists 69 NHTSA-categorized fatal crashes in 2023.
