I can’t find any mention of this fatality anywhere. I found it only because it appears in asdm data for 2014.
The location of the fatal collision is Dobbins Rd and 51st Ave. This appears that it could be a right on red turning error by the motorist;
ASDM
I found this while reconciling the 2014 data, this is adot incident=2941800. The officer NCIC was Phoenix PD, but extened NCIC is MCSO, and the city is listed as UNSPECIFIED; I would have guessed this is within city of Phoenix but could be this is in a county island(?).
The cyclist was northbound going straight ahead in the marked crosswalk (counter-flow; given the direction of the motorist), and collided with an eastbound motorist turning right. Who had a red light?
The cyclist was dinged for FTY. The motorist got NO IMPROPER. This intersection is signalized — did the motorist have a red light?
ACR
I obtained the ACR, it is city of Phoenix incident number 14002106018. The ACR indicates it is in the city of Phoenix so I don’t know what’s up with that (the asdm says the city is “unspecified”, which typically indicates an unincorporated area).
There is absolutely nothing in the report about a signal, and what color it might have been. It is beyond me that the Phoenix police department can investigate a collision (a fatal one, at that) at a signalized intersection and not even mention the color of the signal. Did the driver have a red light? The cyclist? No one knows, apparently, even though there were two independent witnesses listed. Here is the entire narrative, with a couple of added comments in [brackets]:
On 12/3/2014 at approximately 1124 hours Unit #1 [unit #1 is the unit that is, in the opinion of the investigator, most at fault for causing the collision], a tricycle, was northbound on the west sidewalk [i.e. against the flow of adjacent traffic; though crosswalks and sidewalks have no direction] of South 51st Avenue. The rider exited the sidewalk and entered the roadway in the crosswalk of West Dobbins Road. Unit #2 was making a right turn to proceed southbound on 51st Avenue when Unit #1 rode in front of her. Unit #2 struck Unit #1 causing him to fall off of the tricycle striking his head on the ground. The rider of Unit #1 was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital for treatment. Unit #1 was pronounced dead on 12/9/2014 at 0353 hours.
Drivers wishing to make a right-on-red must “…yield the right-of-way to pedestrians and other traffic proceeding as directed by the signal” 28-645(3)b. But the police seem to just want to avoid the whole question altogether and ignore that there was a signal! All we can say in reading the Report (and looking at the asdm database) is the Phoenix PD says the driver did nothing wrong; and the (tri)cyclist did everything wrong — yet the narrative gives no indication why that might be. Why did the investigator assign most-at-fault to the bicyclist? Because bicycling in a crosswalk is illegal? riding counter-flow? or perhaps thinks bicyclists simply must always yield to drivers in every situation? We don’t know.
It could be — but should not be — that the DR (dept report; which i assume exists but i didn’t check) has such details.
One of the reasons bicyclists (and tricyclists) are cautioned against riding on sidewalks is that drivers are not able to look out for fast-moving things on the sidewalks is that turning drivers, even diligent ones, may not have enough time to look both ways. I find it highly unlikely a 93 man on a tricycle was moving very fast.