seriously how often does this happen

Man standing next to bicycle killed during hit-and-run crash in north Phoenix, suspect arrested

July 28, 2024. Well, isn’t that special? Standing on the sidewalk? Hit and run? DUI suspected? Another Phoenix traffic fatality. Related: see Phoenix drunken driving deaths soared last year (as dui arrests decline).

This might get incorrectly tagged as a pedalcyclist crash; earlier versions of media stories had the headline as “Bicyclist killed in hit-run…” it should be pedestrian according to the description. I will carry it as a not-bicyclist on the fatality spreadsheet.
Continue reading “Man standing next to bicycle killed during hit-and-run crash in north Phoenix, suspect arrested”

Driver(s) kill boy, injure man on the sidewalk

11/11/2023 10A. Intersection of Ray Road and Coronado, Chandler Arizona.

The victims were reported to be: killed 9 year old Ilai Petersen, whose father Aaron was injured.

Chandler Police describe the “accident” (please! #crashnotaccident) as an apparent left-turn error, and the resultant 2-vehicle collision caused one of the vehicle drivers to lose control and drive up on the sidewalk, striking the pedestrians. Continue reading “Driver(s) kill boy, injure man on the sidewalk”

Man killed by driver while sleeping in his home; Man killed on sidewalk after driver goes airborn

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”

Dead Tucson bicyclist is collateral damage; Driver(s!) arrested

Matthew Lee Taleck (photo: Pima County Sheriff’s Department)

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”

Woman snuffed out by driver while sitting at bus stop in So Tempe

Mangled bus stop bench is left in wake of a driver who killed woman sitting at bus stop.

1/14/2022 5:30am. 78 y.o. “truck” driver southbound Rural Road near Carver in south Tempe for unexplained reasons lost control and crossed over into northbound lanes, continued on up to sidewalk where he killed 59 y.o. Alice Myskowski who was sitting at a bus stop waiting for her bus to work. Continue reading “Woman snuffed out by driver while sitting at bus stop in So Tempe”

Man drives up on sidewalk, killed pedestrian in his Tempe neighborhood

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”

Driver kills man at south Phoenix bus stop

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”

Driver rams into two on sidewalk at Rural and Apache; suspect arrested

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”

A 4-year-old girl was killed in a crash outside a Glendale Walmart

3/3/2021, morning. Ug. Driver wipes out a family walking on a sidewalk within a Walmart parking lot.

“the driver could face a reckless driving charge”. Don’t count on it. Authorities have already said impairment is not involved, more than likely this will be seen as the usual “just an accident”. Continue reading “A 4-year-old girl was killed in a crash outside a Glendale Walmart”

Man killed by hit-run driver in Tucson backyard

12/17/2020, Thursday night (time not specified; also victim’s name not released). The driver of a Ford F-150 left the road near West Grant & North Oracle crashing thru a fence into a backyard striking and killing a person there, then ran away. Police think the driver may have been drunk.

Continue reading “Man killed by hit-run driver in Tucson backyard”

Hit and run driver drives over two women on Scottsdale sidewalk

6/4/2020 7pm. A hit and run driver drove over the sidewalk and seriously hurt two women who were walking on the sidewalk in Old Town Scottsdale. Injuries are said to be serious, with one “fighting for her life”.

Police arrested a suspect, Allami Hussain, nearby a short time later.

Continue reading “Hit and run driver drives over two women on Scottsdale sidewalk”

3 y.o. Glendale boy killed by hit and run driver

5/21/2020 ~ 1PM Hit and run driver of Jeep killed 3 y.o. Carson, who was riding in a trailer pulled by father. Carson’s mother was also injured.

The family was north on the eastside (that’s an odd way to describe it; it appears to describe the group was cycling “in the direction of traffic”) of 70th Avenue, just north of Villa Theresa Drive, when a vehicle heading south ran over the bike trailer.

This is a wholly residential area.

Continue reading “3 y.o. Glendale boy killed by hit and run driver”

Oops they did it again?

A dangerous driver failed to negotiate the exit ramp from eastbound I-10 at Warner Road, losing control and killed the signal pole and pedestrian beg button post in August 2017. It was promptly replaced.

It’s down AGAIN in early May 2020; crews were replacing it on 5/14/2020.

Incidentally the signal pole is adjacent to the crosswalk, the drivers also wiped out the pedestrian beg button post — you know, where a pedestrian might be standing?

Continue reading “Oops they did it again?”

Ahwatukee gunbattle

For the Ahwatukee archives: April 2019 high speed chase ending in a five-vehicle crash and ensuing gunbattle; one federal agent’s truck careened over the curb and crashed through a wall.

Not exactly usual traffic but certainly not all that unusual — drivers jumping curbs, smashing lightposts, walls, killing joggers, etc. on a routine basis.

We see now, a year later, the now dead driver was severely impaired by drugs: “Only later, after an autopsy and toxicology report, was it revealed that she had near-fatal levels of methamphetamine in her body, which could have explained much of her [erratic] driving behavior…’The effect of methamphetamine would be related to increased risk-taking behavior, more aggressive behavior, potentially erratic driving,’ said Stripp, a forensic toxicologist … ‘They may speed, they may run red lights.'”

Continue reading “Ahwatukee gunbattle”

4 people injured at Phoenix bus stop as driver careens into sidewalk

3 peds were injured with one in extremely critical condition, a second in critical, and the third in serious condition.

Police say a left turning driver of a VW failed to yield caused the driver of an Altima to careen onto the sidewalk, wiping out 3 peds and a bus stop.

Jan 30, 2020 ; 6:45 p.m. on Greenway Parkway near Waltann Lane, Continue reading “4 people injured at Phoenix bus stop as driver careens into sidewalk”