Cycling, traffic safety, traffic justice, and legal topics; energy, transit and transportion economics
Bicyclist advocates have been pointing out for years that the “Share the Road” message is problematical for bicyclists — that nobody really understands what it’s supposed to mean — the meaning is, at best, unclear and therefore readily mis-interpreted. Continue reading “What’s wrong with sharing? What’s wrong with courtesy?”
It seems to me there are many un-charged crimes here by Pinal prosecutor Voyles. How is this not reckless driving? Endangerment? Fleeing from police? You gotta love this part: “He said he was working and talking on his cellphone and that ‘I always use all lanes of traffic when I drive.’ “.
He netted 48 hours in jail; and what i suppose is whatever the standard suspension is for a 1st time simple DUI. Continue reading “Dangerous driver gets a sweet deal”
Attention bicyclist advocates: resist the urge to desire dedicated bicycling facilities when they won’t fit safely.
In the accurately scaled example diagram below (visit iamtraffic.org to tweak the dimensions and vehicle choices. A very cool tool!) a cyclist riding an upright bike is riding centered in a 5′ BL w/curb abreast of a Ford F-150 driving centered in the right general purpose travel lane (and DON’T say “car lane”, or somesuch).
names not yet released. 8/13/2015 ~ 1AM. Near 51st Ave near Southern Ave in Phoenix. Both driver and bicyclist were southbound.
Suspect vehicle is a white chrysler minivan with heavy passenger-side damage has been located and police have spoken with the registered owner. KPHO Continue reading “Phoenix bicyclist killed in nighttime hit and run”
[ Grrr, Dec 2015 article Despite safety campaign, Flagstaff bike collision stats unchanged (referring to this report) the Sun ran same offensive picture again, with similar misleading safety/law advice ]
8/2/2015 News article: Sharing the road: FPD launches bike safety campaign. About 75% of this article is OK. And the good news is Flagstaff is setting up a bicyclist diversion program. I would normally consider this an unalloyed good thing, however some that other 25% gives me reason for concern about what might be taught at such classes. Continue reading “News article: Sharing the road: FPD launches bike safety campaign.”
This involves a odd “crossover” type situation with a dedicated right turn only lane at the ‘T’ intersection of Sabino Canyon and Kolb, in Pima County. I’ve looked at the google street view (not sure if that matches the way it was at the time of the Jan 2015 crash); anyway, it’s confusing. There are two northbound bike lanes (or are they “bike routes with striped shoulders? — see that background at the article about a cyclist seriously injured at the Dodge Bridge in Pima County who received a $1.8M settlement with the county).
Continue reading “Injured bicyclist files $13.5M claim against Pima County”
“THE DEADLY TOLL OF POLICE CHASES” shrieks the above-the-fold front page headline 7/31/2015 of the Arizona Republic. The companion article on the front page of the AZ Rep’s parent USA Today reads “High-speed police chase have killed thousands“. (those were the headlines in the print edition, the online ones are somewhat different). Continue reading “The deadly toll of police chases?”
The driver who caused serious injuries in a May crash has been arrested and charged… “Glendale Police say 58-year-old Frank Kitko Junior was driving under the influence when he drove his sport-utility-vehicle into two people and took out a portion of a wall at the restaurant…” read more.
7/24/2015 Far northwest Valley. Maricopa Co Sheriff investigated. I had missed this news item at the time:
Fox10: Bicyclist seriously injured after hitting back of truck Continue reading “Bicyclist dies after rear-ending parked trailer”
5/30/2015, ~ 1830; bicyclist Raphael D. Sagarin was killed when struck from behind after a pickup driven by a suspected impaired driver swerved partially off the road. The driver Gary Colvin has been booked on suspicion of manslaughter. Continue reading “UA prof killed while bicycling; driver arrested”
This showed up on review of the 2015 ASDM data, although I had missed it at the time (odd for a Tucson crash, which are normally very well covered)
Classic Left-cross collision: westbound Alvernon way at Broadway, Tucson motorist made bad left colliding with eastbound bicyclist traveling in a BL. 7/11/2015 mid-morning. Continue reading “Tucson bicyclist in left-cross collision succumbs”
So as things turn out, drivers lose control and drive up on sidewalks on a regular basis. Seriously, just look around. People sometimes get hurt; it’s a random function of being there. What happens to all these reckless drivers? Hard to know, many times nothing, like the young man who killed a jogger on an Ahwatukee sidewalk a few years ago. In other cases, these are hit-and-run; nobody pays, so you pay for the damage through increased taxes and insurance rates. Continue reading “Car Drives Into Man At Tempe Bus Stop; leg amputated”
So there’s this meme (or maybe: myth, urban legend, commonly held belief, or whatever) that governments generate lavish amounts from traffic ticket fines, and that’s the “real” reason why the need to ticket their citizens — nothing to do with safety of course; and probably particularly the case when mentioning photo-enforcement. Continue reading “Revenue from Traffic Fines”
The 6/8/2015 morning crash as described is a classic left-hook; where the victim was riding straight ahead and crashed with a trailer being pulled behind a pickup whose driver apparently mis-judged the situation either the closing speed or perhaps forgot he was pulling a trailer. Continue reading “Noted pediatric cancer doctor killed in Scottsdale motorcycle crash”
Adot has released Crash Facts 2014 in early June (of 2015), as usual/expected; and I received the database from them very promptly. I have updated the graphical crash map so it now has data from 2009-2014 for ped-MV and bike-MV crashes. Continue reading “Arizona Crash Facts 2014”