Cycling, traffic safety, traffic justice, and legal topics; energy, transit and transportion economics
Ann Day was killed in a headon crash with a suspected impaired driver, ~ 8AM, May 7, 2016. Day was traveling eastbound on Ina Road near the Westward Look Resort, near Tucson (Pima County)
Continue reading “Tucson area motorist killed in head-on; driver arrested”
The original story about this Dec. 27, 2014 death has a long list of horribles, emphasis added:
Preliminary test results indicated that Erica Flynn’s blood-alcohol level was .283, more than three times the legal limit, after the crash that killed 66-year-old Kathleen Mae Searcy on Dec. 27, the records show.
Flynn, 30, was southbound on Arizona Avenue in a Toyota Camry when she ran a red light and struck Searcy’s Honda Accord, which was making a left turn on a green arrow at the San Tan Freeway, records show.
Data from Flynn’s vehicle indicated she was driving at a speed of 75 mph – 30 miles over the posted speed limit – and did not brake prior to impact, according to police.
Interesting note about the black box data… there was a warrant issued 12/29/2014 that I would guess was for that. Continue reading “Speeding, extremely Drunk, red-running killer nets 11 years”
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”
3/12/2016 7:30pm. Police describe the single-vehicle collision as an apparent suicide by the driver. 48th Street, just west of Elliot Rd, Phoenix. (that’s “Biscuit’s” yellow sign in the background)… Continue reading “Ahwatukee traffic fatality is apparent suicide”
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”
Preliminary data from ADOT shows a notable increase in traffic fatalities in 2015. At present the preliminary toll is 891 for 2015 — but is expected to rise as final reports trickle in — compared to 773 deaths in 2014. That would be a 15% increase.
There is no, not even a preliminary, breakdown by person type (driver, pedestrian, bicyclist, etc)… which seems odd. VERY preliminary bicyclist traffic fatality data for 2015 can be found at fatality-grid; but those numbers (presently 18 bicyclists) are guaranteed to be low because ADOT hoards the data for themselves, so it’s just whatever I came across in newspapers and word-of-mouth.
Also see report-phx-metro-freeway-crashes-dramatically-increase-in-2015 from a couple of weeks ago ; which noted that the number of crashes on Maricopa county freeways had increase even more dramatically, 23%, year-over-year.
Continue reading “Arizona Motor Vehicle Fatalities increase in 2015”
Shooting update: Female driver shot by another female driver after a traffic collision. Injured driver collided w a 3rd car injuring 5 passengers Continue reading “ASU student dies in Tempe road-rage shooting”
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”
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”
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”
“THE DEADLY TOLL OF POLICE CHASES” shrieks the above-the-fold front page headline 7/31/2015 of the Arizona Republic. The companion article on the front page of the AZ Rep’s parent USA Today reads “High-speed police chase have killed thousands“. (those were the headlines in the print edition, the online ones are somewhat different). Continue reading “The deadly toll of police chases?”
The 6/8/2015 morning crash as described is a classic left-hook; where the victim was riding straight ahead and crashed with a trailer being pulled behind a pickup whose driver apparently mis-judged the situation either the closing speed or perhaps forgot he was pulling a trailer. Continue reading “Noted pediatric cancer doctor killed in Scottsdale motorcycle crash”
Collision occurred near the east entrance of Walmart on Hunt Highway, San Tan Valley (San Tan Valley is in the far south-east Phoenix metro area) Friday evening May 22, 2015. The fatality victim was a passenger in a van that was rear-ended while stopped.
police say: the suspect(s) were impaired, hit-and-ran, hid evidence, lied to police…
Continue reading “San Tan Valley passenger killed in fatal hit and run”
You can’t spell carnage with c-a-r…
5/17/2015 Sunday afternoon Glendale, AZ 8100 block of Bethany Home Road: 3 vehicles, two dead, many hospitalized. Police say speed didn’t “contribute” but there you have a head-on on a high-speed arterial with multiple motorist injuries and fatalities. Continue reading “2 dead, many hospitalized after Bethany Home Road crash”
Tempe Police