Category: safety

FARS 2021: Arizona among top 10 states for drunken driving deaths

yes, a drunk driver slammed into a Police car severely injuring Phx police officer Chase McCance in 2021

The NHTSA released traffic fatality figures, FARS, for calendar year 2021 a few weeks ago; to little fanfare and quite late as noted by Smart Growth America. Here’s an overview.

Arizona, once again, scores in several “top 10 lists” that nobody wants to be on, notably landing 8th on the list of top states for DUI-involved fatalities, despite being only the 14th most populous states.  Arizona among top 10 states for drunken driving deaths. (That azcentral story, by the way, had an interesting DUI case inserted with bodycam footage of the Cochise County Attorney being arrested for extreme DUI back in February). Continue reading “FARS 2021: Arizona among top 10 states for drunken driving deaths”

Bicyclist seriously injured by driver at Grand Canal crossing

4/19/2023 11a; Police say driver, 24 y.o. Rainer Perez Cordero,  ran a red, striking and seriously injured bicyclist at the marked and signalized crosswalk at Central and Grand Canal. Police say the light for the driver had been red for eight seconds (curious how they would know that?). Continue reading “Bicyclist seriously injured by driver at Grand Canal crossing”

Dead Tucson bicyclist is collateral damage; Driver(s!) arrested

Matthew Lee Taleck (photo: Pima County Sheriff’s Department)

Tues March 21, 2023. A driver is accused of making a bad left, causing a collision with another vehicle at East Speedway and North Country Club Road. “The impact forced the (other vehicle) into the bicycle lane and onto a sidewalk, hitting bicyclist Isaiah Williams Escalante,” killing him.

Police say the driver making the left, Matthew Lee Taleck, was impaired, and was arrested and booked by police on suspicion of manslaughter and related charges. The other driver was arrested on an unrelated issue.

 

Continue reading “Dead Tucson bicyclist is collateral damage; Driver(s!) arrested”

Goodyear Police arrest driver who killed 2 and injured 11 more

Goodyear police have arrested the driver who crashed into a large group of bicyclists Saturday 2/25/2023 around 8:15am;  other traffic at that time would have been very light.

The location was on or near the bridge over Gila River on Cotton Lane, Goodyear, AZ, about a mile south of the intersection with MC86 Continue reading “Goodyear Police arrest driver who killed 2 and injured 11 more”

Police: Bicyclist dies after impaired driver struck him on Tucson sidewalk

2/22/2022 ~2PM. Tucson police says a suspected impaired driver killed a bicyclist on the SIDEWALK.

Names were not released as of 2 days later; and no follow up reporting can be found on this fatal incident that occurred 10 months ago (?). Continue reading “Police: Bicyclist dies after impaired driver struck him on Tucson sidewalk”

Arizona Crash Facts 2021

ADOT released Crash Facts 2021  in late September 2022 (a bit later than usual? and oddly, the database was missing a lot as recently as end of June; what is causing these huge delays? are police sitting on reports?

2021 was a very bloody year on Arizona’s roads and highways. 2020 had unusual traffic patterns due to pandemic [1], but comparing 2019 to 2021  deaths were up sharply for all person types (driver, passenger, bicyclists, pedestrian), about 20% overall. Continue reading “Arizona Crash Facts 2021”

Passenger dead, driver arrested in Gilbert Rd single-vehicle crash

photo: Mesa PD

You are not safe; you are not safe driving in a car; you are not safe riding in a car; you are not safe in the daytime; you are not safe walking on the sidewalk; you are not safe riding in a bike lane; you are not safe riding a bike on the sidewalk; you are not safe riding in a “protected” bike lane. You are not safe. Continue reading “Passenger dead, driver arrested in Gilbert Rd single-vehicle crash”

Tandem crash at Julian Wash Greenway crossing

3/30/2022 3:31pm.  [this was several months ago]

both the tandem and vehicle were southbound S 2nd St at intersection of Ajo Way. This is a signalized intersection, it is an entrance/exit to Veteran’s Hospital complex.

The bicyclists were struck when the driver turned right from 2nd Ave, as they were crossing southbound in the marked crosswalk, which is in effect a trail crossing of the Julian Wash Greenway; the cyclists presumably had been heading east on the trail, where it crosses from the North to the South side at the intersection of Ajo Way. Continue reading “Tandem crash at Julian Wash Greenway crossing”

Teenage e-bicyclist killed in Tucson crash

7/26/2022 ~ 830am. Fatal collision between an e-bicyclist and heavy truck, along E 22nd St near Pantano, Tucson. According to the police/news report the cyclist was headed westbound in the eastbound bike lane when he collided with a semi-truck emerging from a private drive. Continue reading “Teenage e-bicyclist killed in Tucson crash”

2022 Preliminary Arizona Traffic Crash Stats

[UPDATE: yes, this is wrong wrong wrong. 2022 was in fact a terrible, bad, worse year; see Arizona Crash Facts 2022 ]

This is a warning about preliminary data and drawing stats from it… there was a news article “Arizona traffic fatalities are down in 2022, data shows” that was suggesting that 2022 might be on-track for significantly fewer traffic fatalities:

After a deadlier than usual year for traffic deaths in 2021, fatalities in 2022 showed a sharp decrease, according to preliminary data from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.
According to the preliminary data from the office, traffic fatalities between January and June fell from 626 deaths in 2021 to 350 deaths in 2022 — a 44% decrease.

Sadly, this is unlikely to be true. Continue reading “2022 Preliminary Arizona Traffic Crash Stats”

Driver in fatal Uber crash rejects plea deal

The case grinds on; police say the driver involved in the “autonomous” uber-pedestrian death in 2018 was watching TV instead of watching the road. Prosecutors (finally) brought negligent homicide charges in 2020. The current news item of interest is the driver has recently rejected an offer which would entail the driver pleading guilty to the charge in exchange for it being treated as a “non-dangerous” felony. That would, almost certainly, result in a sentence of only probation and no incarceration. Continue reading “Driver in fatal Uber crash rejects plea deal”

Hit-and-run driver was speeding before killing bicyclist in Buckeye, court docs say

5/21/2022 6AM. Bicyclist 60 y.o. George Cooper is dead, and another hit-and-run suspect Fernando Ramos, was arrested by MSCO, “… a crash recreation showed he was going around 60 mph in a 45 mph zone. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office says Ramos previously served time for aggravated assault with a vehicle and has also been arrested in the past for DUI”.
This comes less than a month after  police arrested another driver, Richard Romo, also with a horrendous past driving record in connection with the hit-and-run killing of a 13 y.o. child in Goodyear neighborhood. What are authorities doing to keep the public safe from criminal drivers? Continue reading “Hit-and-run driver was speeding before killing bicyclist in Buckeye, court docs say”

Driver sentenced; Goodyear police seek hit-and-run killer

suspect vehicle located as it is towed from suspect’s residence 2 days after fatal crash

Update: suspect arrested; 44 y.o. Richard Romo. Suspect had a long list of dangerous driving problems, as well as other legal difficulties; previous DUI(s; multiple. aggravated DUI) suspended license (why wasn’t probation revoked last year when he was caught driving?); reckless driving. Much more as situation develops. The suspect, the victim, and the victim’s school are all within 1/2 mile or so of each other. This is in a neighborhood. Disgusting. Continue reading “Driver sentenced; Goodyear police seek hit-and-run killer”

Speeding driver kills two in east Mesa; arrested

Tuesday afternoon 3/22/2022 5:30pm.

Mesa police say 21 y.o. driver Gezane Izreal Cabanillas-Lape was speeding at ~ 100mph along Main street (aka Apache Blvd) at Windsor and struck a minivan; killing both elderly occupants. Police arrested the driver on susp of 2nd degree murder, along with agg assault due to his passenger’s injuries, the news item mentions that impairment is not suspected.

Continue reading “Speeding driver kills two in east Mesa; arrested”