Category: safety

More on Arizona politics and photo-radar

So this is in the wake of the formal announcement a couple of weeks ago that DPS would be terminating the contract for highway photo-radar enforcement.

Photo speed-enforcement may not be gone for good.

Gov. Jan Brewer doesn’t like photo enforcement; she put in her guy to direct DPS, Robert Halliday.

a “top commander” (number 2?), Lt. Col. Jack Hegarty seems to sort of like it. In any event he lobbied for a law (bill number? “The DPS bill passed and was signed into law on May 7” ) that that give DPS control of any future program. This is probably a good idea, as it at least theoretically removes some of the opportunities for political meddling.

Bill s from the 49th 2nd Regular session relating to photo enforcement:

  • SB1018 (Chapter 266): Photo enforcement procedures. apparently this it the bill referred to in the article, but i don’t really see how this gives DPS control(?)
  • HB2338 (Chapter 213): the yellow light business.

“When Redflex alerted the media that DPS was canceling the contract, speculation was rampant that Gov. Jan Brewer made the decision to dismantle the controversial system to score political points. But Brewer’s nominee to run DPS, Robert Halliday, insisted the decision was his”

Driver Sentenced: Bullhead City cyclist killed in hit-and-run

Larissa Jean Castilleja
Larissa Jean Castilleja

Larissa Jean Castilleja, 43, a Bullhead City High teacher was killed Sept 9, 2009 when a driver hit her and fled the scene.

This fatality bears many similarities to several of four recent fatalities in the Phoenix-metro area this past summer.

  1. the automobile driver hit-and-ran (all 5 incidents)
  2. DUI on the part of the automobile driver is suspected (at least 4 of the 5 incidents)
  3. time of day was overnight/early morning (ranging from 10pm to 4am)
  4. no improper actions on the part of the cyclist are suspected (all 5 incidents)

The suspect was later charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene, on Sept 28 he plead not guilty; and according to the Mojave Daily News, has secured himself  all-star Scottsdale DUI lawyer Scott Maasen. In granting the reduced bond, the judge expressed reservations and then … did it anyway! It was also revealed in that story that the defendant has an outstanding warrant for DUI in Nevada, which he says he is not aware of.

The Plea

The defendant plead guilty to manslaughter, leaving the scene, and DUI. Sentencing is scheduled for May 21, 2010. Case number S-8015-CR-200900986, online lookup.

Sentencing

The [mohavedailynews] had a pretty good rundown of the sentencing:

Judge Steven Conn sentenced Gagliardi to prison for 13 years for both felony crimes (8 for the manslaughter, 5 for hit-and-run), saying the two charges were separate crimes and deserved consecutive sentences. He only found a lack of criminal record as a mitigating factor and that Gagliardi also had about 20 moving violations, mostly for speeding. He found aggravating factors that Gagliardi’s blood alcohol rate was more than twice the legal limit and the emotional harm to Castilleja’s family. The judge also said he hoped the sentences would be a deterrent to people who visit the casinos and drink then get into their cars to drive home.

see also [kingmandailyminer].

Continue reading “Driver Sentenced: Bullhead City cyclist killed in hit-and-run”

Agressivity and SUVs

No, not aggressive driving. This is why (truck-based, not so-called “crossover”/car-based) SUVs and pickups are bad for everybody.

The term agressivity refers to…

The effects of vehicle model and driver behavior on risk,  Accident Analysis & Prevention, Volume 37, Issue 3, May 2005, Pages 479-494
doi:10.1016/j.aap.2004.08.002

We find that most car models are as safe to their drivers as most sport utility vehicles (SUVs); the increased risk of a rollover in a SUV roughly balances the higher risk for cars that collide with SUVs and pickup trucks. We find that SUVs and to a greater extent pickup trucks, impose much greater risks than cars on drivers of other vehicles; and these risks increase with increasing pickup size. The higher aggressivity of SUVs and pickups makes their combined risk higher than that of almost all cars. Effects of light truck design on their risk are revealed by the analysis of specific models: new unibody (or “crossover”) SUVs appear, in preliminary analysis, to have much lower risks than the most popular truck-based SUVs.

…

Driver found guilty: South Phoenix Hit-and-run

7/11/2009: location listed only as “South Phoenix”,  in the early morning hours of Saturday,  hit-and-run. Police apprehended Max Ramiro Garcia, 33, in an unrelated traffic stop (speeding). ( azcentral.com,  KPHO). was charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene in the death of cyclist Robert Flakes; Superior Court Case Number CR2009-145409 case minutes Continue reading “Driver found guilty: South Phoenix Hit-and-run”

Traffic Signal Timing

With all this talk about yellow lights and whatnot, I thought it would be a good time to review the how’s and why’s of Traffic signal timing, and then on to how it affects cyclists because this is a distinct problem. On the surface it’s simple, green, red, yellow but like everything else there’s more to the story. Continue reading “Traffic Signal Timing”

ASU student dies in collision on University

ASU student Christopher Volpe, 24, was killed Monday 5/10/2010 when he collided with an SUV. According to police, the driver of the SUV was not at fault. No impairment is suspected. According to this news account: “Police tell 3TV the man was in the eastbound lane of University near Ash”.

According to the ABC15 account: “Police Sgt. Steve Carbajal said 24-year-old Christopher Volpe was apparently traveling west on University Drive when he turned left in front of oncoming traffic and was struck by an SUV.”

I did get some clarification from Molly Enright, Community Affairs Specialist at the Tempe Police Department — the correct information is as Sgt. Carbajal said. [The ADOT crash database, however, indicates both units were going straight ahead on perpendicular paths, and that the cyclist disregarded a signal. Directions given: West/driver (University Ave), South/cyclist (Ash St). I do not have the crash report]

The turning left in front of the SUV doesn’t seem to add up; given the location of the pictured damage. From the picture, it appears the cyclist t-boned into the middle of the passenger side of the SUV.

So I am still confused? [it’s also inconsistent with FARS crash type, below which claimed a “same direction” left-turn error, and nothing about disregarding a signal. hmm.]

And by the way, as the commenter pointed out, below, southbound Ash vehicular traffic must turn at University — though it’s not clear if that has anything to do with it.

A couple of the accounts say that “Police have determined that he (the driver) was not at fault” — that was fast.

In the wake of this tragedy, Tempe’s First Ghost Bike was placed. [azrepublic] story on the ghost bike installation.

2010 Arizona cyclist fatality grid

[azrepublic] [azfamily/3TV][evtrib][abc15]

Crash Reports ASDM / FARS

This is ADOT incident 2414578. Summary of ADOT database entries: Fatal collision at a signalled intersection. Both units are GOING_STRAIGHT_AHEAD in perpendicular directions. The driver has NO_IMPROPER_ACTION with “contributing cirumstance”: GLARE_SUNLIGHT.
The cyclist has his position given as “CROSSWALK”, and is faulted for DISREGARD_TRAFFIC_SIGNAL. The driver suposedly has damage to his FRONT_RIGHT, with his GOLD, FORD, PASSENGER_4DSW_STATION_WAGON_4_DR given as disabled, but I’m not confident that data was applied to the correct unit.

Supposedly, the driver tests positive for cocaine, and the cyclist positive for marijuana, but (again) I don’t have confidence in the proper application of these data.
[TODO: check FARS database for drug test result]

This is FARS case 40292, see see below for PBCAT

Scottsdale cyclist’s death shows problems with law

ADOT Incident=2335885
Location
Both units were eastbound; the road is a very fast, 2 through lanes each direction with a small (<2′ ?) open shoulder.
Of note, newer street views show this area was reconfigured sometime between 2011 and 2015, now has a substantial, I mean substantially wider than what was there at the time of this incident. Maybe four to five feet. Still open (no curb or gutter).

The Arizona Republic today ran a heavily researched article concerning the death of Cindie Holub in Scottsdale in February. It also delved into some comparative history into other strike-from-behind cases.

[also, here is the original AZ Republic story about the death]

Continue reading “Scottsdale cyclist’s death shows problems with law”

[verdict] Fatality in Tucson — driver was reportedly “weaving”

[Verdict April 12, 2010] The driver who killed Drake Okusako plead guilty, and received a 4-year prison sentence. “On March 1 he (Segebartt) entered guilty pleas before Pima County Superior Court Judge Deborah Bernini to the leaving the scene charge and a reduced negligent homicide charge” Continue reading “[verdict] Fatality in Tucson — driver was reportedly “weaving””

AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities

The AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, is a much-referenced work among bicycle planning and transportation professionals. The 2012 is the most recent final version; As of the time of this writing, the complete guide isn’t freely available; there are fragments below from both the previous (1999) edition, as well as the current (2012) edition.  The guide is a largish (2.5MByte) .pdf available from the here, via azmag.gov (Maricopa Assoc of Governments). You can purchase the book directly from AASHTO

This book gives the accepted guidelines for dimensions and usage of various bicycle facilities, i.e. bike lanes, wide curb lanes.

There is also a DRAFT revision dated February 2010: DRAFT AASHTO Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Bicycle Facilities which was superceded by the… Continue reading “AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities”

Phoenix police seek ID of bicyclist killed in hit-and-run

A cyclist was killed in Phoenix Friday night; this area is west of the airport and just north of I-17. The victim was later identified: “Phoenix Police Sgt. Trent Crump said 70-year-old Lorenzo Nevares was riding on 7th Avenue just north of Interstate 17 when he was struck around 8:30 p.m” [abc15]

The approx location: On 7th Avenue near Mojave Street, just north of I-17. Continue reading “Phoenix police seek ID of bicyclist killed in hit-and-run”

City Liability

The Arizona Republic did a roundup of the city of Phoenix’s motor-vehicle  liability claims paid over the about the past 5 years, 2005 – most of 2009. It was about $15M

Phoenix pays millions… March 6, 2010.

On one hand it seems like a rather moderate amount. And not all of these claims has to do with what would normally be viewed as a traffic crash (like e.g. the bus-door-closing ones). Yet still it illuminates just another unpaid (“external“) cost of our car-culture.

Cities, townships, counties, states, and the federal government all run enormous fleets of motor vehicles, running in the many millions of vehicles. Liability expenses being just one of the smaller costs; fuel, capital cost, maintenance and so forth all add up to more.

The vast majority of these expenses are not paid via any sort of use fees (e.g. gasoline tax) on automobiles — but rather from general fund sources; property taxes, general sales taxes, income taxes, and so forth. And my favorite, the new grocery tax; yes we have to pay city sales taxes on groceries, in part to bankroll Phoenix’s vehicle fleet. I’m thinking government entities don’t even pay the so-called “road taxes” on fuel, nor do they pay other use taxes, like Arizona’s VLT (Vehicle License Tax). More on Road Taxes in Arizona. Continue reading “City Liability”

FARS

[ Check out Paul Schimek’s visualization of FARS bicycling data ]

Cindie Holub’s death on March 1,  (Cindy’s death was written up on bicyclelaw.com, also see 2010 fatalities), from injuries sustained in a Feb 24 collision with a garbage truck caused me to look up the rule for categorization purposes. “To be included in this census of crashes, a crash had to involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public, and must result in the death of a person (occupant of a vehicle or a nonmotorist) within 30 days of the crash.” from DOT HS 811 137.

The US DOT runs a very elaborate, publicly available, query-able database for every traffic fatality in the US called FARS — Fatality Analysis and Reporting System. Continue reading “FARS”

Phoenix marks first year of light rail

The Arizona Republic is running all manner of “year in review” stories, so of course Phoenix marks first year of light rail, Dec 26, 2009 hit the news.

The light-rail cars are cyclist-friendly, greatly aiding multi-modal trips to many valley locations. The lines themselves have caused some difficulties, though that was due to engineering missteps.

The first year of operation has exceeded ridership estimates “On Dec. 27 last year, Metro opened on time and on budget. Over the next 12 months, the $1.4 billion system carried an average of nearly 35,000 passengers a day, 34 percent over estimates” and fares are covering 24% of operating expenses, despite losses on the corporate cards caused by other confusions.

The light rail, of course, garnered all sorts of opposition from anti-rail (and anti-public-transit, or perhaps I should say pro-car) folks.  On any and all grounds including that it is claimed to be phenomenally dangerous. “( light rail) averaged almost a collision a week, causing lingering doubts about light rail’s safety”. But is that really a problem, or unexpected, or out of line? Nobody seems to know. What is clear is that negligent motorists are at fault: “…No one has died, and no pedestrians or bicyclists have been hit. Police have attributed every accident to motorists ignoring traffic signal” (emphasis added).

Notwithstanding fault, is ~ 50 collisions significant? Nobody says. Keep in mind that Phoenix PD investigates ~ twenty thousand motor vehicle collisions per year.

Nevada High Court Says Pharmacies Can’t Be Sued for Death

This story about who can and can’t be sued in the case of wrongful death is interesting to those who follow such matters; Nevada High Court Says Pharmacies Can’t Be Sued for Death, WSJ 12/26/2009.

I was more interested in a habitual prescription drug abuser who killed this guy and served a whopping 9-months. 9-months!  She killed one guy and seriously injured another according to the article.

“…Ms. Copening was driving a Dodge Durango when she hit two delivery men who were standing on the shoulder of a highway, killing one and severely injuring the other. In Ms. Copening’s car, police found prescription bottles and loose pills. Police reports said she appeared confused, and a blood test detected the painkiller hydrocodone. Ms. Copening pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless driving and served nine months in jail”