Urge Veto of SB1234

(Photo: Mark Henle/The Republic)

Today I contacted Gov. Hobbs to urge her to veto Sen Rodger’s SB1234, which would further ban all forms of automated enforcement in the state. Including red-light signal, as well as school zone speeding enforcement.

The current status quo would simply allow local authorities to continue to use it where they feel it will improve safety. The state legislators have no business telling localities what to do. Republican’s claims that phot0-enforcement is unconstitutional are entirely unfounded, and unsupported; and their continuing to peddle that lie is shameful.

Continue reading “Urge Veto of SB1234”

Warner Road Crash; Serious Injury, Driver Arrested

Massive crash mid-morning Tuesday Aug 16, 2022 about 9:00 a.m. Warner Road between Juniper and Lakeshore (a.k.a. Dorsey Ln) in southern Tempe.

Police had eastbound traffic diverted most of the day, indicating serious injury or fatality.

It would appear high speeds are involved (the red vehicle pictured came to rest 200′ east of the intersection where the collision occurred) but no information seems to have been released by Tempe pd, no news, etc.

If you have any information, please leave a comment below. This is a little over a mile away from the spot on Rural Road where a driver lost control and killed a woman sitting at a bus stop earlier this year.


Below is what police told me a few days later; it’s odd it wasn’t (apparently?) sent to the news media, I also note that the name of driver who was arrested was not revealed (arrestees are usually named)… will need to get a police report, but that won’t be available for awhile.
Circumstances indicate police would looking at felony criminal charge.
The details, such as they are, don’t indicate which driver was arrested. However, besides impairment, the condition of the red vehicle, plus where it came to rest ( a couple hundred feet) indicates excessive speed.

———- Forwarded message ———
Date: Fri, Aug 19, 2022 at 2:47 PM
Subject: RE: Warner Rd Crash Fwd: Recent roadway fatalities and severe crashes

On Tuesday at approximately 9:50 a.m. Tempe PD worked a two-vehicle collision near E Warner Rd and S Dorsey Ln. One of the subjects was transported to the hospital with a serious physical injury that was not life-threatening. The collision caused the eastbound lanes on Warner Rd at Lakeshore Dr. to be closed for a bit. During the investigation on the scene, the driver of the other vehicle was placed under arrest; impairment was a factor.

Best,
Tempe Police Media Relations Unit
480-350-8311
480-341-0441 (cell)
policepio@tempe.gov


See comment below for another violent turning-error crash along Warner at Hardy in Feb 2023 that sent a vehicle out of control through the BL and up on the sidewalk; anyone walking or riding there would have been seriously injured or worse. See March 2023 Tucson fatality where a motorist left-turn error caused a 2-vehicle crash that resulted in the death of a cyclist when one of vehicles careeened onto the sidewalk.

Woman sought in connection to a homicide investigation

In case you are keeping score; this will (likely) not be a traffic statistic.

Fatalities that are, or believed to be, caused by intentional acts are not counted as traffic casualties… though the usual criminal ancillary charges would still apply (e.g. hit and run). This being on a reservation and involvement of tribal members changes the venue, i.e. the Pima County Sheriff and prosecutor would not be handling and the jurisdiction becomes federal. (see info linked here)

12/26/2021 1:20AM Tucson. Victim’s name wasn’t release; the suspect is near 7781 S. Camino Benem

Continue reading “Woman sought in connection to a homicide investigation”

Hit-run driver eludes capture for a year — sentenced

This is a story from Boulder, CO

The story doesn’t say how the driver was caught — but it’s heartening to see law enforcement keep after these dangerous criminals — hit and run is a felony in Arizona as I’m sure it is also in Colorado. Again, no legal details at this level but the end result was the driver was sentenced to 2.5 years. And, oh yeah, the driver was uninsured (of course).

There are numerous examples of outstanding police-work hit and run cases in Arizona that I am aware of… I’m sure there are more but e.g. the alleged killer of GCU student and jogger Taylor White took 3 years.

According to the sparse details of the crash itself, on a Saturday afternoon in 2019, a van driver, Stephen Grattan, drifted from the lane onto a wide shoulder for unknown reasons (drunk? high? sleeping?), and struck the bicyclist from behind.

Andrew Bernstein on Hit-and-Run That Nearly Killed Him, Search for Justice and Life Now

The victim’s statement at sentencing I found quite well-stated: Continue reading “Hit-run driver eludes capture for a year — sentenced”

Arizona Bicyclist Street Smarts

Why this post is here: sometime in 2021, ADOT reorganized what used to be known as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Program’s website, azbikeped.org ; that link still works, but it just redirects to what is now called the ADOT Active Transportation program’s website: activetransportation.az.gov

Bicycling Street Smarts cover imageThe old site contained a full online copy of Arizona Bicycling Street Smarts, a 42 page booklet that contained excellent advice for how to ride a bicycle safely in traffic, among other topics. The bad news is the new site no longer contains that content; the good news is Arizona Bicycling Street Smarts is available in its entirety from archive.org.

Continue reading “Arizona Bicyclist Street Smarts”

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”

Driver kills self and another in rush-hour 202 Santan freeway

Monday around 6pm. The driver of a large SUV entered the 202/Santan freeway off-ramp at Alma School, causing a head-on crash killing herself and another woman.

Maybe the sun was in her eyes?

“…Investigators learned a white GMC Yukon entered the highway going the wrong direction on the Alma School Road off-ramp. The driver, 30-year-old Sarah Walterscheid, accelerated at a high rate of speed into oncoming traffic, hitting a Kia head-on…”, killing 44-year-old Jackie Keeper. https://www.abc15.com/traffic/two-dead-in-crash-involving-wrong-way-driver-along-loop-202-santan

$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 indicted in texting-killing incident

Scene on SR101 where officer was killed

Jerry Sanstead Jr, the driver in this Jan ’19 incident was finally indicted on manslaughter in Dec 2020. That it takes this long to even bring charges speaks volumes about the sorry state of holding drivers responsible for their actions behind the wheel:

DPS: Driver who killed officer was texting and driving

Waymo releases data on 6 million miles

“In its first report on its autonomous vehicle operations in Phoenix, Arizona, Waymo said that it was involved in 18 crashes and 29 near-miss collisions…” reports the Verge

The 18 refer to actual crashes where actual contact was made was contacted with another vehicle (or potentially if it has been, or bicyclist). There were no injuries.

The 29 near-misses refer to simulated responses of their AV system; which didn’t actually happen, because the human driver intervened. The vast majority of Miles logged were with a human “safety driver” present.


By the way here’s the story of the kook that caused one of the crashes, he was apparently a disgruntled ex-Waymo driver ; it also includes a link to the nut who brandished a gun at a waymo driver, apparently because he was aggreived by the waymo vehicles.

Continue reading “Waymo releases data on 6 million miles”