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”

Hit-and-run suspect sought in Phoenix after injuring child walking in school crosswalk

April 12(?), 2024. PLEASE tell me they caught this scum!! No news on this April hit-and-run, near 16th St and Roeser in Phoenix in a SCHOOL CROSSWALK. This is a detailed pic, and there can’t possibly be that many Montero’s that look like this rolling around!!

Continue reading “Hit-and-run suspect sought in Phoenix after injuring child walking in school crosswalk”

Driver on suspended license hits and kills cyclist in Phoenix

May 16, 2024

The driver has since been indicted my MCAO on 2nd degree murder.

This has it all: domestic violence, DUI, driving on a suspended license, hit-and-run w/fatality, ramming police vehicles (which should amount to aggravated assault), and ultimately murdering a bicyclist while fleeing.

Though i would expect prosecution to overlook (as they always do) the hit-and-run because, well, hit-and-run is routinely overlooked — by which i mean that by statute, and sentence for it must run consecutively (and not concurrently) to any other crime charged, so they pretty much always just give probation for hit-and run… Continue reading “Driver on suspended license hits and kills cyclist in Phoenix”

Tucson ranked third most dangerous metro in entire US?!

SmartGrowthAmerica’s Dangerous by Design report has the Tucson area at the third most-dangerous metro by ped deaths in the United States for the period 2018-2022 (at 4.16 ped deaths per 100,000 population).

According to the chart, the Tuscon area catapulted from a much better (the light pink part of the bar) figure in the, prior period, 2013-2017 when it was  would have been much lower down on the list.

Continue reading “Tucson ranked third most dangerous metro in entire US?!”

Air Pollution in Phoenix?

The “Brown Cloud”

In a recurring theme, the air is polluted in Phoenix. Ground level ozone — formed by burning fossil fuels resulting in NOX and VOC emissions which forms smog — being the main culprit.

From the American Lung Association’s State of the Air report; Phoenix clocks in at 5th worst city for Ozone, and 9th for year round particulates.

Poor air quality is a direct threat to human health. Continue reading “Air Pollution in Phoenix?”

Cities by Diana homage to Phoenix

Cities by Diana is absolutely the best car-centric satire content… Diana does Phoenix! Get ready for a fast paced, gasmaxxed, lane-pilled joyride thru town!

Do you HATE being forced to go outside and take PUBLIC TRANSIT? MOVE YOUR GOON CAVE TO PHOENIX ARIZONA! 🌞🌵👩🏻🛣️

https://www.tiktok.com/@citiesbydiana/video/7336788560152120622

Continue reading “Cities by Diana homage to Phoenix”

Glendale teen remains hospitalized as hit-and-run suspect turns himself in to police

[Update: the teenage bicyclist died two weeks later — see main article including criminal case info]

4/11/2024 7:30pm Involving a hit-run driver striking a boy riding a bicycle in a crosswalk at 47th and Northern avenues Glendale; witnesses describe a white pickup or SUV going westbound on 47th.

The driver fled and then turned himself in a couple of days later. Was he impaired at the time?

Police have not said who was at fault for causing the collision, however fleeing a crash w/serious injury is a criminal felony in any case.

Shout out to those who want to outlaw photo-enforcement: “Police used traffic cameras…” to help identify the suspect vehicle; traffic enforcement cameras have been used successfully to provide evidence enabling police to identify and catch dangerous criminals. (these are traffic-monitoring cameras only, Glendale does not presently use photo enforcement)

Continue reading “Glendale teen remains hospitalized as hit-and-run suspect turns himself in to police”

AZ legislator wants to reduce number of no-right-turn-on-reds

Adding bureaucracy (which is effectively already in place at ADOT, and elsewhere apparently) seems like an odd way to have less government:

“Everything’s less government with me,” said Kern, an Arizona Freedom Caucus member …  — azcentral.com

In our area, freeway exits with poor sight lines are signed no turn on red (example: Warner and I-10), but okay sight lines are not (example one mile south on Ray and I-10).

Continue reading “AZ legislator wants to reduce number of no-right-turn-on-reds”

Satan and transportation policy

Could it be, Satan?.

So this one caught my eye;

SB1279 – satanic displays; public property; prohibition

Sponsored by Gov’t Committee chair Sen Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek). The hearing was a little bit entertaining; you can make your own judgement here, but it seems to have some constitutional problems (i.e. apparently you can build certain kinds of alters on public property, but not satanic ones) — but at the end of the day, were it to reach governor’s desk it would presumably be vetoed. Political theater. Continue reading “Satan and transportation policy”