Fatal Tempe Ped hit-and-run; Driver arrested

Friday 9/12/2014 ~ 9pm near McClintock and Apache, Tempe.

Victim was crossing mid-block; Jon Alguire.  29 y.o. suspect Justin Michael Gordecki booked on susp of hit-run, DUI and “False reporting to police” (hmmm?).

Criminal case CR2014144645; so far headed to trial 7/8/2015. It seems plain he is not going to be charged with the victim’s death (mid-block crossing), just a “simple” hit-and-run, along with probably a dui. Not sure what the holdup could be.

There was an additional unrelated ped-MV crash the same night in Tempe at Priest and University with “life-threatening” injury.

eastvalleytribune.com

Are Cyclists Required to Carry ID? Are Pedestrians? Updated 2014

[2/23/2019 update: see story about 12 y.o. Hilde Kate Lysiak says Marshal Joseph Patterson stopped her as she was biking in Patagonia, Arizona. Various issues: asked her for identification?. “failure to comply with lawful order”? “illegal to video record”? ID?  ]

[2/17/2015 update: Officer Ferrin of the Ore incident has resigned. ASU released a chief’s letter and an independent investigation commissioned by ASU performed by Investigative Research Inc.  (apparently through public records?) I would describe as scathing, and that corroborates most of what I thought/said below, see the lengthy news story on azcentral — There is no law requiring peds to provide an ID card (in other words his saying “Let me see your ID or you will be arrested for failing to provide ID” is wrong, see  Arizona v Akins, below); there was no ‘jaywalking’, see link below to the actual jaywalking laws; there was probably no probable cause for the arrest; he didn’t “almost run her over”; 5 days earlier the officer had a similar (but non-physical) power-trip incident over a crosswalk. and on and on. The transcript, see below, confirms Officer Ferrin doesn’t understand the (ID) law]

[2015 update to the Ore incident: in an apparent about-face, ASU has moved to terminate Officer Stewart Ferrin over the matter; apparently as the result of an un-released independent review by an “outside agency”. ]

In 1999 Tucson bicyclist Enol Daniel Ortiz Jr. spent the night in jail for not having ID on him. It appears that now (since 2003) cyclists and other non-motorists have no legal obligation to carry identification.

The update in 2014  is due to the unusual case of Ersula Ore, an English professor at ASU. She was apparently “jaywalking” when she got into an altercation with ASU police. From what I can see this on College Ave, somewhere north of University Dr. This is a public street in the city of Tempe (there seems to be some confusion and many erroneous comments about this; this location is not “on campus” or somesuch). Tempe’s codes for pedestrians are here; ASU is NOT in the “central business district”, the more-restrictive “jaywalking” code only applies in the CBD so it leads me to wonder if she was really jaywalking at all. Jaywalking codes, real or imagined, are frequently used to assert superiority by motorists (the police officers were driving cars) over pedestrians.

Continue reading “Are Cyclists Required to Carry ID? Are Pedestrians? Updated 2014”

Cyclist falls in roadway; then fatally struck by passing motorist

Wed, 8/27/2014 ~ 2030. Cyclist 69-year-old Andrew Yearby.  In the area of 43rd Avenue and Crittenden Lane, Phoenix. This was initially investigated as hit and run, however police now believe the man fell in the roadway for unrelated/unknown reasons; and was subsequently run over by the driver of a Toyota Camry. Continue reading “Cyclist falls in roadway; then fatally struck by passing motorist”

Car-scooter crash in Mesa leaves 1 dead

Aug 2, 2014 ~ 7:30AM The driver of a car was speeding and possibly impaired when she failed to stop at t red light, rear-ending a stopped motor scooter driver, killing him. The delay in the arrest was apparently due to the driver’s hospitalization. Julie Ann Gutierrez  was arrested 8/19 on suspicion of manslaughter; and MSCO is awaiting blood test results that could bump up the charge to 2nd degree murder.

Statistical note: motor scooters (and mopeds, and motorized bicycles) are categorized as motorcycles. Continue reading “Car-scooter crash in Mesa leaves 1 dead”

Yikes. Inattention/Distraction, much?

080414-city-worker-hit
photo credit: Peoria Fire Dept. Pecos Road near 17th Street

Rest assured the authorities are dealing harshly with the inattentive driver who caused a serious injury; she gets a traffic ticket “The driver of the Kia will be cited…”. That the driver will be immediately cited indicates police aren’t even bothering to look at any more serious charges — this distracted driver is facing 2nd Degree murder charges, exactly how are they different? He wasn’t looking at the road. According to the present story, something in the rear seat distracted this driver; somehow causing her to suddenly veer.  So, this yields nothing more than a traffic citation — what constitutes recklessness. Endangerment/assault/aggravated assault — these are apparently not within the ken of the Phoenix PD, and/or prosecutor(s). “A person commits endangerment by recklessly endangering another person”. “A person commits assault by…recklessly causing any physical injury”. “A person commits aggravated assault if the person commits assault …and… causes serious physical injury to another”

Continue reading “Yikes. Inattention/Distraction, much?”

Rates of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Fatality by Vehicle Type

I first noticed several years ago when reviewing IIHS SUV safety data, that it has been noted by several studies published in the early 2000’s that a the risk of pedestrian death in a traffic collision varied widely depending on the vehicle type / bodystyle. The major categories of vehicle type are: Passenger Vehicles, Light Trucks (includes pickups, SUV, vans), Heavy Trucks, Motorcycles, and other (not sure exactly where Buses are).

Continue reading “Rates of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Fatality by Vehicle Type”

Arizona Governor’s Bicycle Task Force

Noted here for historical curiosity:

EXECUTIVE ORDER No. 86-4 established the Arizona Governor’s Bicycle Task Force  in 1986 by governor Bruce Babbitt.

It was later repealed by executive order in 1996 by Governor Fife Simington. The stated reason for the repeal was ” in recognition of that fact, the Alternative Transportation Task Force created on June II, 1996 has been authorized to study and implement alternative
transportation systems”. EO 96-11

Here is an image of AGBTF executive orders 86-4 and 96-11 : ArizonaGovernorsBicycleTaskForce (in case the azmemory pages disappear).

You can read that : Establishment of Alternative Transportation System Task Force Executive order No. 96-7. I can’t tell what that task force may or may not be doing currently (or ever?).

Continue reading “Arizona Governor’s Bicycle Task Force”

No Excuse

There is no excuse for improperly engineered bike infrastructure. It takes on two forms, 1) simple straight-up wrong, and 2) “fake” facilities, those which masquerade as something they’re not; they’re in reality nothing more than shoulders, yet they are intentionally tarted-up to appear to be, and even be referred to as bike lanes (see e.g. Flagstaff, below). Continue reading “No Excuse”

Girl hit and killed when driver runs red light

July 12, 2014 / victim crossing in marked crosswalk w/traffic signal. The 5 y.o. female victim was riding a tricycle; this I would guess should be coded as a pedestrian (though i cross-tagged this article as both a ped and cyclist fatality). This is listed on 2014 cyclist traffic  fatalities.  [update: is coded as a pedalcyclist in both ASDM and FARS] Continue reading “Girl hit and killed when driver runs red light”

Non-traffic traffic crashes

 

This is a placeholder for info for what I am referring to as a non-traffic  (you can click there to get a list of incidents like this) traffic crash. Which I define as some sort of traffic crash that doesn’t get reported in official traffic crash stats. The most common reason these incidents might fall into this category is they occur on private property, like a parking lot, or private streets, like cyclist Robert McCain who was killed in a collision on a private street, or inside a building driver-slams-into-day-spa-1-dead-4-go-hospital. Other reasons, especially for cyclists, is for crashes “count” they have to include at least on motor vehicle in transport; so e.g. a cyclist crashing into a parked vehicle is not counted; nor are cyclists who have “simple” falls, or bike-bike crash, even when resulting in death (for example in 2014 see Karl Gerschutz and Jim Walen fatalities, respectively). Likewise bike-bike, or bike-ped crashes are not reportable as traffic crashes. Continue reading “Non-traffic traffic crashes”

MCSO: Man arrested in fatal East Valley hit-and-run

26000975_BG1
defendant Derek Tinsley faces felony charge

According to the azfamily/3 video report (sigh, that link is dead; the newpaper story is below) witnesses saw a company pickup vehicle being driven erratically along Apache Trail near 80th St in Mesa, swerving across 3 lanes of traffic, killing a bicyclist riding at the side of the road. Witnesses provided a license plate number for the fleeing vehicle, and police have arrested Derek Tinsley. Continue reading “MCSO: Man arrested in fatal East Valley hit-and-run”

Coco Co and Flagstaff impose varying cell bans while driving

In April, Coconino County supervisors voted to ban cell use by drivers, including talking and texting — with the perennial exclusion for hands free devices.  azdailysun.com. It is a primary offense; and there’s some sort of six month grace period.

Somewhat confusingly, the City of Flagstaff council has passed a city texting ban (that is texting only, and mum on any other aspect of cell use) — the city is within Coconino County. “prohibits drivers and bicycle riders from texting, emailing or using an instant message program to send or read a message while the vehicle is in motion. Drivers and cyclists are allowed to text or email while stopped for a red light, waiting for a train to pass or pulled over on the side of the road.  The ban becomes law on Aug. 15, but the city is offering a six-month grace period” azdailysun.. The way it apparently works is the city (Flagstaff) has “opted out” of Coconino County’s ban and created their own, less stringent, ban — on texting only.

Continue reading “Coco Co and Flagstaff impose varying cell bans while driving”

3 year old killed in Mesa parking lot by hit-and-run driver

[Updated 7/8: victim  is 3 year old Jaqueline Monroe-Mendoza; police are processing two potential suspect vehicles, a white Chevrolet Suburban and a large white pickup, and have a “person of interest” and so far no arrests have been made. This story makes plain the collision occurred in the apratment’s parking lot azcentral.com]

Sunday July 6, 2014. 2pm. Near Alma School Road and Rio Salado Parkway in Mesa “struck by a large vehicle traveling through the parking lot”. Continue reading “3 year old killed in Mesa parking lot by hit-and-run driver”