A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and killed in North Portland early Monday evening, increasing the number of pedestrians who have died in crashes on Portland street in recent years to a record-high 31 in 2022.

The Monday death increased the total number of traffic fatalities to 66, just one short of the recent record-high 67 in one year. Both records were set in 2021.

The only higher numbers were in 1948, when 34 pedestrians were killed, and 1987, with 71 total fatalities.

The increases are happening as the Portland Police Bureau’s Traffic Division is plagued by low staffing levels. The Traffic Division is made up of the Major Crash Team and the Traffic Investigation Unit, totaling just four investigators and one sergeant. The bureau told KOIN 6 News that the team does not have enough staff members to provide “proactive traffic enforcement.”

“I hear from a lot of people; they feel like our roads are less safe. People are driving more recklessly. I think that comes from the fact they recognize there’s less people doing day-to-day traffic enforcement,” Portland Police Association President Aaron Schmautz said. “You’ve seen disorder growing, you’ve seen our agreement with society weakening, and it’s led to a lot of violence that manifests itself in schools, traffic and the violent uptick in Portland.”

Schmautz blamed all of the problems on staffing shortages.

“You go back to when we started having these significant staffing issues. That’s when traffic, our drug unit, our community safety unit, all these things were cut at the same time and had lasting impact,” Schmautz said.

Schmautz also said he thinks the number of vulnerable and homeless people sleeping and living on sidewalks is contributing to the uptick in auto-pedestrian crashes. Mayor Ted Wheeler has issued an executive order directing that homeless camps be moved away from busy roads.

The crash in the 14100 block of Northeast Sandy Boulevard happened around 6:25 p.m. The man was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he died. His name was not immediately released.

The driver stayed at the scene. No arrests or citations were announced.

The investigation is ongoing.