3/10/2018 ~ 3:30am. Phoenix Police said a bicyclist struck a raised median near Baseline and I-10 off-ramp causing him to fall into traffic where he was stuck and killed by a eastbound motorist. Continue reading “Bicyclist dies after falling into traffic”
Phoenix’s Sawcut ordinance
Cutting into a road surface creates maintenance problems. Since the city is ultimately responsible for it, there are a set of rules, permits, and fees imposed on whomever might be doing the digging, typically an adjoining property owner (for, for example a new driveway) or utility companies, or the city itself (see example photo at right).
The aftermath of any cutting or digging in a road is particularly problematical for bicyclists when it results in longitudinal gashes/gaps/cracks… and is particularly problematical when the crack is within a Bike Lane because it can reduce the usable width to the point where traveling within the BL becomes impossible to do safely; and furthermore these dangerous conditions are unlikely to be appreciated or even noticed by motorists. Continue reading “Phoenix’s Sawcut ordinance”
Massive crash on Phx local street leaves driver dead
mid-day (~2pm) Thursday March 1, 2018.
A driver veered for unknown reasons causing a massive collision leaving that driver dead, and sending several to the hospital. This is on a “local” street, Roeser Rd east of 32nd St, adjacent to a nice park. “Officers are investigating whether speed or impairment were a factor in the crash” abc15 Continue reading “Massive crash on Phx local street leaves driver dead”
Driver kills man at Safeway
2/28/2018 ~3PM
Man dies after being hit by SUV outside Scottsdale Safeway
“The victim has been identified as 81-year-old Michael Ebertin… Police said a 70-year-old woman was behind the wheel of an SUV with another woman when she, for some reason, drove up on the sidewalk to the front of the store and hit the two men.
She stopped just short of the store.”
Road Rage, late-night bar-hopping, and guns
Incident Feb 4, 2018 left an off-duty Tempe fire captain Kyle Brayer dead.
The defendant, Hezron Parks, has plead not guilty to a variety of charges: 3X aggravated assault, 7X endangerment, and leaving the scene, and some others. Murder charges, if any, have yet to be brought — “The defendant stated that he felt threatened and justified in grabbing his unholstered handgun” Continue reading “Road Rage, late-night bar-hopping, and guns”
River Road Fatal Crash
1/31/2018 ~ 10am Victim male. Not much detail released.
Location: River Road eastbound lanes somewhere near N Shannon Rd, Pima County
The location wasn’t released, but River Road appears to be a divided arterial road with two lanes in each direction plus wide bike lanes; in addition to dedicated turn pockets.
lane-splitting is lane-sharing
[UPDATE: Arizona law was modified in 2022 to allow “limited” lane-sharing for motorcyclists, see comment] This is still in quite rough form. Bear with me as I elaborate. The premise is (motorcycle) lane-splitting is related to (bicycle) lane sharing. Lane-splitting is also sometimes referred to as “filtering”.
Lane splitting Legal Misconception
I was under the impression, what I believe now to be a common misconception, that motorcycle lane-splitting refers to a motorcyclists splitting between two lanes; in other words riding on the dashed line.
There are two related traffic rules, the first is general and applies to all persons driving any vehicle: motorcyclists, motorists driving cars/trucks, and incidentally also to bicyclists. This general rule implicitly makes lane-splitting by riding on the dashed line illegal. Continue reading “lane-splitting is lane-sharing”
Where do traffic laws apply?
[ For where and how traffic laws in Arizona apply to bicyclists, see this article ]
The rules of the road (ROR) apply to motorists when an a road; but what about when driving in a parking lot? A private street? etc?
What are usually referred to as the ROR, like stopping, right-of-way, signals, etc, are contained in Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 28, Chapters 3. (Chapter 4 is impaired driving and is treated specifically below). Here is the key statute, along with the key definition, emphasis added in italics: Continue reading “Where do traffic laws apply?”
Left Cross Collision
A Cross-type Bike-MV collision occurs when a bicyclist and motorist who are traveling in opposing directions collide while the motorist is making a turn. If both are traveling in proper direction, it would be a left cross; as illustrated between the blue vehicle and the bicyclist in the illustration. For a counter-flow bicyclist, a right-cross can occur.
(This in in contrast to to a hook collision, which involves a turning motorist and a same direction cyclist. ) Continue reading “Left Cross Collision”
13-year-old boy struck, killed on sidewalk in south Phoenix by susp impaired driver
12/1/2017 ~ 1:30pm A SB driver 19th Ave near Broadway, Phoenix while speeding and illegally passing vehicles (i.e. driving SB in NB lanes), lost control and drove up on the sidewalk, killing 13 y.o. Cordell Gooch
Police say there were “early indications that the driver showed signs of impairment”
Sidewalk driver accused of murder in a ‘random act of violence’
A driver drove up on the sidewalk and killed a woman and injured her child near 41st St and Jomax, Phoenix.
Police describe the incident as murder, and a ‘random act of violence’. Quite.
Continue reading “Sidewalk driver accused of murder in a ‘random act of violence’”
ASU doctoral student killed in Tempe crosswalk crash
[ 1/29/2018 City of Tempe is considering changing cyclist right-of-way rules. This is potentially very involved and intricate. See both below, and also see letter and replies from Councilman Keating sent as CAZBike ]
[ 11/24 Updates on this shocking crosswalk fatality continue to ooze out from Tempe police, as the grieving family of Xiaoying Wen came to Tempe from China seeking answers; “Tempe police said both had the green light, but Wen failed to yield, and Tempe city law dictates that bicyclists must yield to motorists”. See below for this bad local law. LAB Bike Friendly GOLD? ]
The 11/21 News story says the crash occurred ‘last week” ? news media seems to report less and less.
Date: [Thursday 11/16/2017 ~ 4:15pm per comment below] Location: intersection of Rural Road and Vista del Cerro Drive
Continue reading “ASU doctoral student killed in Tempe crosswalk crash”
Serious injury crash Sahuarita
Crash October 13, 2017 ~ 1:30pm La Cañada (a.k.a. Rancho Resort Road) and Sahuarita Road. The description from the new report was, a driver “traveling north on [presumably South] La Cañada [Drive] collided with the bicyclist at the intersection of Sahuarita Road as the bicyclist tried to turn north [i.e. a right turn] from westbound Sahuarita Road” Continue reading “Serious injury crash Sahuarita”
Tempe Traffic Collisions
There have been 4 bicyclists killed in Tempe traffic collisions on city streets (excludes limited-access highways) over the past 5 years [five year period 2010-2014); at the same time dozens of motorists and 14 pedestrians have been killed.
[UPDATed totals: There have been a total of 9 bicyclist traffic fatalities in the past 13 years, 2009-2021]
Skip below to #fatals for an incident-by-incident description
Scope of the Problem
For the figures in this report, a 5-year time period, 2010-2014 was selected (the most recent available at the time; 2015 & 16 has since become available). Many additional crashes occur (14,000!) occur in Tempe on limited access highways; these crashes are not included.
There were 21,167 traffic crashes reported in the period, below are the number of people, by person type, involved: Continue reading “Tempe Traffic Collisions”
Another Ahwatukee jogger killed on sidewalk: driver arrested
Holy sh!t, another one, I mean another jogger in Ahwatukee killed by a dangerous out-of-control driver… this is a small place. Freak “accident”? Two freak “accidents”?;
11/2/2017 ~ 4AM . Pedestrian / jogger killed on sidewalk near Lakewood Parkway and Amberwood Drive this is a collector road in a residential neighborhood. Police suspect driver was impaired, she was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. Witnesses reported that the driver of the vehicle, 25-year-old Shannon Scott, was driving on the sidewalk when Hilts was struck”
Continue reading “Another Ahwatukee jogger killed on sidewalk: driver arrested”