Speaking of the ice storm, what’s up with this story out of Portland? Woman dies after jumping out of taxi:
And a taxi passenger died Saturday after she jumped from the vehicle as it approached her home on Mount Scott.
The victim, Nancy Johnson, 61, was returning to her home on Southeast Johns Court from Portland International Airport when the Green Transportation Co. cab started sliding down the steep street.
She was pinned beneath the cab’s rear axle as it slid more than 100 feet. The cab driver called 9-1-1 to report the incident at 10:34 p.m.
Johnson “just flat panicked. I think she was worried that (the vehicle) would go out of control,” said Capt. Jamie Karn, Clackamas County Fire District 1 spokesman. “This was just a freak accident.”
I mean, who the hell jumps out of a moving car at all? Especially when it’s sliding out of control and you don’t know where it’s going? I’m sorry, but people need more common sense. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this show up as a Darwin Award.
Couldn’t find the story but it happened in Denver too, same situation except it wasn’t a cab.
Really it is ok for one little cab co, with drivers from hell, to have two fatalities in as many weeks. They are professionals in community service–right. Viva death cab.
Nancy Johnson had plenty of commonsense and would never have jumped from a moving car…This is a disgusting case of sensationalism at its worst and a flat out lie. It is also the second fatality involving the Green cab company
in 2 days…check your facts or better yet, just use your brain.
Friend of Nancy Johnson…
While I understand your concern, I think you are dealing with the loss of a friend and taking a post about your friend personally; however, in your words…if your friend USED HER BRAIN (as you suggest to my husband, Jon), she would have braced for impact with a seatbelt (they do have those in cabs right?…shouldn’t some responsibility be with the person/people who do not..it does take 2 to tango) and she might be ALIVE with some broken bones or such at the very least.
We saw the coverage of the ice skater’s mom (isn’t that the fatilty…and it was more than 2 days…Wed/Sat) and while everyone wants to blame cab companies for driving crazy, where does the blame lie with the occupants?
I know earlier that week, I had showed Jon some footage from KATU’s website of a crash somewhere else in which several ppl jumped from their cars and that’s just as dangerous if not more than staying in the car bracing for impact. We saw the consequences of such with your friend. While i am sorry for your loss, I do wonder (and have since I have heard this when we were stranded in the ice storm) WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR FRIEND’S MIND to do that? No one will ever know though.
If she was taking a cab from the airport, why did she take a ride for a company with such a high rate of fatailty that week. Why didn’t you warn her of this or why didn’t she ask friends such as yourself for a ride?
If you do read through some comments, I do try to keep jon on the up and up and I do agree with his stance (wow! is that a first?) and believe your comments are out of grief. Jon blogs about his life and what impacts him and since we were in Portland, this was all over every news channel (even back in Bend when we made it home). If you take a step back, you will see your friend had a lapse of common sense that night.
Also, I’m wondering why a good friend wouldn’t post their real name in honor of defending their friend. Oh well…life moves on….
Sherri
I, too, was a friend of Nancy Johnson, and I think I knew her very well. I cannot imagine Nancy jumping from a moving vehicle in a panic of fear as was reported, but I can imagine her becoming so exasperated at the ineptness of a seemingly incapable driver that she exited out of pure anger and frustration, not considering possible consequences.
In addition, it certainly would have been nice if one of her Portland area friends would have picked her up at the airport — a normal courtesy friends often do for one another. That way she wouldn’t have been at the mercy of a cab company with poor statistics.
Nancy’s out of state friend
I requested and received a police report of the subject accident. After careful review, I am now convinced that when the van started to slide that Nancy did indeed panic and exited the vehicle. Upon doing that apparently she slid and fell under the vehicle. It slid approximately 100 feet down an icy hill with the driver hitting curbs as possible to slow the slide. Meanwhile Nancy was pinned under the vehicle during this slide, and I imagine she was basically mashed when the vehicle hit and jumped the last curb. She was discovered lying face down under the rear axle of the vehicle when it finally came to rest in a yard at the bottom of the hill.
Nancy’s death is a personal loss to me in that she and I had a very special and loving relationship. I will miss her greatly. Now her assets can be divided amongst the parasites that seemed to flock around her in Portland. What a shame such a great lady was taken such advantage of by so many of those around her that called themselves either companion or friend.