The law specifying the maximum vehicle width for Arizona is below, and for comparison, the UVC is also copied. Continue reading “Width of Vehicles”
Gilbert hit and run; bicyclist dead
3/21/2016 ~ 8pm Bicyclist struck going northbound in the intersection of Queen Creek Road and Ranch House Parkway, Gilbert, AZ
The bicyclist was identified as 28 year-old Erik Alsaker.
The driver fled the scene. Police are looking for a dark colored, small SUV or sedan w/ heavy front-end passenger side damage.
Missing 2013 and 2014 Fatalities
A note about data sources
- FARS. As of this writing the 2013 final is available, and 2014 is preliminary
- Arizona Crash Facts; published yearly by ADOT in June of the following year
- ADOT collision database sometimes called ASDM (I’ll refer to it as that, below); released yearly in June of the following year
- News / Media reports; obviously this is very incomplete and hit-and-miss
Data from all these sources is located centrally on this google docs spreadsheet. which covers each bicyclist fatality occurring from 2009 onward.
Normally these are all in agreement, however there are multiple inconsistencies in both 2013 and 2014 that I cannot resolve. Continue reading “Missing 2013 and 2014 Fatalities”
Ahwatukee traffic fatality is apparent suicide
3/12/2016 7:30pm. Police describe the single-vehicle collision as an apparent suicide by the driver. 48th Street, just west of Elliot Rd, Phoenix. (that’s “Biscuit’s” yellow sign in the background)… Continue reading “Ahwatukee traffic fatality is apparent suicide”
Two peds injured on Phx sidewalk
3/3/2016 Two peds on the sidewalk were injured after two motor vehicles collided in the of 7th Ave and Jefferson. This is one of Phoenix’s many, massively wide arterial-arterial intersections where any error can easily, and often does, result in mayhem. In this case, the two pedestrians and one of the MV drivers were fortunate to escape with only non-life-threatening injuries.
Vision Zero anyone? There are over 100,000 MV crashes per year in Arizona, resulting in many thousands of incapacitating injuries, and nearly 1,000 fatalities; victims are drivers, passengers, pedestrians and bicyclists. Each year… and the trend recently is up.
Multiple Pima Co fatality; Driver arrested
Thursday 3/3/2016 mid-day. A Driver crashed into a “large group” (the news report said ~ 15) of cyclists who were stopped at a traffic signal, and standing in a BL, nonetheless. At the time of this writing two are dead, and several more injured. The driver was arrested on DUI charges and was taken into custody. North La Cañada Drive and West Overton/Hardy Road, which is in Pima County, and is being investigated by the Pima County Sheriff’s Office.
bicycletucson.com has updated information; the identity of the suspect and the two fatality victims has been released:
(suspect) Brian Lynch, 28, struck five members of the group. Clare Rhodes, 72, died at the scene and Kenneth Vieira, 68, died at the hospital. The other cyclists were transported to the hospital where one cyclist remains in critical condition.
Continue reading “Multiple Pima Co fatality; Driver arrested”
Low speed, no injury collision is headline news
A low speed fender-bender makes national news? Continue reading “Low speed, no injury collision is headline news”
Arizona’s “Truth in Sentencing” Law
Sentencing Reference Material
Criminal Code Sentencing Provisions; currently 2017-2018
If that link goes dead, there’s a landing page at azcourts.gov for the sentencing material.
Sentencing is fairly intricate; With felony crimes the primary determinant being whether or not the crime is sentenced as “dangerous” vs. “non-dangerous”; this apparently is determined on a case-by-case basis; and non-dangerous crimes are all probation-eligible (meaning can be no prison time; even for serious offenses)
References; here are the general rules, there are many other sub-categories with special rules for offenses e.g. involving children, or drugs:
- §13-707 misdemeanor jail sentence
- §13-802 misdemeanor fines
- §13-702 felony prison / non-dangerous offenses (all probationable) / non-repetitive
- §13-704 felony prison / dangerous offenses (not probationable) / first offenders
- §13-801 & §13-803 felony fines
Also note that, unlike a civil judgement, criminal restitution is not dischargable through bankruptcy.
§13-708. Involves sentencing for crimes committed when out on release for earlier felony crimes, see e.g. case of Frank Kitko.
Class 1?
The felony rules above, like 702/4, as well as the reference guide only cover class 2 through 6. What about class 1?
(In Arizona’s homicide world, Neg Hom is a class 4, Manslaughter is class 2, and 1st AND 2nd Degree Murder is class 1.)
13-710 Sentence for second degree murder
1st degree murder is: 13-1105
Sentence of death or life imprisonment 13-751.
Apparently 1st and 2nd degree murder are the only Felony Class 1 crimes.
Vehicular Assault / Vehicular Homicide
References to homicide / assault:
- Homicide (1st, 2nd Murder, Manslaughter, Negligent Homicide)
- Assault and Aggravated Assault
Jury Instructions
As a reference document: The State Bar of Arizona publishes a lengthy document — Revised Arizona Jury Instruction (Criminal) currently in its 4th Ed 2018, direct link
And contains amongst the instructions useful references to relevant case law.
Arizona’s “Truth in Sentencing” Law
I feel like I’ve looked this up before…
Arizona passed a major overhaul to the state’s sentencing code (Senate Bill 1049, Chapter 255, 1993 laws) in the 1993 legislative session. Annoyingly, the online lookup azleg.gov doesn’t go back before 1997, so at the moment I don’t have access to the bill itself. (need to look it up thru library). Continue reading “Arizona’s “Truth in Sentencing” Law”
Wrong-way driver sentenced to 14 years in death of Phoenix fire dispatcher
The driver in one of the headon freeway collisions was sentenced in a plea deal to 14 years in prison. Stephen Martin plea guilty to 2nd degree murder for causing the Jan 2015 death of Phoenix dispatcher Megan Lange. Continue reading “Wrong-way driver sentenced to 14 years in death of Phoenix fire dispatcher”
Total VMT and fatalities are up
[mid/late 2016 NSC estimates for fatalities are up big-time over 2015]
As a follow on to last week’s story about how Arizona 2015 traffic fatalities are up by at least 15% …
Preliminary data prepared by the NSC shows traffic fatalities nationally are expected to be up 10% (though an AP story says 8%) . And FHWA preliminary data shows total VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled) will increase to 3.1T miles, compared with 3T in 2014; (so perhaps a 3.5% increase). Continue reading “Total VMT and fatalities are up”
Arizona Motor Vehicle Fatalities increase in 2015
Preliminary data from ADOT shows a notable increase in traffic fatalities in 2015. At present the preliminary toll is 891 for 2015 — but is expected to rise as final reports trickle in — compared to 773 deaths in 2014. That would be a 15% increase.
There is no, not even a preliminary, breakdown by person type (driver, pedestrian, bicyclist, etc)… which seems odd. VERY preliminary bicyclist traffic fatality data for 2015 can be found at fatality-grid; but those numbers (presently 18 bicyclists) are guaranteed to be low because ADOT hoards the data for themselves, so it’s just whatever I came across in newspapers and word-of-mouth.
Also see report-phx-metro-freeway-crashes-dramatically-increase-in-2015 from a couple of weeks ago ; which noted that the number of crashes on Maricopa county freeways had increase even more dramatically, 23%, year-over-year.
Continue reading “Arizona Motor Vehicle Fatalities increase in 2015”
Tucson Bicyclist seriously injured; Driver Flees
A Tucson bicyclist was struck from behind and seriously injured 2/14/2016 ~3PM; the driver fled the scene. Both were N/B on S Craycroft Rd near E 25th Street, Tucson. The cyclist was said to have been riding in a bike lane. He was also said to have not been wearing a helmet (no word on whether or not a helmet might have prevented the broken ribs, but I digress).
The suspect was located with the help of some surveillance photos; indicating that Tuscon PD invested significant resources into the investigation. Continue reading “Tucson Bicyclist seriously injured; Driver Flees”
Woman killed crossing street in Ahwatukee
Saturday night 2/12/2016 ~ 9:45PM. Victim Nina Hale, 68. 48th Street south of Ray Road, Phoenix (the “Ahwatukee” area of Phoenix).
Victim wasn’t in a crosswalk — case closed! I should admit right up front I have no particular idea of what actually happened. It is quite possible, likely even, that the driver was doing nothing legally wrong — i.e. they already said he didn’t seem to be impaired, and it’s likely he was driving within what is considered a reasonable speed — and the victim was doing “everything” legally wrong, because a pedestrian outside of a crosswalk must yield to any vehicles on the roadway. That said, this is going to turn into a rant about high-speed arterial roadway design so beloved by sunbelt traffic engineers… Continue reading “Woman killed crossing street in Ahwatukee”
Report: Phx metro freeway crashes dramatically increase in 2015
The headline is the paper reads Report: DPS, ADOT clearing crashes faster on Maricopa County freeways but a factiod reveals later in the article should have been noted, my emphasis “Despite a 23 percent increase in freeway crashes“. This is a huge year-over-year increase. Why? If you read the actual press releases, it mentions the period is the first nine months of 2014 vs. 2015. yikes.
Continue reading “Report: Phx metro freeway crashes dramatically increase in 2015”
Police: Bicyclist hit/killed crossing road in East Mesa
incident occurred 1/27/2016 ~ 11am. Victim was “crossing” mid-block according to police. Eastern part of city of Mesa; University Drive, between Higley and Greenfield roads.
University Drive, the road the cyclist was attempting to “cross” is a typical high-speed 5 lane arterial.
It’s never completely clear from the descriptions what crossing mid-block means exactly — it should mean away from not only intersections (which was implied by article “There were no crosswalks located in the area”), but also that there the cyclist was not emerging, or entering a driveway (or attempting to).
Bicyclists should be acting as the driver of a vehicle, and therefore should never be “crossing” a road; though of course many do. Continue reading “Police: Bicyclist hit/killed crossing road in East Mesa”