A bicyclist who was struck by a motorist last week has died.
According to Tucson Police, Roger Haar, 65, died today following a crash on July 11th.
Haar was riding south on Mountain Avenue at Ft. Lowell after waiting for a red light to change to green. A motorist heading west on Ft. Lowell ran the red light and struck Haar.
The report indicates the investigation is “ongoing” and the motorist has not been charged at this point.
According to Tucson News Now, Haar was an employee at the University of Arizona and was set to retire in August.
I see SO MUCH red light running in Tucson. Just this morning, a driver ran the HAWK at Campbell/Blacklidge after we’d begun to cross with the signal and other southbound drivers had stopped. I routinely see this sort of thing twice a day or more when I’m out on my bike.
I’m not sure what the answer is, but more aggressive enforcement of distracted and dangerous driving would certainly help.
@ignorant drivers This post is sad news, as we ride Mountain ave frequently. I like the bike HAWKs, but they do tend to give pedestrians and cyclists a false sense of security and can be dangerous. Ever since I heard they were putting one in at Campbell, I was have been afraid we’d have a driver run it and a pedestrian or cyclist will pay the price. PLEASE, everyone – you must ALWAYS assume ALL drivers are asleep at the wheel.
Regarding the bike HAWKs, the city should conduct a study to see how frequent the near misses are occurring. I tend to think ignorant drivers is correct, in that they occur “routinely”. If this is true, the city needs to think carefully about where they locate bike HAWKs, and realize some locations are just too dangerous.
Roger was one of the most careful bike commuters I’ve ever known. He always wore a reflective vest and helmet. He will be missed by all who knew him.
@ignorant drivers I’ve almost been hit on my bike at that Blacklidge crossing, too.
In spite of the city’s efforts to create accommodating infrastructure, the de facto scare-tactic of lax enforcement and weak legislative output is very effective in keeping cyclists off the roads. The city won.t lure more commuters with elaborate infrastructure if would-be cyclists don’t feel that other factions of the community don’t have their back. I’m glad the LAB did not lower its bar just to include Tucson in the Platinum group.
Mike: none of the reporting I’ve seen locally contains any information about whether the driver was cited or ticketed. Do you know?
It would be astonishing if a driver can run a red light (witnessed by multiple people) and strike and kill someone with no arrest or citation.
@ignorant drivers I share your astonishment. No citations were issued, says the local paper. I assume this comes from TPD. There was no death at the time of collision. I can only assume the Police Department wished to fast-track this into the civil-court system, as is its custom. Now that there is a fatality, the case file will be referred to the county attorney. It’s not Disneyland.
sluggh @ignorant drivers I’ll keep following up. Charges and citations are a bit different, but I suspect they city attorney was waiting to determine the outcome of Mr. Haar before charging the driver. However they should be able to issue a citation for running the red light at the very least.
MikeMcKisson sluggh
Thanks to both of you for the detailed reply.
BroderickBlocker Yep, me too and I emailed the city with the new bike boulevard plan that they need to assess the hawk locations based on if drivers will actually stop at the hawk crossings. I was in Seattle and Portland last week and it is night and day how drivers treat cyclist in those cities compared to Tucson. We need some serious pr campaigns backed up with law enforcement to change the drivers mindset in Tucson. Way too many of us are dying on city roads to ever get us to platinum or think of ourselves as an evolved society.
Can anyone update what charges if any were filed against the driver? Thank you.