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”
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”
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”
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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”
2/22/2022 ~2PM. Tucson police says a suspected impaired driver killed a bicyclist on the SIDEWALK.
Names were not released as of 2 days later; and no follow up reporting can be found on this fatal incident that occurred 10 months ago (?). Continue reading “Police: Bicyclist dies after impaired driver struck him on Tucson sidewalk”
You are not safe; you are not safe driving in a car; you are not safe riding in a car; you are not safe in the daytime; you are not safe walking on the sidewalk; you are not safe riding in a bike lane; you are not safe riding a bike on the sidewalk; you are not safe riding in a “protected” bike lane. You are not safe. Continue reading “Passenger dead, driver arrested in Gilbert Rd single-vehicle crash”
Saturday March 19, 2022 9:45 a.m. Suspect arrested; 26 y.o. Ryan Machado; Manslaughter, driving under the influence, leaving scene of a fatal, etc.
Continue reading “Hit run driver kills two on Sunrise Drive”
7/8/2020 6:45PM San Tan Valley area, on Gary Road just south of Judd Road, at around 6:45 pm on July 8.
A driver nearly killed bicyclist Larry Fawcet when police say he drove off the road; as you can see from the extensive damage on the vehicle, the driver was WAY off the road, striking the bicyclist on the (unpaved part?) of the shoulder. When the investigation report was finally released months after (but still before tox results were released) being harangued by ABC15, it revealed that the driver “… Cooper Lamb failed nearly every field sobriety test administered. The Drug Recognition Expert wrote that Cooper ‘displayed poor balance and fine motor skills, his speech was slow and slightly slurred, and he had major problems with simple comprehension on instructions’.”
UPDATE: a newer version of the KTAR story says police believe the suspect vehicle is an older Porsche, red 2-door.
Friday 1/14/2021 ~ 1:30AM. A man riding an electric bicycle 12th St near the Arizona Canal, Phoenix and was struck after falling in the street. The criminal driver fled eastbound on Wagon Wheel dr, police say the suspect vehicle is a red 2-door (sedan, i guess?)
Drivers who flee are usually impaired; driver Alexandra Mendez was arrested last week in connection with the killing of a Chris Owan near Luke AFB before Christmas.
Also note that electric bikes riders are classified as “drivers” (and not bicyclists/pedalcyclists) for statistical purposes.
Continue reading “HIT RUN ALERT: red 2-door, 12th St near AZ Canal, Phx”
[ SUSPECT ARRESTED: Alexandra Mendez in connection with this fatal hit and run. By the way, “people” often say hit-and-run drivers not immediately captured in effect can’t be prosecuted — tell that to Christophen Wakefield Chevalier who went to prison for 5 years after driving up on a Phoenix sidewalk in 2013 killing someone and fleeing. He did his best to hide the car, but it just wasn’t good enough]
Continue reading “SENTENCED; driver kills man on Northern Ave, Glendale”
Joining the “seriously, how often does stuff like this happen?” file.
Answer is with alarming regularity.
No one is safe from traffic violence.
12/17/2021 7:30AM Pedestrian was walking along Cornell near Forest; this is the neighborhood adjoining Kiwanis park in Tempe. This is a residential area, traffic engineers would call Cornell Drive “collector” street.
The driver, of course, fled the scene. He was later arrested for susp of hit-and-run, and manslaughter and a few other things. Continue reading “Man drives up on sidewalk, killed pedestrian in his Tempe neighborhood”
A phrase you’ll often hear connected with these sorts of incidents is the victim(s) were in the “wrong place at the wrong time”. Well it seems that the wrong place is anyplace; and the wrong time is anytime morning noon or night.
About a week ago, Pima County “Administrator Chuck Huckelberry experienced life-threatening injuries after a driver of a car made an unsafe lane change and collided with another vehicle that caused it to careen into Huckelberry as he rode his bike…” tucson.com Incidentally, the driver was apparently charged with a 28-672, a criminal misdemeanor; the news story refers only to a “citation” which while true isn’t the usual nomenclature. Continue reading “Driver kills man at south Phoenix bus stop”
Aug 20, 2021
Hans Hughes was very seriously injured last month after being struck at a downtown Phoenix intersection (1st and Filmore). He subsequently succumbed to injuries. Police say a drunk driver ran a red light, striking the bicyclist, and then fled the scene. He was later arrested…
This is fishy; where is the media and why don’t they ask questions?? “The identity of the suspect was not released” (KTAR). As of late September 24th??!! wtf? These are very serious criminal accusations, felony hit-and-run and (likely) manslaughter (blowing a red light and kill someone is also a misdemeanor); someone has been arrested, why the secrecy? Continue reading “PHX bike ambassador dies after getting hit by drunk driver”
5/31/2021 Monday night. Phoenix police officer killed by reported red-light runner Police say the driver of a sedan ran a red light, apparently at extremely high speed, causing an apocalyptic crash with a Phoenix police full-sized SUV at the intersection Cave Creek Road & Greenway Parkway. Both drivers are dead; the sedan driver was identified as “31-year-old Christopher Castro, died at the scene. Police say speed and impairment by Castro are believed to be contributing factors to the crash… The force of the crash caused the officer’s vehicle to crash through a brick wall and into a gas station parking lot.” Continue reading “Police: Driver that killed officer ran red light”
The driver of a white pickup careened onto the sidewalk, striking two ASU students walking on the sidewalk, injuring one seriously; the driver fled.
DUI remains a huge threat/problem; are we doing enough to remove illegal drivers from the road? The man arrested was FTA (failure to appear) since Jan 2020 on a November 2019 DUI and driving (then) on a suspended license which was suspended for yet another DUI. Continue reading “Driver rams into two on sidewalk at Rural and Apache; suspect arrested”