With shootings, storm damage, pedestrian traffic and as many car accidents as ever, the roads of Arizona may not exactly feel like a safe haven during the past several weeks.
According to an article by 12 News, Valley cities have a combined toll of fatal traffic accidents ranking third in the nation, preceded only by New York City and Los Angeles.
To some, this may not come as a surprise. Every ASU student has likely heard their out-of-state classmates complain about Arizona drivers.
California native and broadcast journalism senior Brandi Henry said she has noticed that people in Arizona don't really know how to drive at all.
Henry said she feels that Arizona drivers are highly distracted and ill equipped to drive in various conditions, which makes her feel extremely unsafe on the roads.
“When I first came to ASU three years ago, I saw a lot of news things saying that the most safe drivers come from Scottsdale, so it was crazy to see how people actually drive,” she said. “It’s ridiculous how many people I can look over and see texting ... those are the people you see and ten seconds later, boom — they’re in a crash.”
Tempe Police Department spokesperson Lt. Michael Pooley said distracted driving and texting behind the wheel is a common theme among those involved in car accidents.
Pooley said he is hopeful that the recent texting ban passed by the Tempe City Council will decrease these kinds of accidents. The force is making efforts to inform the community of the new ordinance.
“The biggest part of this is going to be the education part of it — letting people know this is a knew thing,” he said. “It’s not like officers can just stop people. They have to see some kind of driving behavior to indicate that they’re distracted.”
Pooley said this kind of behavior is not uncommon. Tempe PD officers often pull over drivers they believe to be intoxicated, only to find that they are on their phones.
Pooley said there are consistent trends of increased car accidents during the beginning of ASU’s school year, and distracted driving is especially unsafe as newcomers adapt to Arizona's roads.
“You get a lot of students and people here for the first time in Tempe. ... They’re unfamiliar with it and there’s a lot of big events, football games, sporting events, concerts. ... This is where the majority of our accidents happen,” he said.
Pooley said that the roads around ASU are the busiest and most accident heavy, and stressed the importance of staying focused and obeying the traffic laws.
“All it takes is one person to jaywalk and that can cause a huge accident. Or people riding their bicycles against the flow of traffic. It may seem harmless, but you’d be surprised by the amount of accidents it causes,” he said. “If you're not paying attention at all times, you can cause a lot of serious accidents.”
ASUPD crime prevention officer Brian Kiefling wrote in an email that distracted driving is risky and is known to lead to fatal car crashes.
"NHTSA estimated in 2012 that distraction was a factor in about 10 percent of all fatal motor vehicle crashes and 18 percent of all crashes causing injury," he wrote.
ASUPD assistant chief Patrick Foster wrote in an email that road safety can only result from the combined efforts of pedestrians and drivers.
“Traffic safety on the streets within and around our campus is the joint responsibility of drivers and pedestrians,” he wrote. “Responsible sharing of the roadways is essential.”
Related Links:
6 things you might not know about the Tempe anti-texting drive ordinance
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