Category: safety

Hit and run driver kills bicyclist in West Phoenix

8/31/2021 6pm hit and run driver kills bicyclist Mark Tohe in laveen (west Phoenix). Baseline road near 75th Ave. For whatever reason, police have released virtually no details. No descriptions… “Phoenix police said they are conducting an investigation into the incident and are looking for the driver, who fled before police arrived.”

Azcentral

Arizona’s handheld cell phone ban; citations

The 7/7/2021 print edition (p.12-13) of AFN ran a story detailing the number of citations issued Phoenix and metro area police against motorists violating Arizona’s “new” handheld cellphone ban. The law has been on the books since 2019, but the penalty (a fine) only began on Jan 1, 2021; prior to that it was simply, at most, a warning. So at about 6 months in here’s what they found: Continue reading “Arizona’s handheld cell phone ban; citations”

Police: Driver that killed officer ran red light

Not much remains of this full-sized SUV that was struck by a sedan at a right angle.

5/31/2021 Monday night. Phoenix police officer killed by reported red-light runner Police say the driver of a sedan ran a red light, apparently at extremely high speed, causing an apocalyptic crash with a Phoenix police full-sized SUV at the intersection Cave Creek Road & Greenway Parkway. Both drivers are dead; the sedan driver was identified as “31-year-old Christopher Castro, died at the scene. Police say speed and impairment by Castro are believed to be contributing factors to the crash… The force of the crash caused the officer’s vehicle to crash through a brick wall and into a gas station parking lot.” Continue reading “Police: Driver that killed officer ran red light”

Show Low driver rams bicyclists, 7 critical

Well, this is unusual — a pickup driver crossed over (driving in the wrong direction) and rammed a large group of bicyclists who were participating in the Bike the Bluff, an organized ride (it’s actually a full-blown race, apparently) in Show Low, Arizona.

photo: Jim Headly / The Independent

Continue reading “Show Low driver rams bicyclists, 7 critical”

Bicyclist dead along Alma School; pickup driver arrested

6/9/2021 ~ 2:30AM Alma School near Galveston, Chandler, AZ

Police say that the hit-and-run suspect vehicle is a Dodge Ram, found nearby, and arrested 48-year-old Ryan Sean Pereira. The dead bicyclist was identified as 40-year-old Joseph Theodore Kowalczyk

Continue reading “Bicyclist dead along Alma School; pickup driver arrested”

Police ID truck driver accused of killing 1 bicyclist, injuring 4 more in Flagstaff

5/28/2021 ~ 7PM. The driver of a tow truck struck a group of six cyclists at the intersection of Butler and Beaver, Flagstaff. The driver was arrested; presumably because police say at the time he ran a red light, while the group of bicyclists was proceeding on a green. One bicyclist, Joanne Wheaton, was killed, and four or five others were injured. Continue reading “Police ID truck driver accused of killing 1 bicyclist, injuring 4 more in Flagstaff”

Cyclist killed on McDowell Mnt Rd; driver flees; suspect arrested

5/25/2021 6:30AM. McDowell Mountain Road near milepost 2 (here is a random spot on that road). Bicyclist killed after being struck by a driver who fled the scene. Suspect vehicle is this heavily damaged Toyota pickup truck; and the driver was arrested. Continue reading “Cyclist killed on McDowell Mnt Rd; driver flees; suspect arrested”

Man on bicycle killed in hit-and-run CC Drive in Mesa

5/4/2021 “shortly after midnight”. Not much to go on here. No vehicle description…

A driver southbound on Country Club near Eighth Ave, Mesa struck and killed a bicyclist. The driver left the scene. Continue reading “Man on bicycle killed in hit-and-run CC Drive in Mesa”

Driver rams into two on sidewalk at Rural and Apache; suspect arrested

The driver of a white pickup careened onto the sidewalk, striking two ASU students walking on the sidewalk, injuring one seriously; the driver fled.

DUI remains a huge threat/problem; are we doing enough to remove illegal drivers from the road? The man arrested was FTA (failure to appear) since Jan 2020 on a November 2019 DUI and driving (then) on a suspended license which was suspended for yet another DUI. Continue reading “Driver rams into two on sidewalk at Rural and Apache; suspect arrested”

$1.35 Million Settlement in Tempe Police Speeding Wrongful Death Suit

police-speeding without the benefit of lights or sirens, seems to be a routine thing. In this incident from a several years ago:

“[a Tempe Police officer] was travelling at 95 mph in a 45 mph zone without the use of his siren or light bar… five seconds before the crash”

…striking and killing a drunk pedestrian near Baseline and Rural roads who was (I presume) “jaywalking”. The incident occurred in 2005, but a wrongful death lawsuit wasn’t settled until 2010.

Continue reading “$1.35 Million Settlement in Tempe Police Speeding Wrongful Death Suit”

Driver arrested in hit/run death of jogger in 2018

April 8, 2018 a hit/run driver killed Taylor White, a 21 y.o. GCU student that was jogging in a crosswalk.

Three years later, a driver was arrest on susp of 2nd degree murder (and presumably, leaving the scene of a fatal). There is much that is not said in the news article. 2nd degree murder indicates police believe they can prove the driver not only caused the crash that resulted (it was in a crosswalk, so that’s probably covered), but that the driver was doing something particularly reckless at the time — normally the only thing that will ever rise to that level is intoxication. The article says nothing about why he was charged that way.

This wouldn’t be the first time diligent policework led to a driver’s hit-and-run arrest much later, see e.g. hit-and-run-and-good-old-fashioned-policework/

Continue reading “Driver arrested in hit/run death of jogger in 2018”

Tempe woman killed at Mill and Baseline in hit-run; suspect arrested

Crash Friday evening around 7:30PM, 4/2/2021. Tempe police say a driver of a pickup towing a trailer made a left northbound Mill turning onto westbound Baseline collided with a 41 y.o. female bicycle. She was dragged to her death, and the driver fled the scene. Police arrested a suspect, Raul Meza Portillo, around 1AM at his home. That he was held on suspicion of 2nd degree murder, as well as leaving the scene indicate police believe he both was intoxicated at the time, and caused the crash.

Continue reading “Tempe woman killed at Mill and Baseline in hit-run; suspect arrested”

Driver failed to yield in fatal crash with motorcyclist in Ahwatukee

I became curious about this because it happens to be very close to where I live, and I happened to notice the roadside memorial and wondered about all the carnage; it’s just off of Ray Road, right by the Melting Pot (Fry’s food strip mall); it was about three years ago now…

01/02/2018 Fatal collision; police say a driver of a vehicle turning left failed to yield to a going-straight motorcyclist, and now the motorcyclist is dead. In bicyclist crash jargon we would call this a left-cross crashtype; it’s particularly deadly for motorcyclists.

Drivers who make a bad-left are supposed to be charged with 28-672 “Causing death by moving violation”. Continue reading “Driver failed to yield in fatal crash with motorcyclist in Ahwatukee”

Bicyclist killed in crosswalk collision w/motorcyclist

3/27/2021 (?) (time?) occurred at a crosswalk NEAR of 24th and Thomas, that is a signalized intersection.  Interesting choice of language police say the bicyclist was in a crosswalk at the time of the collision, “but it is unknown if the crosswalk was activated“.

I was wrong about it being at the intersection, now the “activated” term makes sense: the crash happened at the crosswalk at the western canal crossing of 24th Street,(the street views are presently out of date, showing construction which has since been competed) which has some sort of bike/ped signal that is activated by pushing a button; see comment below.

Continue reading “Bicyclist killed in crosswalk collision w/motorcyclist”