A jogger, later identified as 56 year-old Rene Karlin, was killed while jogging on the sidewalk near my home in Ahwatukee (city of Phoenix).

A car that crossed oncoming lanes of traffic struck and killed a woman on the sidewalk in Ahwatukee Wednesday morning.

At about 6:10 a.m., a 20-year-old man was driving a 2004 [the press release referenced below says 2007] Nissan Maxima heading east on East Warner Elliot Loop near 44th Street when the car veered across westbound traffic and hit a woman. Neither the victim nor the driver were identified.

The woman was taken to a hospital but died of her injuries, said Sgt. Tommy Thompson, spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department. The driver reportedly sustained no major injuries.

Impairment does not appear to be a factor, Thompson said, but added that it can’t be ruled out at this time.

www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/08/24/20110824ahwatukee-car-hits-kills-woman-on-sidewalk-abrk.html

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Here is the original press release from the Phoenix Police azmediavision.blogspot.com , note that the driver’s name was not released. I wonder why not? Not having a driver’s name makes it difficult to follow-up, e.g. by searching court records.

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The police report can be obtained (if you are lawfully allowed) online: incident number 11001458721, and KARLIN. The report faults the driver (traffic unit #1) for #16 Inattention/Distraction — which of course would come as no surprise. A court record search shows nothing for the driver as of this writing (Jan 4, 2012). The case may still be open, it’s not possible to tell from the online crash report. Fatals often take 6 months or more (why so long?) to come to final conclusions. There is a box X’ed (though apparently in pen, not via computer) saying conditions influencing driver: Medications.

Randy and Doris Bjerken, of Palmer, Alaska were in town visiting Randy’s dad… out for a stroll at 10AM on Mother’s Day when. BAM! An SUV jumps the curb and wipes them out.

Police say the driver, Andrew Whalen, 23, fell asleep during the May 8 incident and are recommending neg hom charges. Nothing is showing in public access yet. Those charges would (eventually) come from the county attorney… the brief investigation says no drugs or alcohol is suspected. Neg Hom is a relatively unusual charge — if impairment is involved the charge is usually manslaughter, and if there’s no impairment, there are rarely any criminal charges (just a traffic ticket; e.g. driving on the sidewalk).

Scottsdale police: Driver fell asleep before SUV hit couple

by Ofelia Madrid – May. 20, 2011 02:36 PM
The Arizona Republic

The driver of the sports utility vehicle that hopped a curb and killed two Alaskan pedestrians in Scottsdale on Mother’s Day told police that he fell asleep while driving.

Scottsdale police investigators are recommending charges of negligent homicide against Andrew Whalen, 23, of Scottsdale, police said Friday.

Pedestrians killed in Scottsdale were from Alaska

Whalen was not booked into jail, police said. Charges were forwarded to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, police said.

About 10 a.m. May 8, officers were called to the scene at Scottsdale Road just north of Jackrabbit Road. Witness said Randy and Doris Bjerken were taking a walk on the sidewalk when a GMC SUV drove up on them.

The vehicle eventually struck a utility pole.

The victims were taken to an area hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

Randy Bjerken, 51, was pastor of the Matanuska Assembly of God Church in Palmer, Alaska.

Doris Bjerken, 50, worked as an administrative assistant and the children’s church director.

The couple were in town visiting the man’s father. They had taken a few days in Scottsdale after attending a pastor’s enrichment conference in Texas, a church official said.

It is worth pointing out to nervous cyclists that the large majority of traffic death and destruction is done by drivers of automobiles to other motorists (see, e.g. the chart here). This is to be expected, of course, since the large majority of traffic is motoring.

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Here are a couple of  recent, local incidents… out of control “accidents” all –

Girl critically injured, was standing on the sidewalk, May 6, 2011: Deette Lynn Perry, 54, was arrested Friday after she was discharged from the hospital, where she had been admitted following the May 6 incident, Sgt. Steve Martos of the Phoenix Police Department said. Perry was in a 2004 Nissan Altima near Thomas Road and 23rd Avenue when she drove onto the sidewalk and struck a 17-year-old girl, Martos said. Police suspect Perry was impaired by drugs, Martos said. The girl suffered a fractured pelvis and severe head injuries, Martos said.

Another:

Tourist killed at Phoenix intersection The Arizona Republic, Glen Creno – Aug. 19, 2010

An Australian tourist crossing a Phoenix street was killed late Tuesday when a sport-utility vehicle slammed into him, authorities said Wednesday…The SUV was moving so fast the victim was dismembered by the impact. Witnesses told police the vehicle apparently ran a red light…Ramzy Khalil, 29, of New South Wales, was hit and thrown across the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Camelback Road about 10 p.m. Tuesday… Police declined to identify the driver of the SUV, who told police he had some sort of medical emergency behind the wheel. Authorities declined to say what that emergency was…The SUV driver was not seriously hurt but remained in a hospital Wednesday for treatment of the medical condition…

another:

This driver drove up ON THE SIDEWALK, killing a man, striking another, and then fled the scene. How often does this happen (running down pedestrians on the sidewalk? See also the Lance Adams killing see also killing of ‘top doc’ Richard Pavese) .           [azcentral][KOLD]

Man arrested in fatal hit & run in Phoenix, Associated Press – July 30, 2010 6:34 PM ET, PHOENIX (AP) – Authorities say a Phoenix man has been arrested on suspicion of leaving the scene of a fatal hit & run accident. Phoenix police say 35-year-old Hermida Lester was walking with family members on a sidewalk north of Bell Road on Thursday night when she was hit by a car. Police say 26-year-old Jeremy Johnson apparently drove his vehicle up on the sidewalk and it struck Lester and her 20-year-old sister. They say Lester was killed and her sister sustained minor injuries. The vehicle was found abandoned a short distance away from the accident and police say Johnson apparently got a ride to a friend’s home in Mesa. Johnson was taken into custody Friday by Mesa police and booked into jail.

another:

[ktar] Car jumps curb, kills Walgreens employee, by Jeremy Foster/News-Talk 92.3 KTAR (June 1st, 2010 @ 4:17pm)

PEORIA, Ariz. – A tragedy at a west Valley drug store Tuesday. It happened in the parking lot of a Walgreen’s near Lake Pleasant Road and Beardsley. ”A Honda Accord being driven by an 87-year-old from Peoria was pulling into a parking lot, and for some reason instead of hitting the breaks she hit the gas pedal,” said Mike Tellef with Peoria Police. Tellef said that’s when the car jumped the curb. ”And then struck a 65-year-old female employee of the store who was sitting on a bench taking a break,” he said. Police said the victim is Alice Fielding, who was pronounced dead at the hospital. There was no impairment involved and no charges are expected to be filed against the driver.

another:

No charges will be filed against a 16-year-old Mesa girl who accidentally ran over and killed her 17-year-old brother in the Superstition Springs Mall parking lot on Saturday, authorities said.

Nicole M. Brock, a student at Red Mountain High School, had only been driving for four months when she dropped off her brother, Dwight J. Brock Jr., 17, shortly before 9:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Dwight started jumping in front of the car Nicole was driving, forcing her to slam on the brakes. Dwight was run down and killed when Nicole was unable to stop for an unknown reason, but it is possible that she may have confused the accelerator with the brake, said Sgt. Ed Wessing, a Mesa police spokesman…

[arizonarepublic] Jan 4, 2010

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Here is the incident that originally (lately) got me thinking about this issue:

Fairfax county (Virginia) out-of-control SUV kills both cyclist and its driver. [washpost] May 21, 2010, 4pm: Bicyclist Abdelouahid Chadli, 18 was killed by an out of control SUV driver Gary Anthony Thorne, 31. The SUV veered across 6 lanes of traffic, jumped a curb and hit the cyclist on a (an apparently) separated bicycle path, and continue on to hit a large tree with such force that the driver was killed.

It is not known what caused the driver to go out of control. There are no known medical conditions, but some sort of sudden medical impairment is suspected — we’ll have to wait for the investigation.

(see more and other Are Cars Dangerous? stories).

Head-on collision in Paradise Valley leaves pedestrian dead
by Lauren Worthington – Nov. 3, 2010 11:40 AM
The Arizona Republic

A pedestrian is dead and five people are in the hospital after a head-on collision in Paradise Valley. The pedestrian has been identified as Richard Pavese, 62, of Phoenix, police said Wednesday.

About 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Patrick Nissley, 25, of Paradise Valley was traveling north in the southbound lane of Invergordon Road near East Vista Drive when he struck the corner of a 2003 Lincoln Town Car. Nissley’s car, a white 2009 BMW, glanced off the Lincoln Town Car and drove over the sidewalk, hitting and killing a pedestrian, Paradise Valley police spokesman Alan Laitsch said.

The driver of the Lincoln Town Car, Craig Lesman, 42, of Phoenix, and his passengers — a 61-year-old man and two women, ages 62 and 70 — were transported to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center and St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Nissley was transported to an area hospital in serious condition.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

I was more interested in a habitual prescription drug abuser who killed this guy and served a whopping 9-months. 9-months!  She killed one guy and seriously injured another according to the article.

“…Ms. Copening was driving a Dodge Durango when she hit two delivery men who were standing on the shoulder of a highway, killing one and severely injuring the other. In Ms. Copening’s car, police found prescription bottles and loose pills. Police reports said she appeared confused, and a blood test detected the painkiller hydrocodone. Ms. Copening pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless driving and served nine months in jail”

In any event, the Arizona Republic reports (I guess the final police report?) in a Valley and State brief (not online? see below), that the driver was cited for two traffic infractions: failure to yield, and too-dark window tints. In the report, police (strangely) fault the mother of the victim for walking in front of the vehicle without making “eye contact” with the driver — now, remember police have also said the driver’s windows were illegally dark. hmmm. And remember, the victim was on a sidewalk, passing in front of a private driveway. It sounds to me like the Phoenix Police have invented a new duty — now it is the victim’s duty to ensure eye contact has been made, before making any sort of movement, regardless of right-of-way (the pedestrian has complete right-of-way at a driveway)? This is nonsense. This report is sounding like a tort lawyer. And, with all due respect to tort lawyers, is this really the sort of thing that should be in a police report? In my opinion, police reports should stick to application of THE LAW. Such “creative” interpretations in police reports frequently cause problems for cyclists.

On the other hand, the Police’s press release (reproduced below) was quite strong, admonishing drivers to look both ways — but of course, talk is cheap.

In case there is any confusion about what a driver is supposed to do at a driveway:  §28-856 “The driver shall… Yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian as necessary to avoid collision”. (nothing about “eye contact” here).

For the curious, the window tinting statute is  §28-959.01. I get the impression that this is one of those laws that generally only ever gets invoked after-the-fact.

The driver is, understandably, devastated over the incident. But from a punishment perspective, if the driver pleads or if found responsible for these infractions, she is facing a few hundred dollars in fines, and a couple of points on her license.

As noted above, police almost immediately dismissed any notion of criminal charges (e.g. Negligent Homicide). There is another far less serious law which makes it a crime (albeit a very minor crime) to kill a pedestrian, but it only applies when in a crosswalk. This seems to be yet another shortcoming of 28-672 see Crime and Punishment.

This sad sad sad story, and some of the Phoenix Police’s response reminds me of  a quote from Mr. Burn of The Simpsons:  ”Beep Beep out of my way I’m a motorist” Wiggum “that some nice reckless driving Mr. B”

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By the way, the outcome on public access shows up as something I don’t understand — normally the outcome would be either guilty/responsibile, or not responsible, or dismissed, or somesuch… what this about bail forfeited?

Case Number: M-0741-4090176

YIELD TO PED REQ FROM ALLEY/DRIVEWAY 11/24/2009 BAIL/DEPOSIT GIVEN/FORFEITED

IMPROPER TINTING OF WINDOWS 11/24/2009 BAIL/DEPOSIT GIVEN/FORFEITED

Driver in fatal crash was cited

The Arizona Republic, Dec 11, 2009, p. B2

PHOENIX — A woman whose SUV rolled over and crushed a 7-month-old boy outside a school in September was cited for two misdemeanor [ed's note: this is incorrect -- these infractions are strictly civil] traffic citations, records show.

Leticia Macias, 41, received the citations for failure to yield and for having improperly tinted windows on her 2007 GMC Yukon the day she struck and killed the baby at a busy parking lot at Westwind Middle School Academy near 20th and Northern Avenues.

The baby’s mother “never made eye contact with the driver prior to walking in front of the the vehicle” of the baby as she prepared to pull onto Northern Avenue on Sept. 16 after dropping her own child at school, according to a police report release this week. (ed’s note: there’s something wrong with the wording, e.g. “of the baby” makes no sense, and “as she prepared” obviously must mean the driver, who isn’t “the baby’s mother”).

A Phoenix police spokesman said Macias was never criminally charged. The baby’s mother, Clayda Lozoya, 26, was pushing the stroller and walking with her 3-year-old son at the time of the accident. The baby, Roman Mata, was pronounced dead at the scene as parents and children arrived at the campus around 8 a.m.

Phoenix Police Press Release at time of crash:

Infant in stroller killed by SUV leaving school parking lot

Information Provided by the Police Department

officers at scene in front of a school Tragedy struck at a private school near 19th Avenue and Northern this morning when a 7-month-old infant was struck and killed by an SUV. The infant, a boy, was being pushed in a stroller by his mother who was also walking with her 4-year-old son.

An SUV being driven by a 41-year-old woman who had just dropped off her child was pulling out of the Westwind Preparatory Academy parking lot and struck the stroller. The infant’s mother and brother were able to get out of the way, but were taken to a nearby hospital to be checked. The driver of the SUV remained at the scene; police were investigating and it was not known if she would face charges. “This is one of the calls you never get used to,” said Phoenix Fire Captain Hugh Chase. “We all have kids.”

PIO James Holmes at scenePhoenix police Public Information Officer James Holmes stated from the scene, “It is imperative that motor vehicle operators remember they are required to yield to not only vehicular traffic when exiting a private drive, but pedestrian traffic as well. Way too often a driver who intends to make a right turn will look left to ensure the way is clear, but not right. This endangers all pedestrian traffic which may be approaching from the right. We have to be careful.”

Alfred Tillman, 82, and his wife Bernice, 80, were struck and killed by a pickup truck as they attempted to cross 90th Street near the bagel shop at 15768 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd… Investigators had not decided by late Friday whether the driver, Blake Allan, 39, of Peoria, would be cited in the deaths, Clark said…. Police say the Toyota pickup was southbound on 90th Street near Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard shortly after 7 a.m. when it struck the pair…The accident occurred in a 35-mph zone, and Clark said early indications were that speed was a factor in view of the length of the skid marks and the amount of damage to the truck.

– Deaths of elderly couple stun those who saw them regularly, The Arizona Republic, 4/10/2009

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This may sound trite but, to improve cyclist’s safety I think the best thing to do is focus on improving traffic safety.  I know it’s easy to read yet another apparent case of a negligent motorist hurting/killing a cyclist, getting off scot free and then feeling that “the system” is stacked against cyclists. But this loses sight of the fact that the problem isn’t limited to cyclists as victims, all categories of motorist’s victims, including other motorists, are treated just as shabbily. Cyclists’ fatalities represent less than 2% of the 41,059 traffic deaths (NHTSA 2007 Traffic Safety Annual Assessment – Highlights)

There are other, far larger, constituencies who are also subject to these same injustices; pedestrians, motorcycle operators, and the largest of all; passengers and innocent drivers. These groups — which includes just about everybody — are all victims of negligent drivers.

So the key, in my view, to tightening up laws which would actually punish negligent drivers is to broaden to appeal beyond the tiny community of active bicyclists to involve as many of these other groups as possible.

So without this becoming a laundry list — consider for example victim Lance Adams who was killed in Mesa, AZ April 2005 WHILE WALKING ON THE SIDEWALK… no criminal charges(prosecutor says “no likelihood of conviction”), no citations. Matthew Hayes Peterson said he blacked out, causing his vehicle to jump the curb. The young man who killed Lance had a previous speeding violation, and somewhat incredulously was ticketed for speeding again on Dec 14 (90mph! in a 65. As of story Feb 1, the outcome of that ticket was still pending).Prosecutors won’t seek criminal charges against a 21-year-old driver who ran over a Mountain View High School student last year, saying there isn’t enough evidence to prove he was impaired.

DRIVER WON’T BE CHARGED IN STUDENT DEATH

Jim Walsh. Arizona Republic.  Jan 31, 2006.

Lance Adams, 15, was walking home from school on a sidewalk April 11 when he was struck and killed by an SUV driven by Matthew Hayes Peterson.

Mesa police sought manslaughter charges in late December after obtaining long-delayed test results from the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s crime lab on drugs found in Peterson’s system.

But Krystal Garza, a spokeswoman for Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, said in a statement that the case was sent back recently to Mesa police.

“Based on the information submitted to date, we don’t believe there is a reasonable likelihood of conviction,” Garza wrote. “One factor in this decision was there were no signs of impairment that could be tied to any substance, legal or illegal, in the suspect’s system.”

Peterson told police after the collision that he blacked out before his 2000 Toyota RAV4 jumped a curb in the 1400 block of North Lindsay Road and struck Adams.

The lab tests measured the amount of marijuana metabolite found in Peterson’s system, along with two prescription drugs identified by police as propoxyphene, a narcotic pain reliever and zolpidem, a sleeping medication.

[oddly, they listed the chemical names. The two prescription drugs found in Peterson's system are commonly known by their brand names; Darvon, and Ambien. One wonders if Peterson had a prescription? What about the warnings, did Peterson heed them?]

Heed the warnings?

Ambien/zolpidem Warnings : “Patients should be cautioned against engaging in hazardous occupations requiring complete mental alertness or motor coordination such as operating machinery or driving a motor vehicle after ingesting the drug, including potential impairment of the performance of such activities that may occur the day following ingestion of Ambien”

Darvon/Propoxyphene Warnings: … may impair the mental and/or physical abilities required for the performance of potentially hazardous tasks, such as driving a car…”