Category: safety

News article: Sharing the road: FPD launches bike safety campaign.

photo: Jake Bacon/Arizona Daily Sun http://azdailysun.com/news/local/sharing-the-road-fpd-launches-bike-safety-campaign/article_e925b5ee-2439-55c8-a275-fc127578ed53.html
photo: Jake Bacon/Arizona Daily Sun — yes, this bicyclist is literally riding IN the gutter.

[ 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.”

Injured bicyclist files $13.5M claim against Pima County

photo: Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Star
photo: Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Star

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?

“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?”

Driver arrested: 5 hurt when SUV slams into Glendale Restaurant

photo: abc15.com
photo: abc15.com

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.

UA prof killed while bicycling; driver arrested

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”

Tucson bicyclist in left-cross collision succumbs

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”

Car Drives Into Man At Tempe Bus Stop; leg amputated

IMG_20150301_114634513~2So 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”

Revenue from Traffic Fines

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”

Noted pediatric cancer doctor killed in Scottsdale motorcycle crash

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”

5 hurt when SUV slams into Glendale Restaurant

photo: abc15.com
photo: abc15.com

5/25/2015, evening. This will be most likely a  so-called “non-traffic” crash because it appears to have begun in the private parking lot — so these injuries don’t “count”. Several serious, including one in critical condition with a head injury, and another with a partially severed leg. All pedestrians who were waiting outside for a table when an SUV driver somehow jumped the sidewalk and rammed into them while parking. Glendale police say they are investigating impairment and a driver’s surgical boot for possible causes. Continue reading “5 hurt when SUV slams into Glendale Restaurant”

San Tan Valley passenger killed in fatal hit and run

photo: PCSO
photo: PCSO

Collision occurred near the east entrance of Walmart on Hunt Highway, San Tan Valley (San Tan Valley is in the far south-east Phoenix metro area) Friday evening May 22, 2015. The fatality victim was a passenger in a van that was rear-ended while stopped.

police say: the suspect(s) were impaired, hit-and-ran, hid evidence, lied to police…

Continue reading “San Tan Valley passenger killed in fatal hit and run”

2 dead, many hospitalized after Bethany Home Road crash

The three vehicles were badly damaged, including one that was crushed. (Source: KPHO/KTVK)
The three vehicles were badly damaged, including one that was crushed. (Source: KPHO/KTVK)

You can’t spell carnage with c-a-r…

5/17/2015 Sunday afternoon Glendale, AZ 8100 block of Bethany Home Road: 3 vehicles, two dead, many hospitalized. Police say speed didn’t “contribute” but there you have a head-on on a high-speed arterial with multiple motorist injuries and fatalities. Continue reading “2 dead, many hospitalized after Bethany Home Road crash”

Car slams into bus stop, teen bystander killed

Another ped whacked on a Phoenix sidewalk — seriously, how often does this stuff happen? — this time at Glendale and Central Ave, Phoenix.   Austin Lipko-Benito was killed mid-day May 13, 2015 on the sidewalk along Glendale Ave. The crash occured because one of the drivers failed to yield to the other driver. Continue reading “Car slams into bus stop, teen bystander killed”