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].
In addition to all of the above, hardly any street lights in Tucson. However, they would probably all be shot out.
No sidewalks in the foothills is dangerous? No one on your list was hit there. Everywhere you go in tucson/pima county, there are pedestrians and bike riders out at night in dark clothing with no lights. It’s no wonder
Lack of law enforcement is not unique just to Tucson. Throughout the greater Phoenix area, this problem is prevalent. It would appear that drivers perceive that if laws are not enforced, then they do not have to be followed. They are accustomed to doing this with impunity, as there is no penalty.
so sorry, but MAYBE the PEDISTRIANS should stay out of road
and stop wearing black at night
Month ago we were coming home around 9pm on SPEEDWAY – light to moderate traffic
slow walking women was in cross walk on GREEN taking her time to cross
hello, what’s wrong with these people
BINGO, you win the priz. Folks around here think all streets are a race track. Just yesterday around 0830 to 0900 there were at least 3-4 vehicle mishaps with the big one on broadway and craycroft. Add in the citys stupid try to get 418-419 passed they have increased construction areas shutting down important intersections. Then while going to pick up grandson from school some idiot in a black chebby pickup was cutting thru traffic cutting off cars just because he could it seems. As you noted the idiots walking are just as bad. Walk out without looking to see if clear, some pulling a shopping basket train (which the city has said stores have a responsibility to keep from happening, I guess if the picked up these thieves they might send a message?) City/county passed laws that to panhandle on street islands they had to wear reflective vests! Well like everything else NO ONE is enforcing any laws regarding traffic/pedestrian safety. Piss poor planning has caused numerous street problems and even if they are being done by contractors they hold the city swigns with pride. City of tucson at work and then there are no workers and this lasts for months/years. Just think they shutdown 22d st for ‘bridge repairs for reportedly the next 3 years WITHOUT taking into consideration that the other streets need to set up for the increased traffic flow, but like all the democraps in office if they had a brain they would take it out to play with, dont ever think they can plan anything. Again I think this was/is a ploy to pass the bogus county-city bills. Just remember they had an agreement to repair 22d/star pass some years ago to get the same bill passed and then the county walked without doing anything it had promised to do.
Exactly. I was at a busy intersection at dusk, and some addlepated tweaker in black pants & a black hoodie defiantly, or obliviously, shuffled across the intersection as if unconcerned or indifferent to the lethal energy stored in the line of multi-ton vehicles queued to his right. His safety, if not his entire existence, hinged on the questionable acuity of 4 to 8 sets of peripheral vision picking up on his scarcely perciptable indolent plod. Speed, whether excessive or wanting, is often a significant factor in accidents.