Author: ArizonaBikeLaw

Arizona Motor Vehicle Fatalities increase in 2015

Preliminary data from ADOT shows a notable increase in traffic fatalities in 2015. At present the preliminary toll is 891 for 2015 — but is expected to rise as final reports trickle in — compared to 773 deaths in 2014. That would be a 15% increase.

There is no, not even a preliminary, breakdown by person type (driver, pedestrian, bicyclist, etc)… which seems odd. VERY preliminary bicyclist traffic fatality data for 2015 can be found at fatality-grid; but those numbers (presently 18 bicyclists) are guaranteed to be low because ADOT hoards the data for themselves, so it’s just whatever I came across in newspapers and word-of-mouth.

Also see report-phx-metro-freeway-crashes-dramatically-increase-in-2015 from a couple of weeks ago ; which noted that the number of crashes on Maricopa county freeways had increase even more dramatically, 23%, year-over-year.

Continue reading “Arizona Motor Vehicle Fatalities increase in 2015”

Tucson Bicyclist seriously injured; Driver Flees

Troy Gosnell -- photo: Tucson PD
Troy Gosnell — photo: Tucson PD

A Tucson bicyclist was struck from behind and seriously injured 2/14/2016 ~3PM; the driver fled the scene. Both were N/B on S Craycroft Rd near E 25th Street, Tucson. The cyclist was said to have been riding in a bike lane. He was also said to have not been wearing a helmet (no word on whether or not a helmet might have prevented the broken ribs, but I digress).

The suspect was located with the help of some surveillance photos; indicating that Tuscon PD invested significant resources into the investigation.  Continue reading “Tucson Bicyclist seriously injured; Driver Flees”

Woman killed crossing street in Ahwatukee

48th Street, Phoenix, just south of Ray Road.
48th Street, Phoenix, just south of Ray Road.

Saturday night 2/12/2016 ~ 9:45PM. Victim Nina Hale, 68. 48th Street south of Ray Road, Phoenix (the “Ahwatukee” area of Phoenix).

Victim wasn’t in a crosswalk — case closed! I should admit right up front I have no particular idea of what actually happened. It is quite possible, likely even, that the driver was doing nothing legally wrong — i.e. they already said he didn’t seem to be impaired, and it’s likely he was driving within what is considered a reasonable speed — and the victim was doing “everything” legally wrong, because a pedestrian outside of a crosswalk must yield to any vehicles on the roadway. That said, this is going to turn into a rant about high-speed arterial roadway design so beloved by sunbelt traffic engineers… Continue reading “Woman killed crossing street in Ahwatukee”

Report: Phx metro freeway crashes dramatically increase in 2015

The headline is the paper reads Report: DPS, ADOT clearing crashes faster on Maricopa County freeways but a factiod reveals later in the article should have been noted, my emphasis “Despite a 23 percent increase in freeway crashes“. This is a huge year-over-year increase. Why? If you read the actual press releases, it mentions the period is the first nine months of 2014 vs. 2015. yikes.

Continue reading “Report: Phx metro freeway crashes dramatically increase in 2015”

Police: Bicyclist hit/killed crossing road in East Mesa

incident occurred 1/27/2016 ~ 11am. Victim was “crossing” mid-block according to police. Eastern part of city of Mesa; University Drive, between Higley and Greenfield roads.

University Drive, the road the cyclist was attempting to “cross” is a typical high-speed 5 lane arterial.

It’s never completely clear from the descriptions what crossing mid-block means exactly — it should mean away from not only intersections (which was implied by article “There were no crosswalks located in the area”), but also that there the cyclist was not emerging, or entering a driveway (or attempting to).

Bicyclists should be acting as the driver of a vehicle, and therefore should never be “crossing” a road; though of course many do. Continue reading “Police: Bicyclist hit/killed crossing road in East Mesa”

Bicyclist killed in crash on Tucson’s northside

super high speed merge ramp / Pima County

Read the deets on bicycletucson.com

1/24/2016 11:45am Tucson-area (Pima County Sheriff’s dept investigates).

A (somewhat elderly, coincidentally) female bicyclist traveling west on Sunrise Drive was killed by a very elderly motorist who was merging from Skyline Drive and apparently failed to yield. The bicyclists was later identified as 69 y.o. Patricia Lyon-Surrey. Continue reading “Bicyclist killed in crash on Tucson’s northside”

ASU student dies in Tempe road-rage shooting

photo: Tempe Police
photo: Tempe Police

—

Shooting update: Female driver shot by another female driver after a traffic collision. Injured driver collided w a 3rd car injuring 5 passengers Continue reading “ASU student dies in Tempe road-rage shooting”

Two dead in Loop 303 wrong-way collision

Arizona DPS released the following information regarding double-fatal head-on collision 1/10/2016 in the Surprise / west valley area:

photo: Arizona Dept of Public Safety
photo: Arizona Dept of Public Safety

Next of kin notification has been completed. The wrong-way driver of the red/maroon Jeep Cherokee SUV was identified as Robert Andrew Cadman age 32, of Phoenix. The driver of the white Toyota Tundra pickup truck was identified as Christopher John Ruiz Jr. age 32, of Phoenix. Continue reading “Two dead in Loop 303 wrong-way collision”

Owner of Red Alfa found guilty of killing ped on sidewalk

TalfaRomeoHitAndRunPhoenixhe owner of the red Alfa Romeo convertible involved in the killing of a pedestrian on a Phoenix sidewalk in 2013 was found guilty of negligent homicide and leaving the scene of a fatality caused by the defendant. I have no idea what the defense was; but at the conclusion of the twelve-day trial, the jury also found an aggravating factor of dangerousness. Details at another-ped-gets-whacked-on-phoenix-sidewalk
Continue reading “Owner of Red Alfa found guilty of killing ped on sidewalk”

Tucson Bicyclist killed crossing Wetmore Road

This  showed up on review of the 2015 ASDM data, although I had missed it at the time. The only news I could find list just vague information, and nothing about how the crash occurred.

Crash Report

ADOT incident=3044756

12/30/2015, 9:20pm(dark). Bicyclist was southbound CROSSING ROAD, and crash was NOT_AT_INTERSECTION /  NOT_JUNCTION_RELATED (i.e mid-block). Bicyclist was struck in the two-way turn lane.

Driver eastbound in LANE1 and was faulted for UNSAFE LANE CHANGE (presumably into the two-way turn lane).

Confusing.  Surprising it was faulted to the motorist, and that there was NO IMPROPER to bicyclist.

Bicyclist dies on scene after being struck on northwest side
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) – … the incident happened around 9:20 p.m at the intersection of Wetmore and Flowing Wells…  The driver remained on scene and is cooperating with authorities… Pima County Sheriff’s are investigating the incident.

 

Drunk driver gets 14 years for Chandler officer’s death

Original story.

This was both DUI and hit-and-run; it also involved a minor passenger. Driver sentenced in a plea deal to 14 years prison / 7 years probation for 2nd degree murder + the hit-and-run (other charges? e.g. no license, minor involvement?). The case minute for sentence is here. View all case minutes for CR2014152207. Continue reading “Drunk driver gets 14 years for Chandler officer’s death”

Out of control on Warner-Elliot Loop

Aftermath of car-house crash. Jicarilla at Warner-Elliot Loop, Phoenix
Aftermath of car-house crash. Jicarilla at Warner-Elliot Loop, Phoenix

Yikes

11/29/2015 Sunday morningtime. Jicarilla just off of Warner-Elliot loop, Phoenix/Ahwatukee. This is a pic of the backyard/patio of the house on the SE corner. Continue reading “Out of control on Warner-Elliot Loop”

Vulnerable user legislation in Wisconsin

Readers of azbikelaw might remember I am not a fan of vulnerable user laws for reasons stated in the main article. There’s no denying this has become a major rallying point among large majorities of bicycle advocates.

Whether you think this type of law is a good idea or a bad idea,  the interplay between a bicyclist group and a motorcyclist group in Wisconsin could be informative…

Jump to the Wisconsin materials in the main article.

Bicyclist killed in Phx semi truck right-hook crash

[synopsis: this is not a “classic” right hook; the cyclist appears to have been riding on the sidewalk and entered into the crosswalk (or “just south of the crosswalk”)  just before the collision with a right-turning semi]

11/24/2015 0540am. Phoenix police say bicyclist Krystle Ann Klain, 33, was riding eastbound on Glendale Avenue, approaching 43rd Ave where she collided with a right-turning semi-truck driver.

The news reports don’t mention if the bicyclist was riding in the roadway, or on the sidewalk/crosswalk. There doesn’t appear to be a Bike Lane there, which would lead me to speculate it was a sidewalk thing. (the crash database says the cyclist was in the crosswalk, the crash narrative is different: it states ROADWAY, but goes on to say “due to report management system limitations box 24 [bike/ped location] was not accessible to check unknown location for the bicyclist (Unit 1) as it is undetermined if she was in the crosswalk or immediately south of it”), and in to report box 24 has no entry. Continue reading “Bicyclist killed in Phx semi truck right-hook crash”