Drivers are dangerous

McClintock and Apache wreck photo: Mark Beach/Fresco News

last week’s Uber-involved crash should highlight the current state of affairs: Drivers are dangerous. Tempe Police cited a “human” driver for making a bad left at McClintock and Apache causing the crash with the Uber/Volvo SUV to rollover on its side.  The Uber was being autonomously driven at the time, according to the company.

There are over 100,000 reported wrecks per year in Arizona involving motor vehicle drivers only, with hundreds dead and thousands injured; a driver is at fault in each and every one of those incidents.  Continue reading “Drivers are dangerous”

Police seek Driver in Fatal Hit-and-run north Phoenix

Sun 3/12/2017 ~ 9pm. Bicyclist Mark Dickson was killed by a hit-and-run driver in the area of 40th St & Bell Rd. BOLO silver newer Ford Fusion.

Other news reports mention the hit-and-run driver was likely speeding “…leading investigators to believe that the driver was traveling at a high rate of speed”

Continue reading “Police seek Driver in Fatal Hit-and-run north Phoenix”

Bicyclist killed in Right hook South Tucson semi crash

What’s wrong with this picture?

2/16/2017 ~noon. 60-year-old Robert Lucke was killed in what was described as a classic right hook crash with a semi at South Sixth Avenue and East 36th Street, S Tucson. Both were traveling north on South Sixth Avenue in the curb lane when the truck  turned right. Continue reading “Bicyclist killed in Right hook South Tucson semi crash”

Bicyclist dies in Tucson NW side wreck

2/13/2017 11:15AM Bicyclist 25-year-old Nicholas Rizzuti was killed as he was eastbound W Miracle Mile turning left; struck by westbound motorist at intersection of Flowing Wells Rd, Tucson

There are a lot of lanes here, there are double left turn lanes; the signal specifics weren’t mentioned, other than the WB had green; and presumably EB also had green. Most double-left configurations typically have restricted arrow cycles, but not all.

Continue reading “Bicyclist dies in Tucson NW side wreck”

Arizona Electric Bicycle Legislation (bill died)

An ebike bill PASSED in 2018: HB2652. Below info is for historical purposes…

[5/10/2017; bill stalled. Never got a House floor vote]
[Current Status as of 3/1/2017: passed the Senate by wide margins, also passed House T&I Committee but they implied it would need to be amended to pass the floor; as of 3/19 it’s not passed the house; see below ]
ca-e-bike-croppedAs of spring 2017 there is an e-bike bill working its way through the legislature.  SB1273  (2017, 53rd/1st Regular session). This bill, if passed, would address some or all of the confusion documented at length in these pages, at least for e-bikes. The bill’s prime sponsor is Bob Worsley (R-Mesa), is senate president so I’d have to assume it’s going to pass ; [correction, Yarborough is, so I have no idea how i got that wrong] and is moving fast, as of the time of this writing (early February 2017) it has already passed the Senate Transportation and Technology Committee unanimously with little debate. Besides being senate president,  Worsley is the chairperson of the senate Transp committee. I have no idea about the house but there’s little apparently standing in the bill’s way.  Continue reading “Arizona Electric Bicycle Legislation (bill died)”

Does AZ really have “tough” DUI laws?

Arizona metes out harsh penalties for drunken driving, with mandatory jail time and heavy fines, and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said Arizona has steep penalties for good reason

— Arizona toughest in nation on DUIs, study says

“simple” DUI results in spending a day in jail; this is apparently enough to place AZ as having the toughest laws.

You might expect, then, that DUI drivers who injure people, and are not simply driving around impaired, would receive harsh sentences. Continue reading “Does AZ really have “tough” DUI laws?”

“Evidence of Identity” Rides Again

Is this valid ID for John Doe under 28-1595C?

I’ve been following this since as far back as 1999 (a deaf-mute bicyclist was arrested and held in jail overnight because he lacked ID); with some interesting updates in 2014 (police demanding ID from an ostensibly “jaywalking” pedestrian).

The rules revolving around operators of a motor vehicle are pretty clear; drivers must have a valid drivers license for other reasons (e.g. to comply with §28-3151 ), and the DL satisfies the elements set forth in 28-1595: name, address, height, etc — but for everyone else it’s remain vague, and in fact court rulings have (repeatedly) looked at the non-motorist provision and struck it down, most recently in 2003 Atkins; and the law hasn’t changed since. Continue reading ““Evidence of Identity” Rides Again”

Girl killed in Buckeye by distracted driver

I had missed this when it happened, though it was reported in the media. I learned about it while hearing the victim’s mother speak at the Distracted Driving Summit at the state capitol yesterday.

Nov 2, 2016 ~ 6:30pm. Victim Chloe Schneider, 16/F was struck from behind  by a 22/F driver on Yuma Road near Tuthill, Buckeye, AZ. Chloe was training for an upcoming (MTB) event. (If i remember what I heard correctly, the victim’s sister was also involved?)

Continue reading “Girl killed in Buckeye by distracted driver”

Warner Resurfacing

Warner Road; typical cross section ~ 68 feet curb-to-curb (google maps sat view before 2016 resurface)

Warner Road is a major east-west arterial that runs through much of the East Valley. It’s continuous from Phoenix (Ahwatukee area, where it forms a loop with Elliot Road, another major e-w arterial), thru Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert. In the city of Tempe it runs the entire width of the city, from wherever exactly it is that Tempe begins (just east of I-10 bridge) to just west of SR101 (google maps)

Warner in this area generally has two through lanes and a designated bike lane (BL) in each direction as well as a continuous center lane, some major intersections have right-turn-only lanes (RTOL), but others do not (more on that later). There are no BLs in the area immediately east of I-10, and there are numerous “dropped” BLs; where the BL is intentionally discontinued to make room for a RTOL. Continue reading “Warner Resurfacing”

Usable Width and Bike Lanes

[Jump directly below to Usable Width for roads without bike lanes]
[Jump directly below to Guadalupe Rd resurfacing example]
[Jump directly below to some engineering details of gutter pans]

Usable Width of a Bike Lane

These Bike Lanes meet both the minimum overall width and recommended usable width

The dimension below all refer to urban streets with curbs and no parking…  Most recommendations for Bike Lane dimensions refer to the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities , the general rule is

the minimum bike lane width is 5 ft (1.5 m), measured from the face of a curb or vertical surface to the center of the bike lane line

However, that changes when a gutter pan is involved, more width is required to meet their recommendations —

Along sections of roadway with curb and gutter, a usable width of 4 ft (1.2 m) measured from the longitudinal joint to the center of the bike lane line is recommended

Continue reading “Usable Width and Bike Lanes”

2015 Unknown/”Invisible” Bicyclist Fatalities

This article is a catch-all for any reported Arizona bicyclist traffic fatality that are otherwise unknown — no media, or any other, coverage could be found; they are only listed as statistics in the crash database.

In addition to the six below, there are an additional two that were not mentioned anywhere in the news/media: two-missing-2015-hit-and-run-fatalities. Continue reading “2015 Unknown/”Invisible” Bicyclist Fatalities”

How to make a right turn

These are references to California-specific laws.

In mid December 2016 Sfbike.org (SanFrancisco Bike Coaltion) issued a warning regarding how Uber autonomously driving cars make right turns. At nearly the same time Uber has de-camped from CA (see e.g. this 12/22/2016 article from recode), literally loading their fleet onto car carriers and driving them to…. Arizona! The decision was based on CA’s regulatory environment for autonomously-driven cars; Uber decided they didn’t want to pursue special permitting which the CA DMV said was required, whereas Arizona has no special permitting required — so long as there’s a live driver sitting in the driver’s seat. More about Uber, below. Continue reading “How to make a right turn”

More about: Celebrity DUIs and other car criminals

There are tens of thousands of DUI arrests per year in AZ (39,746 in 2013 to be more precise). And that’s not counting the many of the over ten thousand hit-and-run drivers reported each year in AZ (11,402 in 2010 to be more precise), all of whom are criminals, thousands of them serious felons, few of whom are ever caught or charged. (hit-and-run from a collision with any injury is a felony, if the injury is serious or fatal the felony is likewise serious). Continue reading “More about: Celebrity DUIs and other car criminals”

Hit and run suspect still on the loose after 2006 fatality

UPDATE: Suspect Arrested Nov 2019, see below…

Suspect Christopher Flores, pictured in 2006

Mother wants justice for son killed while bicycling
Updated: Mar 10, 2015 11:56 PM

By Erin Kennedy
PHOENIX – A Valley mother is hoping to make some progress in a cold case involving the death of her son.

It was seven years ago this week that Bonnie Wedo’s oldest son, Jason, 29, was hit by a car and killed while riding his bike to a friend’s house to help them move.
Continue reading “Hit and run suspect still on the loose after 2006 fatality”