Category: Car Accidents

A woman was killed in a Phoenix car accident that occurred overnight Sunday, AZ Family reported.

The deadly car crash happened near Happy Valley Road and 21st Avenue and involved an SUV and a pickup truck. Happy Valley Road was closed overnight between 19th and 22nd avenues and re-opened about 7 a.m. Monday.

The woman who was killed was reportedly a passenger in the pickup truck. Both drivers were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Two children, ages 5 and 7, who were passengers in the SUV, were also transported to the hospital.

One vehicle was westbound on Happy Valley Road, while the other vehicle was traveling eastbound. Police believe the man driving the SUV may have suffered a medical problem that caused his vehicle to jump the curb and enter the other lane, where it collided head-on with the pickup truck at about 11 p.m. Sunday.

Also over the Memorial Day weekend, a driver lost control of his truck and slammed into a home near 13th Avenue and Bethany Home Road. The Phoenix car crash occurred about 4 a.m. Sunday. Four people were at home at the time of the crash. The driver fled the scene, FOX Phoenix reported.

As we reported on our Phoenix Injury Lawyer Blog, police are searching for a suspect who fatally shot a man during an apparent road rage incident following a Saturday car accident.

The accident occurred on Southern Avenue near 19th Avenue and involved a Nissan and a Suburban. A passenger in the Suburban was shot during the ensuing altercation. Police are looking for a white Nissan Sentra with a partial Arizona license plate number of “052.” The car may have rear-end damage as a result of the accident.

Police are looking for a suspect who shot and killed a man during a dispute following a Phoenix car accident.

AZ Family reported that a 35-year-old man was killed Saturday afternoon after the Chevy Suburban he was riding in collided with a Nissan Sentra.

Both vehicles were westbound on Southern Avenue near 19th Avenue when the Nissan stopped, causing the Suburban to run into it. The Nissan drove away but was followed by the Suburban until both vehicles stopped and an argument ensued. The Suburban’s passenger was apparently shot. His son was in the back seat but was not injured.

The Suburban driver was also uninjured.

The Chevy drove to the South Mountain Police Station, where the victim was transported to the hospital. He died as the result of a gunshot wound to the head.

Police are searching for a white Nissan Sentra, with a possible partial Arizona plate number of “052.” The vehicle may also have rear-end damage as a result of the collision.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Phoenix Police Violent Crimes Bureau at 602-262-6141. For Spanish, the number is 480-TESTIGO.

The Arizona Republic report is available here.

The Channel 13 report is available here.

Arizona law enforcement will be out in force looking for speeders, drunk drivers and other traffic violations as they aim to reduce the number of serious and fatal Arizona car accidents this Memorial Day weekend, according to ABC15.

While New Year’s is the holiday that frequently gets the attention when it comes to the dangers of traffic accidents, the summer holidays of Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day are the deadliest in Arizona.”We’re going to have a lot of officers out here working the streets, the highways, the back ways, and the interstates,” said Department of Public Safety Officer George Gregor.

The Glendale Star reports police will be conducting sobriety checkpoints in an effort to reduce the danger of Arizona drunk driving accidents.

A total of 343 of the 937 fatal Arizona car accidents in 2008 involved a drunk driver; accounting for more than one-third of all traffic fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

And the Arizona Republic reports that the West Valley DUI Task Force will be out in force in a effort to reduce Peoria car accidents.

Fatal Arizona car accidents during 2008 holidays

New Year’s: 3
Memorial Day: 11
Fourth of July: 11
Labor Day: 11
Thanksgiving: 5
Christmas: 2
Nationwide fatal holiday traffic accidents

New Year’s: 141
Memorial Day: 370
Fourth of July: 437
Labor Day: 423
Thanksgiving: 439
Christmas: 364 Continue reading “Memorial Day among the most dangerous for serious and fatal Arizona car accidents”

With the goal of reducing injuries and fatalities in Arizona car crashes, Monday marked the start of a new campaign for vehicle safety in Mesa and Tempe, according to azcentral.com. Police in both cities received a $20,000 grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to begin project “Click it or Ticket, Next Generation.”

The two week project will utilize seat belt enforcement zones to promote seat belt usage as well as the use of child safety seats. Drivers who choose not to wear seat belts or use child safety seats will be fined. Mesa has a $99.25 fine for failure to wear a seat belt and a $168.25 fine for failure to use a child safety seat. Neighboring Tempe fines drivers $75 for failure to wear a seat belt and $149 for failure to use a child safety seat.

Extra police officers will staff the seat belt enforcement zones where they will issue citations without warning. The grants from the Governor’s Office will pay for the extra staffing expenses as well as operational costs.

Mesa used a similar seat belt campaign last year and issued 356 fines for failure to wear a seat belt. Last year’s campaign was only one week long.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) states that seat belts save more than 13,000 lives each year. NHTSA also notes that seat belts are the most effective protection for automobile occupants in a crash.

A police cruiser collided with a Mercury sedan carrying 9 people on Sunday. The Phoenix car accident occurred about 7 p.m. at the intersection of Central Avenue and Alta Vista Road, the Arizona Republic reported.

The Mercury was driven by a 36-year-old woman; eight children, ages 4 to 17, were riding as passengers. All nine passengers were taken to the hospital for treatment; no life-threatening injuries were reported, according to police. Although no passenger vehicle contains nine seat belts, police report all nine passengers were properly restrained.

The officer was not injured and remained at the scene to assist with the investigation. The police department’s vehicular crimes unit was charged with investigating the accident.

The officer was responding to a domestic violence call at a restaurant near Central and Southern avenues at the time of the accident. Police had received a report of a man assaulting a woman at that location, ABC15 reported.

Police report that the officer was proceeding through the intersection against a red light when the sedan failed to yield and collided with the cruiser.

Elsewhere in Phoenix on Sunday, one person was killed and three injured in a Phoenix car accident on Interstate 17, the Arizona Republic reported.

Police report that three northbound vehicles collided near Pinnacle Peak Road at about 10 a.m. A 24-year-old woman was taken to John C. Lincoln Hospital, where she died as a result of her injuries. A 36-year-old man in the same vehicle was also hospitalized.

A second vehicle, a Ford Explorer, carried five passengers, including three children. Two teenagers, ages 13 and 16, were also transported to the hospital with minor injuries.

A Phoenix area car crash has seriously injured a woman on Friday afternoon, according to AZCentral.com. The three vehicle accident occurred when a car rear-ended another vehicle, causing that vehicle to hit an SUV. The rear-ending car traveled around 100 yards after the collision and hit some trees off the road.

The car accident took place at Higley Road and Arrowhead Trail in Gilbert. The injured woman was transported by helicopter to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center. Others involved in the collision denied medical attention.

Traffic was limited to one lane after the crash. The accident investigation is being handled by the Gilbert Police Department.

Rear-end collisions are very common in our State. In 2005 there were over 112,000 multi-vehicle accidents in the State of Arizona and almost 50,000 of those accidents were rear-end collisions, according to ADOT.

A man and his 7-year-old son were found dead from injuries sustained in a Phoenix car accident, nearly three days after the victim called 911 to report the accident, CBS 5 reported.

The victim reportedly told a Yavapai County dispatcher at 12:30 p.m. Friday that he had run off I-17 and was severely injured. He said he was with his 7-year-old son and that they were five miles south of a rest area. The dispatcher contacted the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which reported that it sent officers to try and locate the crash.

“We sent five DPS officers to the area,” said Sgt. Kevin Wood. “They were looking for evidence of anything that would be recent in the way of a collision. They just didn’t find anything.”

Wood said they also tried to return the 911 call to the caller’s cell phone. He said they did not launch a helicopter to assist in the search. “We just cannot send the helicopter every time DPS gets a single call about a possible collision somewhere in Arizona,” he said.

A Chandler police officer was investigating the disappearance of the father and son on Sunday when he heard about the 911 call. He alerted the DPS and asked that a helicopter be dispatched. The bodies of the man and his son were found in a 200-foot ravine near Black Canyon City. Both had been ejected from the vehicle.

Investigators now say they are looking at whether the call was made before the crash, as survival seemed unlikely. They have verified through phone records that he is the one who placed the 911 call.

The 911 tapes were released on Wednesday, which recorded the victim’s pleas for help. The victim’s wife reported he was struggling with tax issues, according to the Arizona Republic. The dispatcher is heard assuring him that help was on the way.

They were found dead more than two days later.