Coverage spread: 2 sources — 2 unrated
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- Both incidents involved a pedestrian struck by a vehicle in Phoenix, resulting in serious injury.
- Phoenix police responded to and are investigating both crashes.
- Both drivers remained at the scene and were evaluated for impairment.
Where they differ
- 12 News covers a 53-year-old man in critical condition who police say was chased into the roadway before being hit by an impaired driver.
- ABC15 covers a separate crash involving a 14-year-old boy hit in a marked crosswalk at 35th Avenue and Dunlap Avenue, where the driver was found not impaired and cited for traffic violations.
- ABC15 provides specific time, location and investigative detail, while 12 News offers only a brief, sparse account with fewer confirmed facts.
- The reported cause differs sharply: one crash centers on alleged driver impairment, the other on a crosswalk collision with no impairment found.
Phoenix saw two separate crashes involving pedestrians struck by vehicles, each leaving the victim with serious or life-threatening injuries. One case, reported by 12 News, involved a 53-year-old man in critical condition who police say was chased into a roadway before being hit; the driver showed signs of impairment. The other, reported by ABC15, involved a 14-year-old boy hit while walking in a crosswalk in north Phoenix, whose driver was found not impaired and was cited for traffic violations.
What happened in the crosswalk crash?
According to ABC15, Phoenix police and fire crews responded around 7:30 p.m. Saturday to 35th Avenue and Dunlap Avenue after a vehicle struck a 14-year-old boy who was walking in a marked crosswalk. Witnesses told police the teen was hit by an adult male driver heading south on 35th Avenue. Firefighters transported the boy to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The driver remained at the scene, was not injured, and was evaluated by a Drug Recognition Expert, who found no signs of impairment. He was cited for traffic violations and released.
What do police say happened to the 53-year-old man?
12 News reports that a 53-year-old man was struck by a vehicle in Phoenix and is in critical condition. Police say he was chased into the roadway before being hit, and that the driver who struck him displayed signs of impairment. The outlet’s report is brief, and details on the exact location, timing, and who was chasing the man have not been released. The investigation is ongoing.
How are these two incidents connected?
They aren’t directly connected — they appear to be two distinct pedestrian-involved crashes in Phoenix, covered separately by different outlets with little overlapping detail. 12 News focuses solely on the man’s critical condition and the impaired driver, while ABC15 provides a fuller account of the teen’s crash, including the time, cross streets, and the outcome of the driver’s sobriety evaluation.
What don’t we know yet?
Neither report specifies the exact location or date of the crash involving the 53-year-old man, nor who was allegedly chasing him or why. It’s also unclear whether charges have been filed against the driver in that case. For the teen’s crash, police have not released the driver’s name or specified which traffic violations he was cited for, and the boy’s condition as of the latest update remains life-threatening.
Why this matters
Pedestrian crashes remain a persistent safety concern in Phoenix, where wide arterial roads like 35th Avenue are common sites for such collisions. These two incidents — one involving a crosswalk where a driver was cleared of impairment, another involving an apparent chase and a driver showing signs of impairment — illustrate different circumstances that can lead to serious pedestrian injuries, from driver impairment to street design and nighttime visibility. Both cases remain under investigation by Phoenix police.
Sources
Featured photo: Lightandtruth via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)