A motorcyclist died Friday evening after crashing with a car near Southeast Division Street and Southeast 174th Avenue, according to the Portland Police Bureau. No one else was hurt in the crash, and the roadway was shut down for hours while investigators worked the scene.
According to KOIN, officers responded around 5:43 p.m. Friday. By the time they arrived, as KATU reported, the crash had already taken place at approximately 5:45 p.m. at the intersection of Southeast Division Street and 174th Avenue. Police found the motorcyclist dead at the scene, per the Portland Police Bureau's account relayed by KATU.
The driver of the other vehicle stayed at the scene and cooperated with the investigation, the bureau said. Officers reported that no one else involved in the crash was injured. Southeast Division Street was closed between Southeast 174th Avenue and Southeast 175th Place while the Traffic Investigations Unit worked the scene, the same account noted.
Police Seek Witnesses as Investigation Continues
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the Portland Police Bureau's Traffic Investigations Unit and reference case number 26-288014, officers said. The circumstances of how the crash unfolded have not been detailed publicly, and it remains unclear whether any citation or charge has resulted from the collision.
Part of a Troubling Pattern on Portland Streets
Friday's death adds to a grim count for motorcyclists in Portland this year. As of July 21, eleven of the city's 25 traffic deaths were motorcyclists, according to the Police Bureau, as reported by The Oregonian. That figure was twice the number of motorcycle fatalities recorded at the same point in 2025, and four motorcyclists had died within the span of a single month leading up to that tally, the outlet reported.
Portland Bureau of Transportation spokesperson Dylan Rivera said at the time that officials did not want the spike to become a lasting trend, according to the same report. Police also said overall traffic deaths in the city had actually decreased, even as motorcycle fatalities climbed. The Portland Police Bureau separately reported that a motorcyclist was killed in a crash on Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard two weeks earlier, with its Major Crash Team investigating that incident.
Friday's fatality in Southeast Portland underscores how the pattern has continued into the fall, even as the full scope of October's toll is not yet known.
