Cycling, traffic safety, traffic justice, and legal topics; energy, transit and transportion economics
A dangerous driver failed to negotiate the exit ramp from eastbound I-10 at Warner Road, losing control and killed the signal pole and pedestrian beg button post in August 2017. It was promptly replaced.
It’s down AGAIN in early May 2020; crews were replacing it on 5/14/2020.
Incidentally the signal pole is adjacent to the crosswalk, the drivers also wiped out the pedestrian beg button post — you know, where a pedestrian might be standing?
For the Ahwatukee archives: April 2019 high speed chase ending in a five-vehicle crash and ensuing gunbattle; one federal agent’s truck careened over the curb and crashed through a wall.
Not exactly usual traffic but certainly not all that unusual — drivers jumping curbs, smashing lightposts, walls, killing joggers, etc. on a routine basis.
We see now, a year later, the now dead driver was severely impaired by drugs: “Only later, after an autopsy and toxicology report, was it revealed that she had near-fatal levels of methamphetamine in her body, which could have explained much of her [erratic] driving behavior…’The effect of methamphetamine would be related to increased risk-taking behavior, more aggressive behavior, potentially erratic driving,’ said Stripp, a forensic toxicologist … ‘They may speed, they may run red lights.'”
[by the way, this is just another incident where a driver drove up over the sidewalk. In this instance “only” a motorist was killed but obviously anyone on the sidewalk would have killed or seriously injured]
This is a historical/archive incident occurring nearly two decades ago… involving very fast driving as well as DUI, that as a result a Domino’s pizza delivery driver was killed. The claim that the delivery driver was at fault, he emerged from a driveway, for causing the crash did not prevent the fast & drinking driver from being convicted at jury trial of 2nd Degree Murder (and also hit-and-run).
July 4, 2001 just after midnight. Warner-Elliot, just S of Equestrian, Phoenix (Ahwatukee)
The crash involved 3 vehicles, a third driver: Weston Doyle, 17 of yellow mustang was allegedly drag racing Sucharew. Dolye lost control but didn’t hit either of the other cars and crashed into a block wall. Sucharew was charged with 2nd degree homicide and leaving the scene (hiding in a yard!), was driving a white eclipse and the victim was driving a red Mitsubishi. story lead section B on 7/5/2001. Traveling between 70 and 80mph… “Alcohol was believed to be involved, but a driving-under-the-influence charge will not be filed because of the homicide charge, police said” Continue reading “Drag racer convicted in fatal Ahwatukee crash”
Spoiler alert: No. Ray Road, in Phoenix, does not now, nor has it ever had a bike lane. As I wrote in 2003 and again in 2010 Is this a Bike Lane? the answer is a flat ‘No’. Bike lanes must be marked to be a bike lane. (this also applies to portions of Chandler Blvd under discussion). Continue reading “Does Ray Road have a bike lane?”
A 31 year old man has become the first traffic fatality on the new section of freeway that opened in late December, just a couple of weeks ago. DPS reports that 31-year-old Josafath Rubio-Hernandez died while driving the wrong way on the freeway near Elliot Road and collided head-on with a semi-truck.
Police said they are still investigating if the driver was impaired. Most wrong-way drivers involved in fatal collisions are impaired (thought to be around 75%)
Continue reading “Driver dies in wrong-way crash on new Freeway”
6/3/2019 morning peak time. Another* one. This time the NW corner of Ray and 48th St; a high-volume hi-speed arterial intersection. Hopefully no one was killed; but of course that would just be luck — the car drove right over the sidewalk to eliminate the pole.
This is/will cause major traffic disruptions; it’s still blocked a day later and the workmen told me it is likely to take a week to 10 days.(it was ultimately 8 days). The right-hand westbound thru lane on Ray will be blocked until the project is finished; and the Southbound RTO and bike lanes are also blocked. Continue reading “Driver jumps curb and knocks down signal pole”
Warner-Elliot Loop and Jicarilla. Again.
This is also very near the spot where another out-of-control driver inexplicably left the loop and drove up on the sidewalk, killing jogger Rene Karlin in 2011.
For more local shenanigans (more out-of-control drivers, killing busstops, light poles, knocking down walls and so forth), click on the ahwatukee tag.
No one was hurt only by dumb luck. Seriously, how often does this happen?
There seems to be some disagreement over the exact number of vehicles involved (only 9 or was it 10?) after the driver losing control and crashing into many other vehicles, in some cases obviously totaled. Continue reading “Huge Pileup in Ahwatukee Parking Lot”
Another out of control driver. Was said to have happened ~ 4am 5/28/2018. Didn’t see anything about it, other than in a nextdoor.com thread about “bad traffic” in Ahwatukee.
Pond near Ranch Circle and Mountain Parkway.
Holy sh!t, another one, I mean another jogger in Ahwatukee killed by a dangerous out-of-control driver… this is a small place. Freak “accident”? Two freak “accidents”?;
11/2/2017 ~ 4AM . Pedestrian / jogger killed on sidewalk near Lakewood Parkway and Amberwood Drive this is a collector road in a residential neighborhood. Police suspect driver was impaired, she was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. Witnesses reported that the driver of the vehicle, 25-year-old Shannon Scott, was driving on the sidewalk when Hilts was struck”
Continue reading “Another Ahwatukee jogger killed on sidewalk: driver arrested”
local story huge backup two dead mom/driver arrested on suspicion of
Saturday 10/21/2017 evening around 9PM. I-10 near Wild Horse Pass Blvd, just south of Ahwatukee /Chandler.
Are we safe yet?
Would more enforcement help?
Would wrong-way freeway detection have prevented this tragedy?
Answers: No, Probably, and No.
Continue reading “Driver arrested: deadly 5-vehicle crash on I-10 near Wild Horse Pass”
Some dangerous driving knocked down a traffic signal in the median of Warner Road at I-10 sometime 8/1 or 2. It’s not known is the responsible person hit-and-ran or what.
This is right down the same road where a dangerous driver killed the Childtime sign in July 2016, and also where a dangerous driver killed a bus stop in Feb 2015.
Apparently, this sort of driving goes on all the time, but no one seems to care much. Lots of property damage. Continue reading “Signals knocked down by driver”
Apparently a driver failed to negotiate the turn from E Ranch Circle South onto Mountain Sage Drive.
According to unconfirmed reports it was “a bunch of high school kids”; sometime during the day September 28, 2016.
This was apparently PDO, but unfortunately sometimes when drivers do these maneuvers, there’s somebody walking on the sidewalk and they end up killing them.
When the final portion of the Loop 202 / South Mountain Freeway (SMF), the part that connects I-10 to Laveen, gets constructed it will replace Pecos Road. Pecos Road in Ahwatukee will be no more. This would otherwise leave everything west of 19th Avenue inaccessible from the rest of Ahwautkee, except for the freeway. The construction of SMF is supposed to begin summer 2016 and opens late 2019. Continue reading “Chandler Boulevard Extension”
A westbound driver apparently failed to negotiate a slight bend in the road and drove up on the sidewalk, killing the Childtime Sign. July 19, 2016 ~ 8AM. Warner Rd, just west of 51st St.
This is the same spot where another dangerous driver drove up on the sidewalk and killed the bus stop structure in February last year. Continue reading “Childtime Sign Killed”