In a longish piece in AZ Republic Live or die on Phoenix-area freeways: It’s your choice (the print edition was headlined 3-year freeway fatality toll: 207) about (specifically metro-Phoenix area. I think they looked at just Maricopa County) freeway traffic fatalities, it was revealed the fatality rate was 61% higher than national averages, per mile driven. I’m not sure exactly what’s counted; it apparently counts only that part of the state highway system that is fully controlled-access, a.k.a. freeways, and in Maricopa county for the purposes of this series of articles.
The usual suspects were called out: speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving, motorcycling in general (helmets), not wearing seatbelts.
[Update Nov 2017: moving ahead in Chandler Muni on misdy charges, see below]
[Update as of Oct 21, 2017; no charges, no nothing; nothing on caselookup??]
[Update May 2018; penalties for 28-672/5/6 were strengthened in response to this incident]
[FINAL Update May 2019; driver sentenced, see below]
Suspect Jowen Noel Moses arrested. DUI suspected. Suspect is reported to, besides the criminal acts described (aggravated assault, resisting arrest, unlawful flight, etc) have then attempted suicide in jail.
Incident occurred in the vicinity of Thomas and 48th Street; spanned Phoenix and Scottsdale.
With the sharp increase in traffic fatalities in 2015 (35,092 a 7.2% increase) — this is getting some extra attention, e.g. the Fastlane blog said on Aug 29, 2016: “2015 Traffic Fatalities Data Has Just Been Released: A Call to Action to Download and Analyze”. The big data news here is that PBCAT data has reappeared, and the 2014 and 2015 datasets released today both have a PBtable. PBCAT data is important because it give much more granular information about bicyclist (and pedestrian) fatalities. Continue reading “2014 and 2015 Arizona Bicyclist Fatalities”
I don’t know what “criminal charges are possible” means; but once more-serious criminal charges have been ruled out — cases where a same-direction motorist drifts causing a rear-end collsion with a bicyclist in a bike lane (or a shoulder), on its face, should trigger a misdemeanor “causing death by moving violation” charge, see arizona-already-has-a-vulnerable-user-law
Apparently a driver failed to negotiate the turn from E Ranch Circle South onto Mountain Sage Drive.
According to unconfirmed reports it was “a bunch of high school kids”; sometime during the day September 28, 2016.
Sat 8/27/2016 ~ 7:30pm. Bicyclist Thomas J. Butler. 35 was killed as he road across 43rd Ave near Bethany Home Rd mid-block from west to east; then turned north when he was struck from behind.
The tone of the statements indicates the police don’t believe the driver’s alleged impairment wasn’t a factor. I.e. the driver is likely to be charged with only DUI.
A westbound driver apparently failed to negotiate a slight bend in the road and drove up on the sidewalk, killing the Childtime Sign. July 19, 2016 ~ 8AM. Warner Rd, just west of 51st St.
A July 19th AP story was somewhat more detailed with crash specifics “Tucson police say in a news release that the 65-year-old had been headed south on his bike along a road when he stopped for a red light. After the light turned green, police say he entered the intersection and was struck by a westbound sedan that ran a red light.”
The City of Flagstaff has put together crash data DRAFT Working Paper 4 Pedestrian and bicycle crash data. This report released in Oct 2015 geographically covers Flagstaff Metropolitan Planning Organization (FMPO) region — so the city of Flagstaff and surrounding area — for the 10-year period from 2005 to 2014. It is well documented and uses the ADOT Safety Data Mart exclusively. As such, it doesn’t add any additional data of the sort that was added by the City of Phoenix’s collision summary. E.g. The City of Phoenix summary breaks down the cyclist’s position (accurately, by reading each crash report narrative) to reveal 70% of cyclists involving in collisions were on the sidewalk just prior to the collision (either at a crosswalk, or driveway). Continue reading “Flagstaff Bike / Ped Crash Report”
Apparently a driver failed to negotiate the turn from E Ranch Circle South onto Mountain Sage Drive.
