Cycling, traffic safety, traffic justice, and legal topics; energy, transit and transportion economics
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”
3/30/2022 3:31pm. [this was several months ago]
both the tandem and vehicle were southbound S 2nd St at intersection of Ajo Way. This is a signalized intersection, it is an entrance/exit to Veteran’s Hospital complex.
The bicyclists were struck when the driver turned right from 2nd Ave, as they were crossing southbound in the marked crosswalk, which is in effect a trail crossing of the Julian Wash Greenway; the cyclists presumably had been heading east on the trail, where it crosses from the North to the South side at the intersection of Ajo Way. Continue reading “Tandem crash at Julian Wash Greenway crossing”
7/26/2022 ~ 830am. Fatal collision between an e-bicyclist and heavy truck, along E 22nd St near Pantano, Tucson. According to the police/news report the cyclist was headed westbound in the eastbound bike lane when he collided with a semi-truck emerging from a private drive. Continue reading “Teenage e-bicyclist killed in Tucson crash”
8/8/2020 ~ 10PM. Fatal collision along the 3300 block of E Grant Road near Northway (east of Country Club Road). The name of the bicyclist was not released.
“…it was determined the bicyclist was traveling eastbound on Grant Road in the middle multi-use turn lane.It appears the bicyclist veered into the eastbound median lane and was struck from behind by a …”
For crash categorization purposes in FARS, this will likely be an unsafe lane change by bicyclist (in other words, it’s not a motorist overtaking / strike from behind).
Tangentially related, in the footer of the TPD press release, they always place a traffic fatality summary for City of Tucson comparing current year to previous year period. The number of vehicle (so enclosed vehicle occupants) and motorcyclist is shockingly high year-over-year. Up 200% … can that be? (11 vs. 36). Peds fatals are down a good bit, bicyclist fatals are flat.
A Tucson bicyclist was struck from behind and seriously injured 2/14/2016 ~3PM; the driver fled the scene. Both were N/B on S Craycroft Rd near E 25th Street, Tucson. The cyclist was said to have been riding in a bike lane. He was also said to have not been wearing a helmet (no word on whether or not a helmet might have prevented the broken ribs, but I digress).
The suspect was located with the help of some surveillance photos; indicating that Tuscon PD invested significant resources into the investigation. Continue reading “Tucson Bicyclist seriously injured; Driver Flees”
[ UPDATE May 2012: Final awards in Jose Rincon’s civil lawsuit after a trip to appellate court; azstarnet.com (though their links seem to regularly go dead). Note that the original award of $13 was the LARGEST judgement ever against the city:
…Chuy’s settled before the February 2010 civil trial for an undisclosed sum. During the trial, jurors were told that a city engineer had abandoned plans to add five feet of asphalt to the roadway during an improvement project, creating a large offset in the lanes on either side of Vozack Lane, just east of Harrison. As a result, Rumsey ended up in the bike lane when her lane ended and she tried to merge.
The jury decided Rumsey, the city of Tucson and Chuy’s were equally responsible and awarded $40 million to the Rincon family. The city’s $13 million share was the largest individual judgment ever against the city. The city appealed, and Pima County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Lee denied the motion for a new trial but granted the defendants’ request for a reduced judgment, slashing the judgment to $12 million.
The city then went to the Arizona Court of Appeals, and it decided in March 2011 that the case should be retried. The Rincons settled with both Rumsey and the city recently.
The settlement with Rumsey is confidential; the settlement with the city specifically states the city was making “no admission of liability, culpability or fault, either by expression or implication.” …. Back when Lee reduced the $40 million judgment, Rincon said he and his wife had agreed to settle the lawsuit for $950,000 before trial, but the city refused. He bemoaned the fact that because the public didn’t know the city hadn’t accepted the settlement offer, residents were under the impression he and his wife were “money-grubbers.”…
The city’s appeal is online at justia.com RINCON v. RUMSEY, CITY OF TUCSON, contains some interesting stuff. (it should also be online via court-of-appeals div 2 website, but i haven’t looked for it there). Note that the superior-court appeal upheld the trial judge; while the court of appeals found the trial court judge (and thus the superior court appeals judge) erred.
]
Glenda Rumsey was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Tucson teenager Jose Rincon. (see here for a roundup of types of murder). Like many drunk drivers, she also tried to run. Continue reading “[civil suit finally settled] Rumsey guilty of manslaughter”
[Update Oct 19, 2010: major lawsuit settlement County and El Tour organizer, $3.5Million to Steube and several other injured plaintiffs. azstarnet] Continue reading “[lawsuit settled in ’08] El Tour de Tucson Collision”