Driver Sentenced: Serious Injuries in Scottsdale Pedicab Crash

[1/15/2014:  azcentral.com Man in Scottsdale pedicab crash sentenced to 4 years in prison; Joseph Paul Spano pleaded guilty to two counts aggravated assault plus one endangerment ]

Two passengers of a pedicab were very seriously injured when they were struck by an suspected drunk driver in an early morning hours crash near downtown Scottsdale 1/4/2013. The pedicab’s driver was also injured.  The crash occurred as the pedicab was traveling north on Scottsdale Road near Rose Lane.

Seriously injured Cody A. Clark and Michael D. Tysver were both Kansas state fans in town for the Fiesta Bowl. The automobile driver “Phoenix resident Joseph Paul Spano, 27, was driving the sedan that collided with the pedicab and was arrested on suspicion of DUI, endangerment and aggravated assault”. Aggravated assault, §13-1204, can be a fairly serious charge; depending on a variety of factors. Continue reading “Driver Sentenced: Serious Injuries in Scottsdale Pedicab Crash”

Stab-and-run; boats hit-and-run; road rage verdict

In odd automobility news (this is all local Phx metro, mind you), from Tues Jan 14, 2014 “Around the Valley” Arizona Republic, page B2…

Scottsdale: “According to police, the man was about to cross Cactus Road at its intersection with Hayden Road at about 6 a.m. when a dark colored, two-door vehicle that was driving southbound on Hayden stopped in front of him. The driver got out of the car and stabbed the man in the abdomen with a small blade, then immediately got back into the car and drove westbound on Cactus”

Mesa: “A hit and run at the Bass Pro Shops in Mesa early Saturday morning resulted in nearly $100,000 in damages to boats at the retailer… Mesa police were called out to the Bass Pro Shops near Loop-202 and Dobson Road at about 8:40 a.m. Saturday… While the vehicle was not present at the scene, police found a Ford emblem and a Triton V10 emblem… investigators believe the vehicle is possibly two-toned — gray on the bottom and white on the top — with heavy damage to the front-end”

Last Week

Road Rage incident from 2008: shooter found guilty at 2nd trial: “John Chester Stuart will spend the next 18 years in prison for shooting a man that came at Stuart’s car during a 2008 road-rage incident following the Phoenix Open. Stuart, 51, was convicted of second-degree murder and drive-by shooting in September for killing 49-year-old Tom Beasley. The conviction came after a jury reached an impasse during a rambunctious first trial that saw Stuart representing himself and relying on a legal theory that rejects much of the American justice system”. The was some odd goings on immediately after the incident involving purportedly faked document, and Stuart’s purported involvement in a group called the Freemen. Some other interesting associations freedomsphoenix.com; dailypaul.com; he founded/ran showmetheloan.net and something called the “quiet title process”.

Un-charged hit and run

This is an old incident from April 2012 — I’m posting it here just to reorganize things… This is a SUV  vs. ped (the ped happened to have been walking a bicycle) in crosswalk initially investigated as hit-and-run since the driver, well, hit and then ran. For whatever reason Chandler Police decided that was fine, but oddly never cited her for what had to have been a moving violation.

The below old/original information has been left here for posterity but struck-through. Newer (written in 2015), longer, explanation with case law references is here, see in particular Blevins with regard to hit-and-run mental state. Continue reading “Un-charged hit and run”

Parking in Bike Lanes

Is parking allowed in bike lanes? sometimes yes, sometimes no…

Is parking permitted in bike lanes? State law at first glance seems to indicate flatly no:

§28-815D. A person shall not operate, stop, park or leave standing a vehicle in a path or lane designated as a bicycle path or lane…

 No parking, right? Well, as usual there’s more to the story. The moral to the story, if there is one, is that things are often more complicated than they seem, and 2) the “local authority” provision of A.R.S. can be particularly problematical to bicyclists.

Continue reading “Parking in Bike Lanes”

Police Identify Woman Run Over, Killed by SUV

This is a non-traffic traffic fatality. (meaning it doesn’t get reflected in traffic stats)…

Police ID woman run over, killed at Scottsdale Costco

A Fountain Hills woman who was run over and killed at a Scottsdale Costo on Saturday (01/04/2014) was identified by Scottsdale police Sunday. Police said Patricia A. Covault, 74, died after she was accidentally stuck by a Jeep SUV at the Costco gas station at 15255 N. Hayden Road. Covault was hit when she walked around her own vehicle after the 86-year-old man driving the Jeep SUV backed into her vehicle parked at a gas pump, police said. The man backed over Covault and dragged her a short distance, according to police. She was pronounced dead at the scene. No charges will be filed against the driver of the SUV, Scottsdale police spokesman Officer Dave Pubins said in a statement.

Phoenix police make hit-run arrest in death of BMX rider

So this is unusual; the driver of an ATV struck and killed a cyclist who was riding a BMX-style bicycle. I was curious to look up the leaving-the-scene statutes (28-661) to see where the law applies; if it was in fact off-road, the article doesn’t really specify… 28-621 seems to indicate H&R doesn’t apply off-road, see this comment.

The incident occurred about 5 p.m. near 56th Street and Happy Valley Road 12/17/2013 and won’t “count” as a traffic fatality if it was off-road. For now, I’ve tagged it non-traffic-fatality

Phoenix police make arrest in death of BMX rider

Phoenix police have arrested a man who investigators believe collided with a BMX rider in the desert last week and fled the scene on his ATV.

The BMX rider later, Frisco Davidson-Spurs Yankolovich, died from his injuries and police began a search for the ATV driver that ended Monday with the arrest of 47-year-old Gregg Creevy, police said. Continue reading “Phoenix police make hit-run arrest in death of BMX rider”

(still) No charges filed vs. Pinal deputy in 2012 fatal crash

[Updated 12/2013; Deputy fired, see below]

So this is pretty weird situation stemming from a fatal wreck occurring August 2012. I don’t know how any of this is supposed to work — but it occurs to me that County Attorney Voyles could have sent this to a neutral party (another county) for disposition, and that would have avoided any appearance of impropriety. As it stands, Voyles had a clear conflict-of-interest; and he decided it in favor of his interests. Voyles description of the deputy’s actions (‘patrolling’ at ~ 100mph?) as “an acceptable investigating patrolling activity” is quite bold, and troubling. They don’t call it “criminal speeding” (see 28-701.02) for nothing, well I mean reasonable people call it that, I don’t know how Voyles (or the deputy) rationalizes it.   The victim’s (that is to say, the guy that died; the deputy was seriously injured) actions were certainly also negligent — he was very drunk, and made a bad left — but that certainly doesn’t absolve Steele of all responsibility for the collision. In any event, this is going to be very expensive for Pinal county taxpayers. Continue reading “(still) No charges filed vs. Pinal deputy in 2012 fatal crash”

3 year-old squashed to death in crosswalk

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Drivers operating pickups and other so-called “light trucks and vans” account for a disproportionate amount of pedestrian fatalities; but nobody seems to care…

3 year-old Anthony Meade was squashed to death in crosswalk at 20th and Camelback Rd, Phoenix on 12/4/2013 ~ 7:30PM. The driver (whose name apparently has not been released and is referred to only as a 26-year-old) was driving a 2009 Toyota Tundra, a large pickup…

All parties were northbound; the driver making a left from 20th Street onto Camelback, and the peds were crossing Camelback at the intersection. Continue reading “3 year-old squashed to death in crosswalk”

Driver careens out of control after making bad left; killing and maiming peds ON THE SIDEWALK

Seriously, how often does stuff like this happen? More peds wiped out on the sidewalk. 11/30/2013 2:15pm 67th and Glendale Aves… In addition to the dead ped, another ped, and the driver have “life-threatening” injuries.  A glendale pd officer was also injured less seriously. Continue reading “Driver careens out of control after making bad left; killing and maiming peds ON THE SIDEWALK”

El Tour de Tucson rider killed in collision

11/24/2013 ~ 5:20pm: El Tour rider John S. Henderson was struck and killed while riding in “the El Tour bike lane”  when he was struck from behind by a driver; authorities believe the driver may have suffered some sort of medical emergency causing him to lose control.  The crash occurred eastbound on the Interstate 10 frontage road near Sunset Road, Tucson. This section appears to have a very wide shoulder, and some news stories mentioned cones, which I would surmise is what was meant by calling it an “El Tour bike lane”.

Continue reading “El Tour de Tucson rider killed in collision”

Girl narrowly escapes injury after driver slams into her home

Seriously? Seriously, how often does stuff like this happen? A driver slams through the wall of a home and into the bedroom of a girl who’s sleeping just inches away. The suspect/driver Daniel Sanchez Patino fled, but of course.

Freak “accident”? Lots of freaks out there… how about: Driving into a classroom (killing 1, injuring 11), driving into a Seven-11 and killing a shopper, walking out the front door of CVS (one dead), or taking a break out in front of the Walgreens where you work (one dead), or rammed at a bus stop (2 dead, one injured), or just out for a stroll on the sidewalk (one dead) / or a jog on sidewalk (one dead). I could go on.  Oiy Veigh.

Continue reading “Girl narrowly escapes injury after driver slams into her home”

Report: Truck driver was looking at phone in deadly crash

[July 2015 Jorge Espinoza was sentenced to 6 years prison ]

[2/6/2015 A Yuma county jury found the driver guilty of negligent homicide, a class 4 felony, along with several other endangerment charges. yumasun.com I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that it’s unprecedented for a prosecutor to bring, and get conviction, on any homicide charge against a driver not suspected of being   impaired. Note that the “defense had also argued that is not against the law to use a cell phone while driving” claim did not win the day; he was convicted anyway. ]

[Update Sept 2014; trial should have been going on but has been delayed due to defense attorney’s medical condition reports the yumasun.com ]

Police and prosecutors have released info regarding why they decided to charge the truck driver who caused a wreck that killed DPS Officer  Tim Huffman near Yuma on May 6, 2013 with a string of felonies including 2nd degree Murder.  (see Police work is dangerous, scroll down a bit, for earlier reports) Excerpts from Report: Truck driver was looking at phone in deadly crash: Continue reading “Report: Truck driver was looking at phone in deadly crash”

Hit and Run and good-old-fashioned-policework

[Final (?) Update 1/9/2015; defendant pleaded guilty to one count of 28-1201 endangerment, a Class 6 (the most minor) felony. Notably, the charge that was dropped, hit-and-run, is a much more serious class, class 3, and also would have triggered a mandatory 5-year license . The sentence is 3 years probation. One wonders how endangerment can possibly be “non-dangerous” but it’s right there in the deal. Sweet deal for the defendant, though it was a very long and drawn out — the collision he ran from occurred almost a year and a half ago — and presumably very expensive process ] Continue reading “Hit and Run and good-old-fashioned-policework”

Fatal pedestrian crashes reach record level in City of Tucson

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Speedway and Alvernon — whole lotta lanes! Seven y.o. Simon Foster was killed while crossing here in a crosswalk, with a green light
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Speedway and Alvernon — intersections the size of parking lots.

Fresh on the heels of Another-Speedway-crosswalk-ped-death (10/20/2013); the azstarnet.com is reporting ped fatal in the City of Tucson are at record levels: “Twenty-one people have died when they were walking or hit by a vehicle since the beginning of the year (the year is 2013, as of late-October). The average for the Tucson area is 15 pedestrian deaths per year”. I doubt fancy engineering, like HAWKs, can have much of an overall effect — rather the Tucson area, like the Phoenix metro area, is simply Dangerous by Design. Things like a handful of extra blinkie crosswalks are merely a band-aid over the (apparently worsening) problem. “transportation agencies typically prioritize speeding traffic over the safety of people on foot… Pedestrian fatalities have fallen at only half the  rate of motorists, dropping by just over 14 percent during the period (2000-2009). In many places, including 15 of the country’s largest metro areas, pedestrian fatalities have actually increased even as overall traffic deaths fell”. This preference for extra lanes and speeding-up motorists it detrimental to the safety of motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists — all road users!