Car Drives Into Man At Tempe Bus Stop; leg amputated

IMG_20150301_114634513~2So as things turn out, drivers lose control and drive up on sidewalks on a regular basis. Seriously, just look around. People sometimes get hurt; it’s a random function of being there. What happens to all these reckless drivers? Hard to know, many times nothing, like the young man who killed a jogger on an Ahwatukee sidewalk a few years ago. In other cases, these are hit-and-run; nobody pays, so you pay for the damage through increased taxes and insurance rates. Continue reading “Car Drives Into Man At Tempe Bus Stop; leg amputated”

5 hurt when SUV slams into Glendale Restaurant

photo: abc15.com
photo: abc15.com

5/25/2015, evening. This will be most likely a  so-called “non-traffic” crash because it appears to have begun in the private parking lot — so these injuries don’t “count”. Several serious, including one in critical condition with a head injury, and another with a partially severed leg. All pedestrians who were waiting outside for a table when an SUV driver somehow jumped the sidewalk and rammed into them while parking. Glendale police say they are investigating impairment and a driver’s surgical boot for possible causes. Continue reading “5 hurt when SUV slams into Glendale Restaurant”

Car slams into bus stop, teen bystander killed

Another ped whacked on a Phoenix sidewalk — seriously, how often does this stuff happen? — this time at Glendale and Central Ave, Phoenix.   Austin Lipko-Benito was killed mid-day May 13, 2015 on the sidewalk along Glendale Ave. The crash occured because one of the drivers failed to yield to the other driver. Continue reading “Car slams into bus stop, teen bystander killed”

Car crash damages new monument at Capitol

The driver was taken to the hospital and no pedestrians were injured. (Photo: Jameson and Associates)
The driver was taken to the hospital and no pedestrians were injured. (Photo: Jameson and Associates)

Tuesday March 3, 2015 ~ 1230pm. Oh my. The story is conspicuously silent on what might have caused a driver to end up in such a situation; an apparent “single vehicle” collision. Tag this one as yet another Seriously, how often does this kind of stuff happen?

Continue reading “Car crash damages new monument at Capitol”

Light pole killed

IMG_20150301_114634513~2Oops, more driving on the sidewalk.  This happened sometime before Sunday morning, 3/1/2015 when I passed by. It seems like it was just a few days ago that someone drove up on the sidewalk and killed a bus stop; or just a few weeks ago that someone drove up on the sidewalk and killed a wall.  What leads to this sort of behavior — I suspect it has something to do with dangerous drivers. Like I said before, it’s all fun-and-games until someone drives up on the sidewalk and kills a jogger.

Was this a hit and run? I always wonder.

Bus stop killed

IMG_20150226_123424289This bus stop on Warner Road, just west of 51st Street, Phoenix (Ahwatukee) was killed sometime ~ 2/25/2015 by some sort of careless, dangerous driver. It’s all fun and games, except when somebody gets killed, like the drunk driver who killed 2 at a Phoenix bus stop in March of 2013.

Seriously, how much driving on the sidewalk goes on?

More driving on the sidewalk

This incident apparently happened Saturday afternoon around 5p 2/7/2015. This is about a mile away from the spot where a driver drove up on the sidewalk and killed a jogger a few years ago.

IMG_20150208_112824552_0148th St northbound, near Ahwatukee Drive.
A passerby told me he heard a driver was planning on turning left from NB 48th onto Ahwatukee was rear-ended and pushed here. It’s only happenstance that no one was walking on this sidewalk at the time.

Ripped from the Headlines

Just one day’s worth, all in Phoenix-metro — remember this is only a small sample of the hundreds of car wrecks that occur daily around Arizona.  Are Cars Dangerous? Continue reading “More driving on the sidewalk”

Girl hit and killed when driver runs red light

July 12, 2014 / victim crossing in marked crosswalk w/traffic signal. The 5 y.o. female victim was riding a tricycle; this I would guess should be coded as a pedestrian (though i cross-tagged this article as both a ped and cyclist fatality). This is listed on 2014 cyclist traffic  fatalities.  [update: is coded as a pedalcyclist in both ASDM and FARS] Continue reading “Girl hit and killed when driver runs red light”

3 year old killed in Mesa parking lot by hit-and-run driver

[Updated 7/8: victim  is 3 year old Jaqueline Monroe-Mendoza; police are processing two potential suspect vehicles, a white Chevrolet Suburban and a large white pickup, and have a “person of interest” and so far no arrests have been made. This story makes plain the collision occurred in the apratment’s parking lot azcentral.com]

Sunday July 6, 2014. 2pm. Near Alma School Road and Rio Salado Parkway in Mesa “struck by a large vehicle traveling through the parking lot”. Continue reading “3 year old killed in Mesa parking lot by hit-and-run driver”

Second wrong-way driver this week kills 3 more on freeway

So it’s been a bad week for Phoenix/Valley motorists; 5 dead in two head-on freeway collisions. Plus a bunch of serious injuries. Though presumably just a statistical coincidence to have two such fiery crashes in such a short amount of time, it certainly can serve as a reminder of the general dangerousness of traffic.

In the 1st incident on 5/12/2014 shortly after midnight off duty Mesa Police officer Brandon Mendoza; and wrong-way highly intoxicated Raul Silva Corona both died after colliding head-on. [Officer Mendoza’s case was mentioned in Families of slain Arizona officers wait for federal benefit, noting that a $340,000 federal benefit to the families of police officers killed in the line of duty isn’t available under federal benefit rules. Federal rules do not include driving to or from work to be “line of duty”]

In the 2nd incident 5/16/2014 on I-17, dead are; Evan Christian Hendriadi, 50; Jenny Sudjono, 70; and Lioe Kim Tjhiuw, 78. That crash left three others with serious injury (4 counting the wrong-way driver, a man in his 60’s who is suspected of being impaired. [minor UPDATE: police/DPS still haven’t named the driver. I was told on 8/1/2014 this is still the case because the suspect is still in the hospital, and has so far not been charged]

Other Random Motoring Mayhem

Brittany Nolan was charged with 2nd degree murder in connection Continue reading “Second wrong-way driver this week kills 3 more on freeway”

Driver Convicted: Another ped gets whacked on Phoenix SIDEWALK

alfaRomeoHitAndRunPhoenix
[Jan 2016: case finally resolved, defendant/driver convicted and sentenced, see below.] Woman walking on the sidewalk in broad daylight killed by a hit-and-runner, Sunday March 3, 2013. I say ‘another’ because it was only about a week ago another unforunate soul was hit just standin-on-the-corner; fortunately she wasn’t killed.  Seriously, how often does this happen? Continue reading “Driver Convicted: Another ped gets whacked on Phoenix SIDEWALK”

Man killed while mowing the grass

Flowers adorn the central Phoenix wall on April 8 that a car rammed through following a wreck involving teen drivers in late March. The victim, Octavio Grijalva Herrera, died from his injuries.(Photo: Randsom Rockliffe/The Republic)

[ Update: 3/6/2015. One of the drivers has plead guilty to manslaughter and agg assault in a deal ]

Killed while mowing the grass? Seriously, how often does this stuff happen? 52nd and Earll in Phoenix is a residential neighborhood:

Jose Angel Gonzales, 17, and Esteban Chavez Jr., 16, were reportedly racing down a residential street near Earll Drive and 52nd Street (Phoenix) on March 26, when Gonzalez blew through a stop sign and collided with a Toyota pickup. The pickup crashed through a cinder block wall and hit Grijalva, 61, who was mowing a lawn. azcental.com

Octavio Grijalva Herrera later died of his injuries. The teens have since been indicted on eight charges including manslaughter, endangerment; Chavez was also charged with leaving the scene.

Automobiles are frequently driven negligently and go careening all over the place; like the Maricopa county deputy who was speeding 81mph along a Glendale street recently… fortunately only 1 person was killed in that incident; as can be easily seen from the video it’s only a matter of coincidence and luck that more weren’t killed by the out-of-control vehicles.

The Arizona Republic had a nice, tear-jerking story reflecting on the victim. Phoenix landscaper killed by crash remembered, who was a veritable caricature of a hard-working immigrant (permanent legal resident; in case anyone was wondering). The story, as if on cue said “On this particular day, Hererra was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”, which is undoubtedly true.

Another MV-house collision

KNXV_Van_slams_into_north_Phoenix_home_20140207205834_320_240I’m becoming increasingly intrigued by these sorts of things. Like how often do cars just ram into houses? Is it a traffic crash? (i.e. will there be an ACR? I am tagging it as a non-traffic just to remember to go back and check).

Incident occurred 2/7/2014 around 3pm; house at the 9800 block of N 9th St Phoenix Continue reading “Another MV-house collision”

Police Identify Woman Run Over, Killed by SUV

This is a non-traffic traffic fatality. (meaning it doesn’t get reflected in traffic stats)…

Police ID woman run over, killed at Scottsdale Costco

A Fountain Hills woman who was run over and killed at a Scottsdale Costo on Saturday (01/04/2014) was identified by Scottsdale police Sunday. Police said Patricia A. Covault, 74, died after she was accidentally stuck by a Jeep SUV at the Costco gas station at 15255 N. Hayden Road. Covault was hit when she walked around her own vehicle after the 86-year-old man driving the Jeep SUV backed into her vehicle parked at a gas pump, police said. The man backed over Covault and dragged her a short distance, according to police. She was pronounced dead at the scene. No charges will be filed against the driver of the SUV, Scottsdale police spokesman Officer Dave Pubins said in a statement.

3 year-old squashed to death in crosswalk

tundra-stroller
Drivers operating pickups and other so-called “light trucks and vans” account for a disproportionate amount of pedestrian fatalities; but nobody seems to care…

3 year-old Anthony Meade was squashed to death in crosswalk at 20th and Camelback Rd, Phoenix on 12/4/2013 ~ 7:30PM. The driver (whose name apparently has not been released and is referred to only as a 26-year-old) was driving a 2009 Toyota Tundra, a large pickup…

All parties were northbound; the driver making a left from 20th Street onto Camelback, and the peds were crossing Camelback at the intersection. Continue reading “3 year-old squashed to death in crosswalk”