Cycling, traffic safety, traffic justice, and legal topics; energy, transit and transportion economics
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”
A motorist was fatally injured when a plane crashed into the rear-end of a stopped vehicle. Continue reading “Stupid Things People Won’t Say”
A note about data sources
Data from all these sources is located centrally on this google docs spreadsheet. which covers each bicyclist fatality occurring from 2009 onward.
Normally these are all in agreement, however there are multiple inconsistencies in both 2013 and 2014 that I cannot resolve. Continue reading “Missing 2013 and 2014 Fatalities”
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”
The driver in one of the headon freeway collisions was sentenced in a plea deal to 14 years in prison. Stephen Martin plea guilty to 2nd degree murder for causing the Jan 2015 death of Phoenix dispatcher Megan Lange. Continue reading “Wrong-way driver sentenced to 14 years in death of Phoenix fire dispatcher”
T
he owner of the red Alfa Romeo convertible involved in the killing of a pedestrian on a Phoenix sidewalk in 2013 was found guilty of negligent homicide and leaving the scene of a fatality caused by the defendant. I have no idea what the defense was; but at the conclusion of the twelve-day trial, the jury also found an aggravating factor of dangerousness. Details at another-ped-gets-whacked-on-phoenix-sidewalk
Continue reading “Owner of Red Alfa found guilty of killing ped on sidewalk”
This was both DUI and hit-and-run; it also involved a minor passenger. Driver sentenced in a plea deal to 14 years prison / 7 years probation for 2nd degree murder + the hit-and-run (other charges? e.g. no license, minor involvement?). The case minute for sentence is here. View all case minutes for CR2014152207. Continue reading “Drunk driver gets 14 years for Chandler officer’s death”
~ 8:15pm May 14(?), 2015. 34th Ave near Deer Valley Road, Phoenix. Double pedestrian fatality. This is very much a residential neighborhood. The victims were “having a roadside conversation” when the crash occurred. (Does that mean they were standing in 34th Ave? There are certainly sidewalks there).
Continue reading “Police: Speeding driver kills 2 on N Phx residential street”
All according to Phoenix police, the driver:
Continue reading “Police: Driver in fatal Phoenix hit-run was impaired”
Weekend roundup of drivers behaving badly in the Phoenix metro area; it must have been a rough Saturday night, 4 dead in 3 incidents early AM hours of Sunday 11/8/2015: Police say a speeding & impaired driver rear ended and killed 2 motorists in Avondale. Phoenix police says a pedestrian is dead after apparently intentionally stepping in front of a moving car — the driver, of course, hit-and-ran, police caught him soon after and say he appeared impaired. In the third story a driver crossed over and struck another vehicle head on; killing her. Continue reading “MCSO: Impaired, speeding driver kills 2 in Avondale”
The original story is below. Plea deal dropped the manslaughter and two aggravated assault charges (these are *very* serious felonies, F2 & 3) in exchange for a guilty plea to endangerment (a *very* minor felony, F6). Exactly how the prosecutor cooks up these deals is unknown but it seems hard to understand how this is, if not reckless manslaughter, at least negligent homicide. Continue reading “Truck driver get 1 year for fatal muscle relaxer crash”
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”
Nissley was an impaired driver who killed a pedestrian, noted doctor Richard Pavese, on the sidewalk in 2010… seriously-how-often-does-this-happen !?
For much more on dangerous, impaired (mentally, disoriented, or via chemicals/alcohol) see wrong-way. They drive among us. One of my fears is the incidents are being treated as though the problem is with not enough signs on freeway. These are dangerous, criminal in most cases, drivers who are out driving around, who can (and do) cause all sorts of mayhem.
News story about the aftermath of Aug 22, 2015 wrong-way pickup truck driver, 48-year-old Timothy Harjo of Wickenburg. Was driving ~ 70mph north in the southbound lanes of I-17 around 5:45am ~ 12 mile from Sunset Point. DPS Trooper Jeremy Barr acted heroically to essentially crash into the perpetrator, averting what could easily resulted in a major disaster. Continue reading “Wrong way August I-17 pickup driver”
[UPDATES plea deal January 2017, then imprisoned due to probation violation Sept 2017]
Driver Wanda Snow House has been charged with hit-and-run in connection with the death of a pedestrian. According to police she “was driving in a bicycle lane on Dobson Road near West Canyon Way on Jan. 14 2015 when she hit a pedestrian, identified as Frances Johnston”. Continue reading “Driver charged w/hit-and-run in Chandler ped fatality”
