Arizona Bike Law

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”

Police suspect DUI: Owner recounts car barreling into his Phoenix restaurant

The un-named driver’s black BMW at rest inside the heavily damaged restaurant. Driver was charged with DUI.

12/2 ~6:15pm near Thomas Road and 15th Avenue. Nice.

The car drove up the sidewalk and over the curb before colliding with a tree, plowing through a pillar holding up the restaurant’s patio roof and continuing on into the main dining area of the restaurant where eight people sat.

The man was later cited for driving while impaired, police said. His name was not released.

Why not?

Continue reading “Police suspect DUI: Owner recounts car barreling into his Phoenix restaurant”

MCSO: Bicyclist hit and killed near Mesa by driver on heroin

11/22/2016 ~7:30 Bicyclist Eric I. Gilbert was hit and killed by a driver who (lost control or whatever) jumped the curb and struck the cyclist (on the sidewalk or dirt, presumably; see google maps view of the general vicinity). The driver, of course, fled the scene; and the suspect vehicle was found a short distance away. A suspect driver was fingered via the owner of the vehicle and was arrested a couple of days later. MSCO says the suspect said he was on heroin at the time. Continue reading “MCSO: Bicyclist hit and killed near Mesa by driver on heroin”

3-year AZ Freeway Fatality Toll

In a longish piece in AZ Republic Live or die on Phoenix-area freeways: It’s your choice (the print edition was headlined 3-year freeway fatality toll: 207) about (specifically metro-Phoenix area. I think they looked at just Maricopa County) freeway traffic fatalities, it was revealed the fatality rate was 61% higher than national averages, per mile driven. I’m not sure exactly what’s counted; it apparently counts only that part of the state highway system that is fully controlled-access, a.k.a. freeways, and in Maricopa county for the purposes of this series of articles.

The usual suspects were called out: speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving, motorcycling in general (helmets), not wearing seatbelts.

Things you won’t hear people say: “I would never get in a car… Drivers are just too dangerous” Continue reading “3-year AZ Freeway Fatality Toll”

Chandler police: Woman killed, children hurt in crosswalk

[Update Nov 2017: moving ahead in Chandler Muni on misdy charges, see below]
[Update as of Oct 21, 2017; no charges, no nothing; nothing on caselookup??]
[Update May 2018; penalties for 28-672/5/6 were strengthened in response to this incident]
[FINAL Update May 2019; driver sentenced, see below]

Nov 2016: A driver was arrested after a collision at crosswalk left one woman dead and two small children seriously injured. The intersection has a signal; police, based on some witnesses, believe the driver ran a red light when he struck the people in the crosswalk crossing Ray Road at College Dr (also known as Ponderosa Dr) in Chandler, AZ. (it may be very near the boundary of Tempe). Continue reading “Chandler police: Woman killed, children hurt in crosswalk”

Driver terrorized another motorist for 25 minutes

Suspect Jowen Noel Moses arrested. DUI suspected. Suspect is reported to, besides the criminal acts described (aggravated assault, resisting arrest, unlawful flight, etc) have then attempted suicide in jail.

Incident occurred in the vicinity of Thomas and 48th Street; spanned Phoenix and Scottsdale.

Continue reading “Driver terrorized another motorist for 25 minutes”

Arizona e-bike model municipal law

[UPDATE: spring 2018 in AZ State legislature, HB2652, has PASSED; how this relates to local laws isn’t completely clear to me]

This is not coincidentally similar to legislation passed in California in 2015, and pushed by People For Bikes along with the e-bike industry, so start there. I say similar because it’s odd it doesn’t follow the class 1/2/3 in the CA (and as of Aug 2018 the AZ law?)

Electric bikes fall under the category of what Arizona calls a Motorized Bicycle at the state level. There are a number of gotchas involved, which have been copiously documented on these pages, e.g. start here. The main gotcha is illustrated below about unwittingly needing a drivers license, insurance and registration.

No municipality can fix these gotchas, they can only be addressed by the state legislature. I can only speculate the idea is for Tempe (or whoever; there is similar effort for MAG to recommend/adopt model regulations) to adopt rules that would in effect only kick in when the state “fixes” the state statutes. Continue reading “Arizona e-bike model municipal law”

2014 and 2015 Arizona Bicyclist Fatalities

With the sharp increase in traffic fatalities in 2015 (35,092 a 7.2% increase) — this is getting some extra attention, e.g. the Fastlane blog said on Aug 29, 2016: “2015 Traffic Fatalities Data Has Just Been Released: A Call to Action to Download and Analyze”. The big data news here is that PBCAT data has reappeared, and the 2014 and 2015 datasets released today both have a PBtable. PBCAT data is important because it give much more granular information about bicyclist (and pedestrian) fatalities. Continue reading “2014 and 2015 Arizona Bicyclist Fatalities”

NE-side Tucson serious injury — driver arrested

Bicyclist Brett Karrle was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash, Monday 10/10/2016 mid-afternoon.

Catalina Highway, south of Fort Lowell Rd, in Tucson, AZ (I can’t find that on google maps?). Presumably hit from behind but there are no details in the reporting.

The driver fled the scene, and was later located a short time later and arrested on hit/run and aggravated assault charges (suspected impairment).

Continue reading “NE-side Tucson serious injury — driver arrested”

Driver kills 4, injures 9 in horrific crash

Chandler residents Cruz and Annamarie Contreras were among the 4 pedestrians killed (plus more injured) in a park when a pickup driver lost control and crashed in San Diego / Coronado.

The driver was also injured and arrested for DUI causing death/injury. Continue reading “Driver kills 4, injures 9 in horrific crash”

Cyclist killed, another injured in Chandler crash

10/1/2016 fatal victim: female. Northbound on Arizona Avenue near Ryan Road.

This is only a couple of miles from the scene of another fatality in April on Riggs Road near Arizona Ave. Donald Neu was struck and killed by a driver who “drifted” into the rather wide, designated BL.

I don’t know what “criminal charges are possible” means; but once more-serious criminal charges have been ruled out — cases where a same-direction motorist drifts causing a rear-end collsion with a bicyclist in a bike lane (or a shoulder), on its face, should trigger a misdemeanor “causing death by moving violation” charge, see arizona-already-has-a-vulnerable-user-law

Continue reading “Cyclist killed, another injured in Chandler crash”