As of Feb. 24, there have been 22 pedestrians hit by cars in metro Tucson so far this year, resulting in 12 fatalities. Below is a list from KOLD News. My comments pick up after the list.
On Jan. 6, 30-year-old Brallan Alberto Nidez Guzman died in a hit-and-run crash near 22nd and Wilmot in Tucson. 57-year-old James Anthony Badia was later arrested.
On Jan. 9, 34-year-old Rebecca Gonzalez died in an accident on Valencia Road near the casino in Pima County.
On Jan. 16, 47-year-old Julia Robles was hit near Valencia and Cardinal in Pima County. She died days later.
On Jan. 17, 59-year-old Walter James Pain was hit near Speedway and Dodge in Tucson. He died days later.
On Jan. 19, a pedestrian was injured in a crash near Speedway and Alvernon in Tucson.
On Jan. 26, a pedestrian was seriously injured in a crash near Flowing Wells and Rodger in Pima County.
On Jan. 26, a pedestrian was injured in a hit-and-run accident near Interstate 10 and Speedway in Tucson. A bicyclist was also hit and died from their injuries.
On Jan. 28, a pedestrian was injured in a crash near Fort Lowell and Campbell in Tucson.
On Jan. 30, a pedestrian was seriously hurt in an accident near Park and Ajo in Tucson.
On Jan. 31, one pedestrian was killed, and another was injured in a crash near Sabino Canyon Road and Sabino Hollow Court in Pima County.
On Feb. 5, 62-year-old William Joseph Barrett died when he was hit near Valencia and 12th in Tucson.
On Feb. 6, 34-year-old Marcus Duane Anaya died when he was hit near Valencia and Gila Avenue in Pima County.
On Feb. 9, 34-year-old Christopher David De La Corte died after he was hit near Park and Ajo in Tucson.
On Feb. 10, a pedestrian suffered serious injuries in a crash near Sixth and Valencia in Tucson.
On Feb. 13, 35-year-old Dennis Tsosie died in a hit-and-run accident near Country Club and Seneca in Tucson.
On Feb. 13, a pedestrian died in a hit-and-run crash near Pima and Alvernon in Tucson.
On Feb. 16, a woman died when she was near Mission and Ajo in Tucson.
On Feb. 18, a pedestrian suffered serious injuries in a crash near First and Grant in Tucson.
On Feb. 19, a pedestrian suffered life-threatening injuries, and the driver was charged following a crash near Palo Verde and Irvington in Pima County.
On Feb. 20, a pedestrian was injured in a crash in South Tucson.
On Feb. 23, a woman was hit and killed on Interstate 10 near Grant Road in Tucson.
On Feb. 24, a pedestrian suffered life-threatening injuries at Broadway and Wilmot.
It was not reported how many of the foregoing incidents were the result of alcohol or drug impairment, or how many of the pedestrians were among the scores of homeless people who wander the streets or panhandle in medians and on street corners.
In some parts of America, there is a danger of hitting a deer, moose or elk, as I well know from hitting a deer that bounded in front of our car on a dark country road near my wife’s hometown in northwestern Penn. In Tucson, the danger is hitting a human.
I still remember the sickening thud of hitting the deer. Hitting a person would trigger a lifetime of nightmares.
In spite of the tragic number of pedestrians knocked down like bowling pins, speed enforcement is almost nonexistent in the metropolis. This is especially true in the unincorporated county, which encompasses a whopping 36 percent of the metro area.
For example, it is common for cars to travel over 50 mph on a two-lane stretch of busy Kolb Rd. near our house in the unincorporated Foothills, although the posted speed limit is 35. The stretch passes through a school zone in front of the Ventana Vista Elementary School, is used by many pedestrians and cyclists, does not have sidewalks or streetlights, and has been the scene of numerous vehicle accidents, including two fatalities.
One accident took place a couple of years ago in sight of our house. At 11:30 pm, a car traveling at a high speed flew off the road, went down an embankment, hit a large bounder, and bust into flames. From our backyard, we could see first responders trying to save the life of the driver, who was stretched out on the shoulder.
Strangely and dangerously, there are no sidewalks along other busy streets in the Foothills that pass by other schools, including the Canyon View Elementary School on Sabino Canyon Rd., the Orange Grove Middle School on Orange Grove, and the Catalina Foothills High School on Sunrise.
Given the heavy volume of traffic and 45 mph speed limit on Sunrise, the high school is at the most dangerous location. Before and after classes, high school kids can be seen trudging along the shoulder with their back to traffic. Nearby is the site where two middle-age cyclists were struck and killed last year.
I wasted my time trying to get the speed limit enforced on the stretch of Kolb near our house. My first attempt was to request enforcement via emails to county officials, to no avail. Because the county is 9,000 square miles, the road in question is as unfamiliar to them as a road in Greenland. Besides, as I discovered, the county washes its hands of speed enforcement, because that falls under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff department, not the county.
My second attempt was to request enforcement by calling the Sheriff department. That also proved futile. My third attempt was to drive seven miles to the closest Sheriff substation and request enforcement in person. Futile again.
Tucson is awash in paradoxes. On the one hand, Tucsonans seem kind, caring and humanistic. On the other hand, they embrace self-defeating public policies and keep voting for bad governance. In so doing, they exacerbate the city’s problems of high poverty, high crime, low K-12 test scores, widespread seediness, a low-wage economy, homelessness, panhandling, and, yes, pedestrian fatalities.
It’s a deadly mindset.
Mr. Cantoni can be reached at [email protected].
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