Cycling, traffic safety, traffic justice, and legal topics; energy, transit and transportion economics
12/1/2017 ~ 1:30pm A SB driver 19th Ave near Broadway, Phoenix while speeding and illegally passing vehicles (i.e. driving SB in NB lanes), lost control and drove up on the sidewalk, killing 13 y.o. Cordell Gooch
Police say there were “early indications that the driver showed signs of impairment”
A driver drove up on the sidewalk and killed a woman and injured her child near 41st St and Jomax, Phoenix.
Police describe the incident as murder, and a ‘random act of violence’. Quite.
Continue reading “Sidewalk driver accused of murder in a ‘random act of violence’”
[ 1/29/2018 City of Tempe is considering changing cyclist right-of-way rules. This is potentially very involved and intricate. See both below, and also see letter and replies from Councilman Keating sent as CAZBike ]
[ 11/24 Updates on this shocking crosswalk fatality continue to ooze out from Tempe police, as the grieving family of Xiaoying Wen came to Tempe from China seeking answers; “Tempe police said both had the green light, but Wen failed to yield, and Tempe city law dictates that bicyclists must yield to motorists”. See below for this bad local law. LAB Bike Friendly GOLD? ]
The 11/21 News story says the crash occurred ‘last week” ? news media seems to report less and less.
Date: [Thursday 11/16/2017 ~ 4:15pm per comment below] Location: intersection of Rural Road and Vista del Cerro Drive
Continue reading “ASU doctoral student killed in Tempe crosswalk crash”
[Update — a newer presentation of more-or-less the same material can be found at azbikelaw.org/ride-with-traffic ]
Phoenix last week rolled out a major media blitz to target wrong-way riding
They all struggle with the fact that the direction of riding on sidewalks, in Phoenix, is not regulated. In other words, it’s not illegal to ride counter-flow on Phoenix sidewalks. But they didn’t do a scrupulous job of noting the difference between legal counter-flow sidewalk riding, and the (always) illegal counter-flow street riding. Since the State of Arizona has chosen not to regulate riding on the sidewalk at all, and individual cites do, the topic is voluminous — for much much more about sidewalk riding see sidewalk-cycling-in-arizona.
So some of the stories take odd turns, like the the notion that “…because riding a short distance against traffic sometimes might be safer, Wilcoxon says”. Oh my. Continue reading “Phoenix media blitz addresses wrong-way riding”
[UPDATE: crash report, below. This was a counter-flow direction SIDEWALK rider, killed at a driveway by a right-turning driver. JUST like in the diagram at right]
Tuesday March 31, 2015 time appox early afternoon: the bicyclist was a 20 y.o. female, Jamie Lynn Cody. Police say she was riding SB in a NB lane on 43rd Ave near Bell when an exiting vehicle (possibly the Schwann’s truck seen in the video) turned right and struck her. I.e. the rider was counter-flow in the roadway. This appears to be the NE corner; there is a designated bike lane there, looks to be the driveway nearest Whataburger / Hobby Bench.
The illustration at right is meant to highlight the dangers of sidewalk riding, however the same advice applies to counter-flow street riding, possibly moreso… The driver of a vehicle exiting the driveway when turning right is going to be looking to the left; and especially isn’t expecting any traffic (in the roadway) to approach from his right). Besides the 2013 Scottsdale incident, mentioned below, there have been at least two more recent fatalities, both in Tempe involving wrong-way bicyclists killed in collisions with right-turning drivers (6/12/2014 at Elliot and Harl; and 10/3/2013 at Univerity and Smith). These are, by the way, the only known bicyclist fatalities in Tempe for those two years.
Continue reading “Bicyclist killed at driveway 43rd Ave and Bell”
I had missed this one, and only found it when reconciling asdm data and searching on Yuma and Magnolia… There was both a police press release (laced with the a-word! Most police know better than that?) as well as a Yuma Sun article.
The cyclist was riding Eastbound on the North sidewalk (i.e. “counter-flow”) of 8th St; the driver was southbound on Magnolia — at the signalized intersection — and made a right hand turn (who had a red light? Is this another right turn on red error? (no, according to the investigation, see below); colliding with the bicyclist in the crosswalk. Continue reading “Yuma bicyclist killed in crosswalk collision”
I can’t find any mention of this fatality anywhere. I found it only because it appears in asdm data for 2014.
The location of the fatal collision is Dobbins Rd and 51st Ave. This appears that it could be a right on red turning error by the motorist; Continue reading “Elderly bicyclist killed in crosswalk by right-turning motorist”
Victim 23/M Brandon Rutledge; 11/6/2014, no time specified, video indicates it was daylight. 59th Avenue & Roosevelt, Phoenix; A semi tractor (video shows no trailer) was turning right from 59th Ave (direction was not specified) on to Roosevelt. The bicyclist had been riding on the sidewalk on 59th and continued through crosswalk, though the direction is not specified. “(phoenix police) did say the bicyclist appears to have broken some traffic laws” may be incorrect, Phoenix PD tends to fault bicyclists riding in crosswalks despite it not being illegal. I have attempted repeatedly to point this out to Phoenix PD; e.g. when an 82-year-old driver left-crossed and killed an 11-year-old girl , they determined the driver had done nothing wrong.
Continue reading “Crosswalk cyclist killed in crash w/ turning semi driver”
Wed, 8/27/2014 ~ 2030. Cyclist 69-year-old Andrew Yearby. In the area of 43rd Avenue and Crittenden Lane, Phoenix. This was initially investigated as hit and run, however police now believe the man fell in the roadway for unrelated/unknown reasons; and was subsequently run over by the driver of a Toyota Camry. Continue reading “Cyclist falls in roadway; then fatally struck by passing motorist”
preface: ALWAYS ride with the flow of traffic; even on the sidewalk…
A cyclist was killed Thursday (June 12, 2014) morning; at the intersection of Elliot Rd and Harl Dr. I learned his name only by chance it was in a news story about bicycling and Rural Road: Jesus Pena-Quinonez, age 55. Continue reading “Cyclist killed at south Tempe intersection”
This is an “INVISIBLE” cyclist — meaning I had missed the news story at the time and only found it later by searching on location; the incident occurred 2/13/2013. Continue reading “Bicyclist hit by dump truck in Phoenix, killed”
Seriously, how often does stuff like this happen? More peds wiped out on the sidewalk. 11/30/2013 2:15pm 67th and Glendale Aves… In addition to the dead ped, another ped, and the driver have “life-threatening” injuries. A glendale pd officer was also injured less seriously. Continue reading “Driver careens out of control after making bad left; killing and maiming peds ON THE SIDEWALK”
There’s a recent (7/11/2013) Arizona Court of Appeals District 1 (“Phoenix”) ruling Arizona v. Baggett (full text via findlaw, or direct link from CoA, or google scholar) that affirms that bicyclists must use a headlight during nighttime, 28-817, not just when riding in the roadway, but also on the sidewalk. Cite case as:
State v. Baggett, 306 P.3d 81, 82 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2013)
By extension, other bicycle-specific rules (generally 28-813 through 28-817; so for example one-seat per person; the one-hand rule; stuff like that) would also apply to cyclists using the sidewalk; while those that specifically mention the roadway, e.g. 815A and B do only apply on the roadway. Look up the bicycle statutes at bicycle-laws.
This ruling adds to a very slender body of case law involving bicycle laws in Arizona; see also Maxwell v. Gossett, and Rosenthal v. County of Pima for the only other published (it’s not clear to me that Baggett is “published”?) cases I am aware of in the history of Arizona!
There some mis-information floating around in the media, see e.g. yumasun.com
and azstarnet.com sourced from something called “Howard Fischer Capitol Media Services”. It claims sidewalk cycling in Phoenix is illegal under city code; that is explicitly not part of the decision — so, i’m not sure where or why that was said. Here is the passage from the news article (my emphasis added): Continue reading “Ruling: cyclists are required to satisfy nighttime lighting requirements even on the sidewalk”
Story from the Arizona Republic; I copied the whole thing because it was only a few sentences long (my emphasis added):
Woman dies when motorized bike collides with car in Phoenix
by Jack Highberger – Jan. 20, 2011 12:26 PM The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team
A 53-year-old woman died Tuesday night (1/18/2011) when her motorized bicycle collided with a car on Dunlap and 25th avenues.
The woman was driving the motorized bicycle on a sidewalk when she entered the crosswalk and collided with the car, said Sgt. Tommy Thompson of the Phoenix Police Department.
She was not wearing a helmet at the time of the collision.
She was taken to the hospital where she later died. The driver of the car, who is also a 53-year-old woman, was not charged by Phoenix police. Authorities said it’s illegal to operate a motorized vehicle on a sidewalk.
First off, let me say that this type of collision is pretty common, and it is exactly why sidewalk cycling, motorized or not, is not recommended. But is it illegal? Continue reading “Is it illegal to ride a motorized bicycle on the sidewalk in Phoenix?”
Cycling on the sidewalk is generally far more dangerous than doing so properly in the roadway. All stats and studies that I am aware of reinforce this fact. For example, in the city of Phoenix’s 2007 Bicycle Collision Summary in the majority of the bike-motor vehicle collisions the cyclist was riding on the sidewalk just before the collision. (308 of 440 total collisions = 70%); and these numbers are pretty consistent, in the previous 2005 summary, it was 72%.
What about legality, though? (roundup of laws across 50 states here) Continue reading “Sidewalk Cycling in Arizona”