AZ legislator wants to reduce number of no-right-turn-on-red signs

Adding bureaucracy (which is effectively already in place at ADOT, and elsewhere apparently) seems like an odd way to have less government:

“Everything’s less government with me,” said Kern, an Arizona Freedom Caucus member …  — azcentral.com

In our area, freeway exits with poor sight lines are signed no turn on red (example: Warner and I-10), but okay sight lines are not (example one mile south on Ray and I-10).

Continue reading “AZ legislator wants to reduce number of no-right-turn-on-red signs”

Satan and transportation policy

Could it be, Satan?.

So this one caught my eye;

SB1279 – satanic displays; public property; prohibition

Sponsored by Gov’t Committee chair Sen Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek). The hearing was a little bit entertaining; you can make your own judgement here, but it seems to have some constitutional problems (i.e. apparently you can build certain kinds of alters on public property, but not satanic ones) — but at the end of the day, were it to reach governor’s desk it would presumably be vetoed. Political theater. Continue reading “Satan and transportation policy”

DPS: Wrong-way driver had 0.263 BAC in crash that killed mother, injured daughter in Apache Junction

Jan 21, 2024 Sunday morning ~6am, Apache Junction, U.S. 60 near Mountain View Road; head-on MV crash.

DPS: Wrong-way driver had 0.263 BAC in crash that killed mother, injured daughter in Apache Junction According to the news article, the driver Adam Parker “has two prior DUI convictions.” Continue reading “DPS: Wrong-way driver had 0.263 BAC in crash that killed mother, injured daughter in Apache Junction”

Pedestrian killed at Paseo Trail xing, driver in custody after TWO crashes Chandler

11/27/2023 ~7am Continue reading “Pedestrian killed at Paseo Trail xing, driver in custody after TWO crashes Chandler”

Driver pleads guilty to endangerment in double fatality

Crime date: Oct 5, 2018

So many twists and turns, but illustrative on how the justice system has great difficulty dealing with bad drivers (never even brought manslaughter charges, sound familiar?). This 2018 case was referenced in an azbikelaw article several years ago, but there are updates and case is now (Dec 2021) finally closed :

Even when there’s some other clear evidence, e.g. very drunk, charges are sometimes not brought, e.g. police say Collin Reeves was very drunk at .145 BAC  proceeding straight ahead and collided with a left-turning driver at the intersection of McKellips and Alma School Rd in Mesa, resulting in two motorist (and their dog) deaths  County Attorney drops charges on accused drunk driver who killed 2 . Witnesses say Reeves’ light was red; but prosecutors claim they can’t prove anything, thus the dropped charges. — click for original article

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Family of dead pedestrian suing driver and Grubhub

Police say that on Feb 2, 2022, a driver failed to stop at a red light, and ran over Rosa Mroz, a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge, killing her. She was in a marked crosswalk, crossing on the green/walk near 56th St and Camelback.

Continue reading “Family of dead pedestrian suing driver and Grubhub”

Reflections on the culture wars

I’ve always enjoyed Dan Neil’s car-review columns in the Wall Street Journal, this caught my eye (emphasis added):

Having lived to a biblical age, I’ve seen some crazy things. I’ve seen the Prius—whose owners were once mocked and scorned as virtue-signaling eco-weenies—become a counterargument for fossil fuel’s defenders opposing vehicle electrification. Under the hood of the Prius Prime is Toyota’s best argument for what it calls its “diverse approach to fighting carbon”: a high-efficiency (Atkinson cycle) 2.0-liter gas engine; two motor-generators; and a 13.6-kWh battery pack.

Dan Neil, WSJ 12/2/2023

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Force of deadly crash in Tempe splits car in half, driver arrested

Sat 11/25/2023 “early morning” ~ 1:30A

Rural Road southbound, just south of Broadway, Tempe. Driver is suspected of impairment and excessive speed; crossed over and struck a fixes object, a “single vehicle” type crash.

Rural Road is very wide. (too wide?). This apparently allegedly involved street racing; the evening tv news (pasted below), the crash occurred on the property of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, on the east side of Rural Road.

Continue reading “Force of deadly crash in Tempe splits car in half, driver arrested”

Driver(s) kill boy, injure man on the sidewalk

11/11/2023 10A. Intersection of Ray Road and Coronado, Chandler Arizona.

The victims were reported to be: killed 9 year old Ilai Petersen, whose father  Aaron was injured.

Chandler Police describe the “accident” (please! #crashnotaccident) as an apparent left-turn error, and the resultant 2-vehicle collision caused one of the vehicle drivers to lose control and drive up on the sidewalk, striking the pedestrians. Continue reading “Driver(s) kill boy, injure man on the sidewalk”

Ranking Phoenix metro area’s intersection safety

SPOILER ALERT — I never got the bottom of this…but I wanted to publish and get it out there. Hopefully can do data replication experiments some day.
MAG puts out a report that seeks to quantify intersection risk for each of the (1,300 was it?) intersections in the MAG region; the final score is a number between zero and 1, from no-risk to most-risky. It uses the most recently available 5 calendar years of ADOT crash data, which was for this round 2017-2021. Continue reading “Ranking Phoenix metro area’s intersection safety”

Driver Sentenced to prison in 2019 killing of a motorcyclist on SR101

August 24, 2019 — a driver rear ended a motorcyclists on SR101, killing him.

This is certainly one for the record books: sending a not-impaired driver to prison. This is exceedingly rare (but see below, there’s more to this story). There is one other case where a driver was convicted in the 2013 killing of DPS officer Tim Huffman; that driver was said to be distracted by and “watching” his phone…. Continue reading “Driver Sentenced to prison in 2019 killing of a motorcyclist on SR101”

Bicyclist seriously injured after being hit by impaired driver, Mesa police say

9/30/2023 Alleged impaired motorist failed to negotiate a a mild bend while northbound on Gilbert road, struck a curb and then seriously injured a bicyclist on Old Gilbert Road. Map view: Gilbert Road at Old Gilbert Road

Supposedly driver was arrested, but for whatever reason, Mesa PD did not release the driver’s name.

Continue reading “Bicyclist seriously injured after being hit by impaired driver, Mesa police say”