Bicyclist killed at Tucson HAWK crosswalk

11/16/2025 A bicyclist was killed when a driver ran a red light at an “activated” HAWK crossing at East Speedway Boulevard and North Richey Boulevard.

This is the only fatality I am aware of that has ever occurred at an activated HAWK crossing.

Police have already signaled there will be no serious charges (“The driver of the vehicle remained at the scene…” and “determined she was not impaired”. At the completion of TPDs investigation, it will probably be forwarded to the county attorney, who will decline charges, because that’s what they do when someone is killed by a not impaired driver. That will bring it back to the city attorney for consideration of misdemeanor (or civil charges, like just a traffic ticket). Continue reading “Bicyclist killed at Tucson HAWK crosswalk”

Phoenix cop indicted for causing wreck while going 50 mph over limit

New Times news article: Phoenix cop indicted for causing wreck while going 50 mph over limit

An un-named on duty Phoenix Police officer was indicted by grand jury on charges of aggravated assault and endangerment. The ag assault is theoretically a serious felony, but it would be unsurprising, if convicted, the sentence would be just probation [1]. Continue reading “Phoenix cop indicted for causing wreck while going 50 mph over limit”

Driver of Speeding White Tesla hits and kills bicyclist in Phoenix before fleeing the scene

{UPDATE: news now (published Wed Oct 22) says Osborne near Piestewa in a marked crosswalk. Which would be probably at the canal/trail crossing, which appears to have a HAWK signal]

Today is Tuesday. In an important update to  the hit and run killing Sunday afternoon (in addition to a motorcylist seriously injured in separate hit-and-run!) — how are we just now learning that the “white car” is a white Tesla. That’s a lot more specific don’t you think?

2025-10-19 ~ 3pm Osborne Rd near Piestawa Fwy bicyclist Will Castañeda killed in a marked crosswalk by a hit-and-run driver of a white Tesla. Osborne Rd runs underneath the freeway, there is no freeway access here. There are marked crosswalks both immediately east and west of the underpass, the Grand Canal Path is on the the west side and has a HAWK signal, the crosswalk on the east side is uncontrolled.

In any event BOLO white tesla w/ front damage. Here is the article published yesterday: Continue reading “Driver of Speeding White Tesla hits and kills bicyclist in Phoenix before fleeing the scene”

Doordash Dot and Polar Labs’ Personal Delivery Device

Polar Labs delivery robot testing in Tempe, June 2025

I’ve had a couple of inquiries about these gizmos — the official legal term is “personal delivery device” —  so I wanted to finally assemble updated (the current AZ law is from 2020) info, go here.

In brief: these are able to be fully autonomously guided (driven?), can use sidewalks and streets with certain restrictions: max speed being the most obvious.

My thought on safety is these would be a net positive in that they have very little chance of causing a serious injury to anybody, compared to a vehicle. We’ve seen first hand what gig working food deliver drivers can do. Continue reading “Doordash Dot and Polar Labs’ Personal Delivery Device”

Man sentenced for deadly 2023 cyclist crash in Goodyear

With two dead and a dozen or more injured in a single incident, this is probably the most famous MV-bike fatal crash in Arizona, if not the entire US, history; including a full NTSB investigation.

As the county attorney refused to bring felony charges… 1 year plus some license suspension and whatnot. Full story here.

A couple of “bicycle-adjacent” fatal hit-and-runs

A couple of bicycle-adjacent fatal hit and runs…One was a scooter, and the other was a mini-bike (presumably, a motor-driven cycle; i.e. motorcycle). In the first instance, the criminal pickup driver is still at large and needs to be located; and involved a (electric, i guess?) scooter. I am not clear how scooter riders get categorized for crash data purposes (and it may be different for state ASDM, vs federal FARS, see change to FARS in 2022).

The second involved a “mini bike”, which should not be categorized as bicyclist.

Both incidents will be listed on the AZ cyclist fatality spreadsheet while we await official statistics. Continue reading “A couple of “bicycle-adjacent” fatal hit-and-runs”

Glendale Pickup truck driver; crosswalk cyclist; serious injury

Aug 1, 2025 ~7:30

67th Ave and Hillcrest Blvd, Glendale.

Police told AZ family news the pickup driver was turning right when he struck a youth riding an bike in the crosswalk on his way to school. Continue reading “Glendale Pickup truck driver; crosswalk cyclist; serious injury”

Cities of Phoenix and Tempe re-start photo enforcement

The city administration last year produced this look at the impact of automated traffic enforcement devices when they were deployed in Phoenix between 2011-2019 – and what happened after the council shut down the program.
(File graphic; Ahwatukee Foothill News)

What goes around comes around? After ending all photo enforcement several years ago, the Cities of Phoenix will soon re-start and Tempe started a month ago.

 

And behind the scenes, the Republican controlled legislature has tried and failed year-after-year-after-year, for over a decade, to ban all photo enforcement anywhere in Arizona. Some years, the ban gets passed, and the governor (when Democrat) vetoes it. Most recently, Democrat gov Hobbs vetoed it (twice if i recall correctly). Other years, the bill dies, saving the embarrassment of having a Republican governor from vetoing it (e.g. SB1419 in 2021).  Continue reading “Cities of Phoenix and Tempe re-start photo enforcement”

Arizona Legislative Immunity, yes again

The drama about the legislative session is that legislators finally produced a budget, and that was signed by the governor, thus averting a state government shutdown.

Now that the legislative session is over, we can ask/ponder a bunch of questions regarding Legislative Immunity (scroll down to the original article for references): Continue reading “Arizona Legislative Immunity, yes again”

Magnus White’s killer sentenced to prison

In a Colorado case that garnered national attention, the driver who killed pro cyclist Magnus White was sentenced to 4 years in prison.

The driver who hit and killed Magnus told Colorado State Patrol investigators on the scene that she had an issue with her steering that caused her to veer off the road. Colorado State Patrol told CBS Colorado there were no indicators of impairment, and she was never tested for any substances.
“The very first thing that Colorado State Patrol said to us was the driver did everything right,” said Jill. “That raised a question mark in our heads. ‘Really? Our son is dead. How did the driver do everything right?'”
Text messages and cell phone videos presented at trial revealed that the driver, 24-year-old Yeva Smilianska, had been drinking, washing down prescription medications with whiskey, and staying up until the early morning hours the day of the crash. — CBS News

Yikes, police initially said “driver did everything right”. Phew. I wonder how they (the police?) dug up all this evidence? Continue reading “Magnus White’s killer sentenced to prison”

What happens when a Waymo is at fault in a crash?

On May 1, 2025, AZfamily’s investigative reporter Derek Staal did a piece about Waymo; it of course piqued my interest… What happens when a Waymo is at fault in a crash? , here’s an excerpt

Federal crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows Waymo vehicles were involved in at least 202 crashes in Arizona between 2021 and 2024, ranging from minor scrapes and door dings to 31 crashes that resulted in injuries. But the records are heavily redacted and do not indicate who was at fault.

Arizona’s Family Investigates spent six months collecting and reviewing police reports on Waymo crashes in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Mesa and Tempe. Of the 71 police-documented crashes involving Waymos, officers determined the self-driving car was not at fault 87% of the time. In 13% of cases, however, police blamed the Waymo vehicle.

Continue reading “What happens when a Waymo is at fault in a crash?”

Vision Zero is trying to take away our gas stoves

Arizona has had a significant increase in traffic deaths over the past 10 years or so… where deaths were around 800/yr in the period 2010-2014; they had increased to nearly 1,000 pre-pandemic (2019). Deaths spiked in 2020 and again 2021 with various pandemic-related excuses. Deaths in 2023 stand at 1307. So a 60% increase, far outstripping population growth. Details at [1] Continue reading “Vision Zero is trying to take away our gas stoves”

Jogger killed by hit and run pickup driver in New River takes plea

surveillance image of suspect vehicle. source: MSCO

Feb. 24, 2024 around 10am. eastbound Cloud near 7th Ave, New River. Pedestrian (jogger) killed.

The driver of a massive pickup truck was somehow driving along the shoulder when they struck and killed a jogger. Cloud Road there is a two lane road with a massively wide gravel shoulder (the google street view of Feb ’25 shows the Mancuso’s memorial). It is highly unlikely a jogger jogging along Cloud Road would be anywhere near the fog line. Anyway, here’s azfamily’s account of crash, which is helpful in understanding the timeline of events: Continue reading “Jogger killed by hit and run pickup driver in New River takes plea”