Cycling, traffic safety, traffic justice, and legal topics; energy, transit and transportion economics
[update: the PBCAT tool was restored as of sometime on August 11, 2026] PBCAT, the Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Analysis Tool, is an open-access crash typing application, it s produced by the US Dept. of Transportation, USDOT. The internet archive site of USDOT s page describes it as: PBCAT is designed to help State and local transportation Continue reading "What is PBCAT? Why has the Federal Gov…
Why are these hit-and-runs taking so long to hit the media? Occurred July 17, 2026, and seems to have been first reported in the media July 27. Shouldn t police be flooding the media ASAP after an incident. The victim seriously injured this is a FELONY crime. The crash is described as a right-hook northbound Continue reading "BOLO: Gold colored SUV. Driver seriously injures Gilbert cyclist"
It s worth reflecting back on how we got here w.r.t. automobiles in the US. In a recent WSJ opinion piece, Long Live the EV: Now that the U.S. isn’t killing it with ‘help,’ the electric vehicle has a chance. (that link is a gift article that may get thru their paywall, but I think the Continue reading "Why we have so many large pickup trucks and SUVs"
The standard three class electric bicycle definition was enshrined into ARS in 2018. There is no explicit speed limit for electric bicycles; but unfortunately, the mention of 20/28mph in the definitions has led some to mistakenly believe there is, in effect, and e-bike speed limit. This is not the case. Where an electric bicycle meets Continue reading "There is no e-bike speed limit"
The city of Tempe did a complete re-surfacing, a mill-and-overlay, of Priest Drive between Ray and Elliot Roads completed in March or maybe April 2026; a 2 mile stretch. Here s some dash cam of some of the new treatment [fun facts: Ray Road here is the city-limit of Tempe, south of there is Chandler. Priest Continue reading "Priest Drive Resurfacing and new bike lane 2026"
May 23, 2026 ~ 11pm. Mesa Grand Shopping Center (Baseline and Stapley) parking lot. Fatal hit-run suspect driving grey or silver newer Ford F-150. Yikes, another full size pickup involved fatality. Police are apparently having trouble finding the suspect, despite what seems to be very clear surveillance photos. The suspect after killing Robert Hetrick headed Continue reading "Mesa Police search…
2026-07-02 4pm. Bethany Home Road near 35th Ave. A sidewalk cyclist traveling westbound on the sidewalk of Bethany Home Road was killed when struck by the driver of a full-sized pickup (apparently, a lifted pickup) exiting a commercial driveway in the vicinity of 35th Ave; the direction of bicyclist was not specified as to whether Continue reading "60-year-old bicyclist killed in west Phoenix…
In some ways, this is a typical fatal crash, a negligent driver kills another person, in this instance, a fellow motorist. In other ways, something else must be going on because precious few drivers who kill go to prison; and ones that do nearly always involve DUI, yet there s (apparently) no evidence of impairment, only Continue reading "Man sentenced for fatal 2024 hit-and-run crash that killed…
Interesting pretext traffic stop case. Pretext case law is intriguing because it can reveal deep dark details of traffic law that are never revealed in traffic court. The law in question was § 28-721(B) Driving on right side of roadway... On all roadways, a person driving a vehicle proceeding at less than the normal speed Continue reading "Justices side with Arizona police in ‘stay right’ case"
phew. Walking in the park and now you re dead? Getting hit by flying debris from some speeding drivers causing a horrific, deadly crash? Seriously, how often does this stuff happen? 2026-04-08 ~8am. Just out for a nice walk in the park when LAVEEN, AZ (AZFamily) — A woman has died after police say she was Continue reading "Woman killed by pickup driver while walking in Laveen park; Toddler dead,…