Eat Like a Pig, Run Like a Horse

Book  “Eat Like a Pig, Run Like a Horse” subtitled “How Food Fights Hijacked Our Health and the New Science of Exercise” by Anastacia Marx de Salcedo

The premise of the book is that your health isn’t affected by what you eat (and weigh) anywhere near as much as cardiovascular fitness; in other words, a sedentary lifestyle is the fundamental problem.

The reference to “food fights” refers to the idea popularized by Ancel Keys, et.al in the 1950s and 60s that low fat (and in particular, eliminating saturated fat) diet is the key (pardon the pun) to good health have been largely discredited. Continue reading “Eat Like a Pig, Run Like a Horse”

Driver drank alcohol before crash that left bicyclist dead in Gilbert, police say

2024-03-02 1:25pm. location: Queen Creek Road, near Higley.

Driver “veered off” into the bike lane and killed John Pomeroy; the driver was arrested several months later (see news story, below) based on toxicology results which showed an unstated amount of alcohol along with a prescription drug.  However since that time the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has declined to bring charges for unknown  reasons…

Continue reading “Driver drank alcohol before crash that left bicyclist dead in Gilbert, police say”

SUV driver loses control drives on sidewalk causing serious injury

2024-11-02 “early morning”.  Mesa: Southern Ave just west of Gilbert Rd.

An SUV driver for unknown reasons left the roadway and destroyed his vehicle, seriously injuring a bicyclist who was on the sidewalk at the time.

 

Continue reading “SUV driver loses control drives on sidewalk causing serious injury”

Phoenix changes ebike law (yes, again)

e-bike?

UPDATE: council passed yet more rule changes. Dec 2024. Ordinance G-7334, sets a new minimum age for ebikes/scooters.
Class 3 remains banned city-wide.  See details here.

The city continues to refuse to deal with things like the motorized play vehicle ordinance which bans, e.g. those little battery powered toys that you’ll see toddlers using. It also (according to the city) effectively bans motorized gas powered bicycles city-wide. Continue reading “Phoenix changes ebike law (yes, again)”

Fountain Hills man accused of assaulting kids on e-bikes

This story is, um, interesting. These are not just felonies, assault on a minor is a going-to-PRISON level felony. It will be interesting to see what county prosecutors cook up, probably nothing, as we shall see. Continue reading “Fountain Hills man accused of assaulting kids on e-bikes”

Driver arrested: Teenager killed in PV by pickup driver

The victim, 14 y.o. Gabriel Grande, was an accomplished MTB competitor

11/12/2024 around 5:30p.

14-year old was retuning home from a MTB ride was struck and killed on Viewpoint drive near Manley, Prescott Valley.

A specific location wasn’t mentioned; from some of the new video, it’s in an area similar to this where the road is 1 lane in each direction with a very small paved shoulder, and then some gravel. [update on the specific location: as the comment below points out, the road was rebuilt more recently than the street view; the current sat view is, however, does show the current configuration]

Continue reading “Driver arrested: Teenager killed in PV by pickup driver”

NHTSA’s investigation into Tesla “full self-driving” has link to Arizona

Interesting in terms of what this might mean for autonomous vehicles; tesla has been oft criticized for relying on cameras, rather than other systems (e.g. lidar) that can “see” in other conditions.

It also has a link to Arizona as one of the four incidents was a fatality on I-17 in November of 2023. It was described in detail in, of all places, the Hindustan Times (sourced to the AP) article (and not, e.g. in the Arizona Republic?).

Sun glare seems more an excuse than anything else. If “you” (that’s either a person driving or some autonomous system) can’t “see”, you must slow down to avoid colliding with whatever might be in front of you. Continue reading “NHTSA’s investigation into Tesla “full self-driving” has link to Arizona”

Driver Arrested: runs into 5 Bicyclists on College Ave, Tempe

10/6/2024 Sunday morning 7:45 College Ave near 15th St, Tempe. This is a very low speed (posted 25mph) collector street, with unusually wide bike lanes (6 feet or more?) here. Leading directly to the ASU campus, about a quarter mile away.

The driver of an SUV ran over 5 bicyclists on College Ave, hospitalizing several of them, with serious but not life-threatening injuries. Note to AzFamily caption writers: the vehicle was under human control, a driver ran over 5 people. Continue reading “Driver Arrested: runs into 5 Bicyclists on College Ave, Tempe”

Truck driver distracted by TikTok in Chandler crash that killed 5 is sentenced to over 22 years in prison

Jan., 12, 2023; I-10 in Chandler, AZ, near Wild Horse Pass Blvd (just a couple of miles from my home. There have been other fatal collisions here)

It’s highly unusual (practically unheard of!) for a not-impaired driver to be punished with prison for causing a death. This one other case, from 2015, comes to mind. Every year in Arizona about 1,000 people die at the hands of a negligent driver. Most of them are not impaired, so here are two out of thousands of cases where the driver went to prison.

Continue reading “Truck driver distracted by TikTok in Chandler crash that killed 5 is sentenced to over 22 years in prison”

Hit Run driver kills man near 40th & Oak, Phoenix

8/17/2024 ~ 1:45a. Hit/Run near 40th & Oak, Phoenix. No description of the vehicle. One news outlet said the victim was a bicyclist; the others, e.g. azcentral, just said a male pedestrian was found injured in the roadway. Continue reading “Hit Run driver kills man near 40th & Oak, Phoenix”

16-year-old girl arrested after DUI hit-and-run crash that killed woman in Ash Fork

8/10/2024 ~ 3am Pedestrian fatality; near 4th Street and Park Avenue, Ash Fork.

The street where this occurred, Park Ave near 4th, is a two-lane one way residential (there is a twin street a couple hundred feet away, Lewis, that goes the other way). This is a typical small rural town setup for the main route thru town. It’s just off the I-40.

It will be interesting to see if the driver is charged as an adult or as a juvenile. And if a juvenile, why do we let children drive cars?

The litany of very serious charges, e.g. manslaughter are unlikely to stick as it seems unlikely the person she killed would have had the right of way; unless they can prove something like the excessive speed (which seems unlikely).

She was probably driving on a graduated driver’s license which means it’s illegal to drive between midnight and 5AM unless with a parent; but that’s an inconsequential charge in the scheme of things.

The hit-and-run w/death charge is likely to stick but, despite being a serious felony doesn’t result in much in the way of punishment. Continue reading “16-year-old girl arrested after DUI hit-and-run crash that killed woman in Ash Fork”

Phoenix drunken driving deaths soared last year; enforcement declines

Yikes. Not to single-out City of Phoenix; but we can objectively say that City of Phoenix is doing an bad job at pro-active traffic enforcement.

Phoenix drunken driving deaths soared last year

Fatalities in drunken-driving accidents within Phoenix city limits doubled in 2023 over the prior year and accounted for over a third of all crash deaths recorded in Phoenix…. Continue reading “Phoenix drunken driving deaths soared last year; enforcement declines”

Man standing next to bicycle killed during hit-and-run crash in north Phoenix, suspect arrested

July 28, 2024. Well, isn’t that special? Standing on the sidewalk? Hit and run? DUI suspected? Another Phoenix traffic fatality. Related: see Phoenix drunken driving deaths soared last year (as dui arrests decline). 

This might get incorrectly tagged as a pedalcyclist crash; earlier versions of media stories had the headline as “Bicyclist killed in hit-run…” it should be pedestrian according to the description. I will carry it as a not-bicyclist on the fatality spreadsheet.
Continue reading “Man standing next to bicycle killed during hit-and-run crash in north Phoenix, suspect arrested”