Maricopa County passes e-bike ordinance

The deluge of new rules continues… Now it’s Maricopa County. To step back for a moment, keep in mind there are NINETY TWO cities and towns in Arizona, in addition to THIRTEEN counties; each and every one of these jurisdictions has the authority to further regulate e-bikes (and bicycles, too!). Most recently we covered what was done in Queen Creek, which did have some bad stuff in it.

So the latest is Maricopa County: specifically only areas that are unincorporated, but excluding federal jurisdiction, and also excluding Maricopa County Parks (see park rules in the comment below; thx Reed!). Both of which have THEIR OWN set of rules.

The Bad

Overall the new Ordinance is very reasonable and minimally restrictive. I do Continue reading “Maricopa County passes e-bike ordinance”

Arizona Crash Facts 2025

Arizona persons killed in traffic crashes 2010-2025. Data source: ADOT

ADOT no longer releases a Crash Facts document, it’s been replaced by an annual “dashboard”. More on that later. In any event, the calendar year data becomes around the middle of the following year, so data for 2025 is now final.

Much has been said about the horrendous rise in moto-vehicle traffic dangerousness around the pandemic, it appears that it is continuing to revert, but has not yet reached, pre-pandemic levels which were definitely not great, see e.g. As global road deaths are falling, the U.S. is being left behind

Continue reading “Arizona Crash Facts 2025”

Queen Creek sets 15mph speed limit for bicyclists in bike lanes

There has been, and is on-going, a mad-rush of localities to “do something” about e-bikes. Queen Creek earlier this year went in an odd direction… despite public info statements from e.g. the mayor, and the Police Department that emphasized they were placing regulations on youth, and e-bikes… they ended up with no age-based restrictions, so any child can legally operate any e-bike including class 3 (assist up to 28mph). And on top of that came up with a blanket speed limit of 15mph for all bicyclists riding in the road in a bike lane.

To begin with, I don’t like local laws for bicyclists that in any way affect bicyclists’ operation in the roadway (includes the bike lane, where existing). We already have state-level rules-of-the-road. Local authority over bicyclists is rooted in the idea that the locality somehow knows better; and either way, they lead to a horrendous (and getting worse) patchwork of disparate rules.

Cities in Arizona are granted the authority[1] to further regulate the operation of bicycles within their jurisdiction.
This in general is bad for bicyclists.

Continue reading “Queen Creek sets 15mph speed limit for bicyclists in bike lanes”

Driver accused of hitting bicycle officer in Old Town Scottsdale

Driver accused of hitting bicycle officer in Old Town Scottsdale

Police say when officers tried to stop Sean Bennett, he sped up and hit an officer on a police bicycle before speeding off. The officer was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

2026-10-24 ~3a. Impairment isn’t mentioned, but seems to likely have been involved especially since other news reports stated police saw an “erratic wrong-way driver”.

Flock Cameras and yellow journalism

On the AZfamily evening newscast last evening (specifically it was the 9PM channel 3-1 broadcast on 9/18/2026) there was a segment from one of their “national” news investigative journalists that AZfamily uses as a time filler. I mention the specifics because I can’t find it online, which seems odd.

Anyway, this journalist has done previous segments on Flock cameras and he might have some sort of grudge or other reasons to present the story slanted against Flock. Last night’s piece in my paraphrase said that Flock caused some otherwise innocent person in Florida to go to jail for 11 days, and it was all flock’s fault, etc. but here’s the real story: Continue reading “Flock Cameras and yellow journalism”

e-bike rider in Phoenix dies after striking rear of parked semi

I’m mentioning this incident specifically for a couple of reasons… read on.

2026-09-07 around 3:30pm. Police say a man riding an “e-bike” died  when he struck the rear of a parked semi near 19th Avenue and Mountain View Road.

The use of the term “e-bike” is often used very loosely. We need to know whether this is a class 1, 2, or 3 electric bicycle. If it is not any of those, it is a motorcycle. Continue reading “e-bike rider in Phoenix dies after striking rear of parked semi”

What is PBCAT? Why has the Federal Gov’t taken it away?

“The requested page cannot be found” retrieved  August 3, 2026

[update: the PBCAT tool was restored as of sometime on August 11, 2026]

PBCAT, the Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool, is an open-access crash typing application, it’s produced by the US Dept. of Transportation, USDOT.

The internet archive site of USDOT’s page describes it as: Continue reading “What is PBCAT? Why has the Federal Gov’t taken it away?”

BOLO: Gold colored SUV. Driver seriously injures Gilbert cyclist

SAMPLE image only. Suspect vehicle described as a gold-colored SUV possibly a Range Rover.

Why are these hit-and-runs taking so long to hit the media? Occurred July  17, 2026, and seems to have been first reported in the media July 27. Shouldn’t police be flooding the media ASAP after an incident. The victim seriously injured — this is a FELONY crime. Continue reading “BOLO: Gold colored SUV. Driver seriously injures Gilbert cyclist”

Why we have so many large pickup trucks and SUVs

It’s worth reflecting back on how we got here w.r.t. automobiles in the US.

In a recent WSJ opinion piece, Long Live the EV: Now that the U.S. isn’t killing it with ‘help,’ the electric vehicle has a chance. (that link is a “gift article” that may get thru their paywall, but I think the gift expires after awhile) columnist Holman Jenkins[] mentions a bunch of policy driven points that are probably not well understood outside of policy-wonk circles. The main thrust of the column, about EVs, informs that whole mess…
Continue reading “Why we have so many large pickup trucks and SUVs”

There is no e-bike speed limit

The standard three class electric bicycle definition was enshrined into ARS in 2018. There is no explicit speed limit for electric bicycles; but unfortunately, the mention of 20/28mph in the definitions has led some to mistakenly believe there is, in effect, and e-bike speed limit.

This is not the case. Where an electric bicycle meets a class definition, it may be operated at any speed; so long as it meets Arizona’s “basic speed rule” which typically boils down to no faster than reasonable and prudent. You are probably aware that bicycles routinely go faster than 20 or 28mph! Electric bicycles are bicycles. Continue reading “There is no e-bike speed limit”

Priest Drive Resurfacing and new bike lane 2026

Stock photo of similar Bike lane (this one is pictured along Warner Rd)

The city of Tempe did a complete re-surfacing, a mill-and-overlay, of Priest Drive between Ray and Elliot Roads completed in March or maybe April 2026; a 2 mile stretch. Here’s some dash cam of some of the new treatment

[fun facts: Ray Road here is the city-limit of Tempe, south of there is Chandler. Priest Drive is known as 56th Street in Chandler. Somewhere north of Elliot and past the new-ish traffic circle, the jurisdiction changes to the Town of Guadalupe and the street there is known as Avenida del Yaqui and in 2022 completed an extensive remodeling of the street including a new bike lane there. And then, continuing north of there it switches back to city of Tempe and named Priest Drive again] Continue reading “Priest Drive Resurfacing and new bike lane 2026”

Mesa Police search for Ford F-150 involved in fatal Memorial Day weekend hit-and-run

May 23, 2026 ~ 11pm. Mesa Grand Shopping Center (Baseline and Stapley) parking lot. Fatal hit-run suspect driving grey or silver newer Ford F-150.

Yikes, another “full size” pickup involved fatality. Continue reading “Mesa Police search for Ford F-150 involved in fatal Memorial Day weekend hit-and-run”

60-year-old bicyclist killed in west Phoenix crash

2026-07-02 4pm. Bethany Home Road near 35th Ave.

A sidewalk cyclist traveling westbound on the sidewalk of Bethany Home Road was killed when struck by the driver of a full-sized pickup (apparently, a “lifted” pickup) exiting a commercial driveway in the vicinity of 35th Ave; the direction of bicyclist was not specified as to whether she was traveling with or against traffic flow. 12new segment: 60-year-old bicyclist killed in west Phoenix crash, the victim’s name is Jennifer Lam Continue reading “60-year-old bicyclist killed in west Phoenix crash”

Man sentenced for fatal 2024 hit-and-run crash that killed Tucson native

In some ways, this is a typical fatal crash, a negligent driver kills another person, in this instance, a fellow motorist. In other ways, something else must be going on because precious few drivers who kill go to prison; and ones that do nearly always involve DUI, yet there’s (apparently) no evidence of impairment, only recklessness presumably due to excessive speed. Continue reading “Man sentenced for fatal 2024 hit-and-run crash that killed Tucson native”