Tag: distracted driving

Girl killed in Buckeye by distracted driver

I had missed this when it happened, though it was reported in the media. I learned about it while hearing the victim’s mother speak at the Distracted Driving Summit at the state capitol yesterday.

Nov 2, 2016 ~ 6:30pm. Victim Chloe Schneider, 16/F was struck from behind  by a 22/F driver on Yuma Road near Tuthill, Buckeye, AZ. Chloe was training for an upcoming (MTB) event. (If i remember what I heard correctly, the victim’s sister was also involved?)

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Cyclist killed, another injured in Chandler crash

10/1/2016 fatal victim: female. Northbound on Arizona Avenue near Ryan Road.

This is only a couple of miles from the scene of another fatality in April on Riggs Road near Arizona Ave.  Donald Neu  was struck and killed by a driver who “drifted” into the rather wide, designated BL.

I don’t know what “criminal charges are possible” means; but once more-serious criminal charges have been ruled out — cases where a same-direction motorist drifts causing a rear-end collsion with a bicyclist in a bike lane (or a shoulder), on its face, should trigger a misdemeanor “causing death by moving violation” charge, see arizona-already-has-a-vulnerable-user-law

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A couple of Scottsdale incidents involving bicyclist injuries

There have been a couple of serious injury collisions recently in Scottsdale this Spring… both say/hint the collisions were caused by (unspecified) driver distraction. Continue reading “A couple of Scottsdale incidents involving bicyclist injuries”

Yikes. Inattention/Distraction, much?

080414-city-worker-hit
photo credit: Peoria Fire Dept. Pecos Road near 17th Street

Rest assured the authorities are dealing harshly with the inattentive driver who caused a serious injury; she gets a traffic ticket “The driver of the Kia will be cited…”. That the driver will be immediately cited indicates police aren’t even bothering to look at any more serious charges — this distracted driver is facing 2nd Degree murder charges, exactly how are they different? He wasn’t looking at the road. According to the present story, something in the rear seat distracted this driver; somehow causing her to suddenly veer.  So, this yields nothing more than a traffic citation — what constitutes recklessness. Endangerment/assault/aggravated assault — these are apparently not within the ken of the Phoenix PD, and/or prosecutor(s). “A person commits endangerment by recklessly endangering another person”. “A person commits assault by…recklessly causing any physical injury”. “A person commits aggravated assault if the person commits assault …and… causes serious physical injury to another”

Continue reading “Yikes. Inattention/Distraction, much?”

DPS stats shed light on distracted driving

Basic Speed Law

It may be helpful to review the law referred to below by DPS; it is what’s known as the “Basic Speed Law”, in Arizona, it is

§28-701  Reasonable and prudent speed; prima facie evidence; exceptions

A. A person shall not drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the circumstances, conditions and actual and potential hazards then existing. A person shall control the speed of a vehicle as necessary to avoid colliding with any object, person, vehicle or other conveyance on, entering or adjacent to the highway in compliance with legal requirements and the duty of all persons to exercise reasonable care for the protection of others…

In other words, if you run into something or someone you are not supposed to, you have violated the basic speed law; the infraction in that case is referred to as something to the effect of “failure to control speed”.

Recently in the wake of the death of DPS officer Tim Huffman due to what appears to be blatant distracted driving… and this being distracted driving awareness month; Arizona DPS is running a crackdown and general media campaign, and has released some Arizona numbers on distracted driving. Here is the DPS press release; a news story is pasted below.

summary: distraction of any kind is associated with about 1 in 10 crashes (1,160 out of ~ 10,000 crashes reviewed); and cell use was the cause of distraction in about  one-quarter of those crashes (127 of the 1,160). SO DON’T JUST DWELL ON CELL PHONES. Continue reading “DPS stats shed light on distracted driving”

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”