Cycling, traffic safety, traffic justice, and legal topics; energy, transit and transportion economics
9/30/2023 Alleged impaired motorist failed to negotiate a a mild bend while northbound on Gilbert road, struck a curb and then seriously injured a bicyclist on Old Gilbert Road. Map view: Gilbert Road at Old Gilbert Road
Supposedly driver was arrested, but for whatever reason, Mesa PD did not release the driver’s name.
Continue reading “Bicyclist seriously injured after being hit by impaired driver, Mesa police say”
I’ve updated the original story with a summary of the police report from this downtown Phoenix serious-turned-fatal collision at 1st and Filmore. Please leave any comments there:
8/27/2023 10:30am.
The crash occurred about 1/2 mile south of the intersection of Lake Mary Rd & Ashurst Lk Rd. According to the news account from the Arizona Daily Sun (archived) seven cyclists were injured. We have remarkable documentation because a cyclist in front of those injured had a cycliq rear taillight/camera. The driver appears to have misjudged the space available, and struck a rider who was riding in the narrow traffic lane. The coco county sheriff’s office said the driver was cited, with reference to 3-feet, and max fine of $500; so 28-735B. Continue reading “Multiple injuries caused by RV driver bad overtaking”
Haven’t done one of these for awhile… but they do keep happening. all the time. Seriously? Continue reading “Man killed by driver while sleeping in his home; Man killed on sidewalk after driver goes airborn”
Feb 14, 2023 5:38AM College and Alameda, Tempe AZ.
A 55 y.o. male bicyclist was killed at this all way (AWSC, All Way Stop Controlled) intersection.
According to the police report, based on the driver and two independent witness statements, the northbound bicyclist failed to stop and rode into the side of a westbound driver of a F-150 pickup. Continue reading “Bicyclist killed in collision at College/Alameda 4-way stop”
ADOT released Crash Facts 2022 July 24, 2023, which is back to the normal schedule (last year’s was released in late Sept for unstated reasons).
2022 was, again, a very bloody year on Arizona’s roads and highways. Overall deaths increased over the already bad 2020, and 2021 figures. Continue reading “Arizona Crash Facts 2022”
[Spoiler alert: As expected, Gov. Hobbs vetoed this bad bill 6/20/2023] Arizona legislature’s merged “prop 400” (a bill to enable a vote on Maricopa county SALES tax for transpo) bill has been passed by both house and senate on 6/13/2023 along straight party lines (i.e. by one vote in each chamber). As I said before, AZ Republican’s war on walking continues.. or rather their war on anything that’s not a car. Continue reading “VETOED: AZ Legislature’s latest emission”
Alexandra Mendez was sentenced last month in the hit-and-run death of a bicyclist in Glendale. A death she caused (felony 2).
A 4.5 year prison sentence is suprisingly stiff, indicating something else, besides just the hit-run went on.
Read the whole story here: hit-and-run-alert-driver-kills-man-on-northern-ave-glendale
Today I contacted Gov. Hobbs to urge her to veto Sen Rodger’s SB1234, which would further ban all forms of automated enforcement in the state. Including red-light signal, as well as school zone speeding enforcement.
The current status quo would simply allow local authorities to continue to use it where they feel it will improve safety. The state legislators have no business telling localities what to do. Republican’s claims that phot0-enforcement is unconstitutional are entirely unfounded, and unsupported; and their continuing to peddle that lie is shameful.
The justice system utterly failed everybody here. The only bright spot is he’ll be locked up and not driving his monster truck for a few years.
The NHTSA released traffic fatality figures, FARS, for calendar year 2021 a few weeks ago; to little fanfare and quite late as noted by Smart Growth America. Here’s an overview.
Arizona, once again, scores in several “top 10 lists” that nobody wants to be on, notably landing 8th on the list of top states for DUI-involved fatalities, despite being only the 14th most populous states. Arizona among top 10 states for drunken driving deaths. (That azcentral story, by the way, had an interesting DUI case inserted with bodycam footage of the Cochise County Attorney being arrested for extreme DUI back in February). Continue reading “FARS 2021: Arizona among top 10 states for drunken driving deaths”
4/19/2023 11a; Police say driver, 24 y.o. Rainer Perez Cordero, ran a red, striking and seriously injured bicyclist at the marked and signalized crosswalk at Central and Grand Canal. Police say the light for the driver had been red for eight seconds (curious how they would know that?). Continue reading “Bicyclist seriously injured by driver at Grand Canal crossing”
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Tues March 21, 2023. A driver is accused of making a bad left, causing a collision with another vehicle at East Speedway and North Country Club Road. “The impact forced the (other vehicle) into the bicycle lane and onto a sidewalk, hitting bicyclist Isaiah Williams Escalante,” killing him.
Police say the driver making the left, Matthew Lee Taleck, was impaired, and was arrested and booked by police on suspicion of manslaughter and related charges. The other driver was arrested on an unrelated issue.
Continue reading “Dead Tucson bicyclist is collateral damage; Driver(s!) arrested”
After appropriating $400MM of GENERAL FUNDS last season in order to widen the I-10 freeway between ~ just south of Phoenix to Casa Grande (towards Tucson); the legislature this year is on track to appropriate ANOTHER $360MM (also general funds) to the project, to backfill currently unavailable federal matching funds.
SB1065 appropriation; widening; I-10
Just to re-cap, general funds come from things like state sales taxes, property taxes, and income taxes. Notably, they do not come from gas-taxes, or other motor vehicle user fees. Continue reading “AZ Republican’s war on walking continues”
Goodyear police have arrested the driver who crashed into a large group of bicyclists Saturday 2/25/2023 around 8:15am; other traffic at that time would have been very light.
The location was on or near the bridge over Gila River on Cotton Lane, Goodyear, AZ, about a mile south of the intersection with MC86 Continue reading “Goodyear Police arrest driver who killed 2 and injured 11 more”