6/10/2016 ~ 2PM
Bicyclist and commercial truck both EB on Prince at 1st, Tucson. The bicyclist’s name is not yet released, male mid-30’s.
Described in the KGUN news piece as a classic right hook. Continue reading “Tucson right-hook fatality”
Cycling, traffic safety, traffic justice, and legal topics; energy, transit and transportion economics
6/10/2016 ~ 2PM
Bicyclist and commercial truck both EB on Prince at 1st, Tucson. The bicyclist’s name is not yet released, male mid-30’s.
Described in the KGUN news piece as a classic right hook. Continue reading “Tucson right-hook fatality”

June 7, 2016 ~ 5:30A 73 y.o. bicyclist Calvin Ray Sapp was killed after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in a bike lane — southbound on Higley Road midway between Ocotillo and Chandler Heights roads. A vehicle matching the description was found a short time later and a suspect was arrested. A later news story that evening said that the suspect “…told police he fell asleep and didn’t know what he hit. Officers said the bike and victim were dragged about 80 yards”. And carried some more-graphic pictures of the smashed in windshield. They also identified the Phoenix Police officer credited with finding the suspect vehicle. Continue reading “Bicyclist killed in Gilbert hit-and-run”

Wednesday, 7/1/2015, ~ 0705am; Lake Havasu City bicyclist Deborah Robison was killed and bicyclist Lawrence Smith was seriously injured when struck by a driver on SR-95 south, near SARA Park. [update: Smith died 7/5/2015 Second bicyclist dies after SR 95 collision in Lake Havasu City]
The nature of the road in that area is a high-speed rural, not limited-access highway [ this guess as to location is the WRONG location: with one lane in each direction sample on Google street view ] For the exact area of the collision, which is further out of town than I had guessed, see below in the Crash Report section which has details.
Apparent hit and run. very little info; victim 54 yo male found dead early Thursday morning 5/12/2016, Southern Ave near 19th Ave, Phoenix.
Continue reading “Man on bike hit, killed in hit-and-run crash in S Phoenix”

4/14/2016 Bicyclist Donald Neu was killed riding westbound Riggs Road near Arizona Ave when he was struck by a driver who “drifted” into the rather wide, designated BL.
Note that, according to that description of events, the driver has “failed to keep proper lane” (§28-729) and should be charged with 28-672, a criminal misdemeanor — assuming other more-serious charges are ruled out. Are police (in this case, MSCO) aware of this? In this triple serious injury, they were. See more about 28-672 .
28-735 is all well-and-good, and as far as I know can be “stacked” on 28-672, but it (28-735) is nothing more than a fine.
Continue reading “Bicyclist dies in Sun Lakes crash; driver ‘drifted’”
4/9/2016 ~ 7 pm near Kadota Avenue and Saguaro Street, Casa Grande, AZ.
Victim: 20 y.o. Emily Akins.
Driver: suspect Christina Rascon, 40 has been arrested in connection with the hit and run.
Continue reading “Casa Grande fatal hit and run; suspect arrested”

Police are seeking the driver of a dark-colored GMC Sierra pickup truck w/large chrome wheels that was involved with a fatal hit and run collision 27th Ave near Bethany Home Road, Phoenix. Bicyclist Darryl Fitzgerald Summers was killed in the crash.
51-year-old Darryl Summers dies after hit-and-run crash; police looking for dark truck: Police say Summers was following all safety protocol including wearing a helmet and reflective vest, having bike lights and reflectors, and riding with traffic. Still, he suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to the hospital where he later died.
Continue reading “h/r Alert: dark GMC Sierra pickup truck w/large chrome wheels”

3/21/2016 ~ 8pm Bicyclist struck going northbound in the intersection of Queen Creek Road and Ranch House Parkway, Gilbert, AZ
The bicyclist was identified as 28 year-old Erik Alsaker.
The driver fled the scene. Police are looking for a dark colored, small SUV or sedan w/ heavy front-end passenger side damage.

Thursday 3/3/2016 mid-day. A Driver crashed into a “large group” (the news report said ~ 15) of cyclists who were stopped at a traffic signal, and standing in a BL, nonetheless. At the time of this writing two are dead, and several more injured. The driver was arrested on DUI charges and was taken into custody. North La Cañada Drive and West Overton/Hardy Road, which is in Pima County, and is being investigated by the Pima County Sheriff’s Office.
bicycletucson.com has updated information; the identity of the suspect and the two fatality victims has been released:
(suspect) Brian Lynch, 28, struck five members of the group. Clare Rhodes, 72, died at the scene and Kenneth Vieira, 68, died at the hospital. The other cyclists were transported to the hospital where one cyclist remains in critical condition.
Continue reading “Multiple Pima Co fatality; Driver arrested”
incident occurred 1/27/2016 ~ 11am. Victim was “crossing” mid-block according to police. Eastern part of city of Mesa; University Drive, between Higley and Greenfield roads.
University Drive, the road the cyclist was attempting to “cross” is a typical high-speed 5 lane arterial.
It’s never completely clear from the descriptions what crossing mid-block means exactly — it should mean away from not only intersections (which was implied by article “There were no crosswalks located in the area”), but also that there the cyclist was not emerging, or entering a driveway (or attempting to).
Bicyclists should be acting as the driver of a vehicle, and therefore should never be “crossing” a road; though of course many do. Continue reading “Police: Bicyclist hit/killed crossing road in East Mesa”

Read the deets on bicycletucson.com
1/24/2016 11:45am Tucson-area (Pima County Sheriff’s dept investigates).
A (somewhat elderly, coincidentally) female bicyclist traveling west on Sunrise Drive was killed by a very elderly motorist who was merging from Skyline Drive and apparently failed to yield. The bicyclists was later identified as 69 y.o. Patricia Lyon-Surrey. Continue reading “Bicyclist killed in crash on Tucson’s northside”
This showed up on review of the 2015 ASDM data, although I had missed it at the time. The only news I could find list just vague information, and nothing about how the crash occurred.
ADOT incident=3044756
12/30/2015, 9:20pm(dark). Bicyclist was southbound CROSSING ROAD, and crash was NOT_AT_INTERSECTION / NOT_JUNCTION_RELATED (i.e mid-block). Bicyclist was struck in the two-way turn lane.
Driver eastbound in LANE1 and was faulted for UNSAFE LANE CHANGE (presumably into the two-way turn lane).
Confusing. Surprising it was faulted to the motorist, and that there was NO IMPROPER to bicyclist.
Bicyclist dies on scene after being struck on northwest side
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) – … the incident happened around 9:20 p.m at the intersection of Wetmore and Flowing Wells… The driver remained on scene and is cooperating with authorities… Pima County Sheriff’s are investigating the incident.
[synopsis: this is not a “classic” right hook; the cyclist appears to have been riding on the sidewalk and entered into the crosswalk (or “just south of the crosswalk”) just before the collision with a right-turning semi]
11/24/2015 0540am. Phoenix police say bicyclist Krystle Ann Klain, 33, was riding eastbound on Glendale Avenue, approaching 43rd Ave where she collided with a right-turning semi-truck driver.
The news reports don’t mention if the bicyclist was riding in the roadway, or on the sidewalk/crosswalk. There doesn’t appear to be a Bike Lane there, which would lead me to speculate it was a sidewalk thing. (the crash database says the cyclist was in the crosswalk, the crash narrative is different: it states ROADWAY, but goes on to say “due to report management system limitations box 24 [bike/ped location] was not accessible to check unknown location for the bicyclist (Unit 1) as it is undetermined if she was in the crosswalk or immediately south of it”), and in to report box 24 has no entry. Continue reading “Bicyclist killed in Phx semi truck right-hook crash”
This showed up on review of the 2015 ASDM data, although I had missed it at the time…
11/19/2015 ~ 6:15pm. Bicyclist killed in the crosswalk by a hit-and-run driver. Bicyclist was northbound crosswalk at 43rd Ave and Bethany Home Road, Glendale, AZ. Continue reading “Bicyclist killed in Glendale crosswalk hit-and-run, suspect on the loose”

10/29/2015 ~ just before midnight. 35th Avenue near Montebello Avenue, Phoenix. Victim 42 y.o. male Hussein Yunus. Driver was taken into custody, name not released, and later released. This is a residential area, with residences fronting a “busy” street, 35th Ave. The “pickup truck left the roadway and hit him. A witness said the bike rider flew about 100 feet…The driver was taken into custody. Investigators are looking into intoxication as a factor and are awaiting results from a toxicology analysis”. The news report video said something to the effect that “police believe impairment was involved but not necessarily alcohol”. Continue reading “Pickup driver loses control, kills bicyclist”